{"id":2027,"date":"2017-06-14T14:12:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T14:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/?p=2027"},"modified":"2017-06-14T03:53:37","modified_gmt":"2017-06-14T03:53:37","slug":"griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-june-21-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/2017\/06\/14\/griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-june-21-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffith Observatory Sky Report through June 21, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/strong><\/a>LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report<\/p>\n

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through June 21, 2017. Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening in the skies of southern California.<\/p>\n

Summer begins in earth\u2019s northern hemisphere on Tuesday, June 20 at 9:24 p.m. That moment, the summer solstice, is when the sun reaches its farthest point north of the celestial equator. The solstice also marks the start of winter in the southern hemisphere.<\/p>\n

Griffith Observatory will celebrate the solstice with two free public presentations on the 20th. The first, at the Gottlieb Meridian Arc and Transit Corridor, starts at 12:55 p.m. and marks the local noon and the year\u2019s highest meridian crossing of the sun. The second presentation, to observe the northernmost sunset of the year, will start at 7:50 p.m. at the engraved sunset lines on the Observatory\u2019s west walkway. At both events, Observatory staff members will explain the astronomical workings of the seasons.<\/p>\n

The planet Jupiter, in the constellation Virgo the Maiden, is the brightest object in the evening sky. It is high in the southwest when darkness falls, and sets in the west at about 2:00 a.m. Jupiter\u2019s four largest moons can be spotted through binoculars, and Jupiter\u2019s cloud belts and storms are interesting to observe through more powerful telescopes. The planet\u2019s famous oval storm, the Great Red Spot, can be seen by observers on the West Coast at 9:00 p.m. on June 15th, 17th, and 20th.<\/p>\n

The planet Saturn, in the constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer, is fainter than Jupiter but is the brightest object present in the southeast direction when night falls. Saturn is at opposition, meaning that it is opposite the sun in the sky, on the night of the 14th. It will then rise at sunset, cross the meridian in the south at 1:00 a.m., then set at sunrise. Because of the directional way that the rings reflect light back toward the sun, observations made through a telescope will show that the rings brighten dramatically with respect to the planet within a day of the opposition. After a few nights, the appearance of the rings will be back to their usual\u00a0level, only as bright as the planet itself.<\/p>\n

The brightest of all the planets, Venus, blazes in the eastern sky starting shortly after it rises at about 3:10 a.m. A telescope now shows Venus displaying a gibbous phase.<\/p>\n

The waning moon rises at 11:55 p.m. on the 14th and at 3:43 a.m. on the 21st. Its phase changes from gibbous to last quarter on the 17th, and then is crescent until the new moon on the 23rd. The moon is paired with Venus on the mornings of the 20th and 21st.<\/p>\n

Free views of the Sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory\u2019s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday, before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next free public star party<\/a> on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, July 29th.<\/p>\n

Follow the Sky Report on Twitter<\/a> for updates of astronomy and space-related events.<\/p>\n

From Griffith Observatory, I\u2019m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through June 21, 2017. Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening in the skies of southern California. Summer begins in earth\u2019s northern hemisphere on Tuesday, June 20 at 9:24 p.m. That … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-2027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-skyreport","tag-sky-report"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2027"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2029,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027\/revisions\/2029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}