Mercury - Mercury undergoes one of its best evening apparitions of the year. It can be seen low in the west-northwest at twilight. As the speedy planet moves closer to us, its phase and magnitude decrease. On the evening of June 10, Mercury is located in the center of Gemini.

Venus - Brilliant Venus is 25 degrees in altitude one hour after sunset on June 1 but is just 15 degrees high by the end of June. It sets around 11:00 p.m. EDT at midmonth. Venus and Saturn grow closer together during the course of the month, the distance between them shrinking from 23 degrees on June 1 to 0.7 degree on June 30.

Mars - Mars is still too small for telescopic examination. As the Red Planet passes through Pisces, it is similar in brightness to the first magnitude star Altair (Alpha Aquilae). Mars enters Aries on June 26.

Jupiter - On June 5, Jupiter is at opposition and is thus visible for the entire night. Unfortunately, the giant planet never climbs higher than 30 degrees in altitude for northern observers during its 2007 apparition. Jupiter retrogrades slowly through southern Ophiuchus towards Antares during June. It is 7.5 degrees northeast of the red supergiant star on June 1 and 5 degrees northeast of it on June 30.

For detailed postions of Jupiter's Moons try this interactive javascript utility.

Saturn - June is the last month to capture good views and images of Saturn. By midmonth, the Ringed Planet sets at midnight. Saturn and Venus are separated by only 41 arc minutes on the night of June 30. Saturn's ring tilt is 14 degrees in June.

Titan, Saturn's brightest satellite, is due north of Saturn on the nights of June 11 and June 27 and due south of it on the nights of June 3 and June 19. On the night of June 13, Saturn's strange satellite Iapetus transits the north pole of Saturn. The position of Iapetus in relation to Saturn at 0:00 UT is as follows: June 1 (31" east), June 5 (23" east), June 9 (14" east), June 13 (3" east), June 15 (3" west), June 19 (13" west), June 23 (22" west), and June 29 (31" west).

The Cassini spacecraft continues its observation of Saturn and its many moons and rings. For the latest images from Cassini, see:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm

For detailed postions of Saturn's Moons try this interactive javascript utility.

Uranus - rising well after midnight, is located 1.5 degrees away from the fourth magnitude star Phi Aquarii.

A finder chart for Uranus can be found on page 66 of the May issue of Sky & Telescope.

Neptune -also rising after midnight, is approximately 2.3 degrees north of fourth magnitude Gamma Capricorni.

A finder chart for Neptune can be found on page 66 of the May issue of Sky & Telescope.

Pluto -On June 1st Pluto is located near the third magnitude star Xi Serpentis, seven degrees due west of M17 (the Checkmark, Horseshoe, Lobster, Omega, or Swan Nebula) in northwestern Sagittarius. Pluto is at opposition on the night of June 18.

Eris (pronounced "EE-ris") - formerly known as Xena, 2003 UB313, and "the tenth planet"  is magnitude 19 in central Cetus, high in the south during evening.

For detailed information please visit Astronomical Delights

Comet 2P/Encke - dims below eleventh magnitude as it travels southward through Pisces Austrinus. On the night of June 21, the periodic comet passes just north of the first magnitude star Fomalhaut (Alpha Piscis Austrini).

Asteroid 4 Vesta -at (magnitude 5.4) is brighter than it has been since 1989 and is a naked-eye object from a dark site. During June, Vesta lies to the north of Jupiter and Antares as it heads westward through Ophiuchus into Scorpius.

For a finder chart, see: http://skytonight.com/observing/home/Vesta

Planet Data For June 2007

Brightness, apparent size, illumination, distance from the Earth in astronomical units, and location data for the planets on June 1: Mercury (0.3 magnitude, 7.9", 40% illuminated, 0.9 a.u., Gemini), Venus (-4.4 magnitude, 21.5", 54% illuminated, 0.8 a.u., Gemini), Mars (0.8 magnitude, 5.8", 89% illuminated, 1.6 a.u., Pisces), Jupiter (-2.6 magnitude, 45.7", 100% illuminated, 4.3 a.u., Ophiuchus), Saturn (0.5 magnitude, 17.5", 100% illuminated, 9.5 a.u., Leo), Uranus (5.9 magnitude, 3.5", 100% illuminated, 20.0 a.u., Aquarius), Neptune (7.9 magnitude, 2.3", 100% illuminated, 29.5 a.u., Capricornus), and Pluto (13.9 magnitude, 0.1", 100% illuminated, 30.3 a.u., Sagittarius).