The innermost planet dazzles!
In early June, Mercury climbs through Gemini the Twins, approaching its brightest stars, Castor and Pollux.
By June 8, Mercury lies near 3rd-magnitude Epsilon Geminorum, a star visible only with binoculars as the sky darkens. Mercury appears brighter than the star despite having faded to magnitude -0.3. For a day or so on either side of June 11, Mercury forms an isosceles triangle with Castor and Pollux. The stars then mark the upper baseline, and Mercury sits at the triangle’s tip, pointing toward the horizon. Mercury outshines both stars by a full magnitude or more and sets an hour and a half after the Sun.
On June 14, a telescope shows Mercury’s 50-percent-lit disk. Mercury reaches greatest elongation June 20, when it stands 25° east of the Sun, shines at magnitude 0.5, and appears 38-percent illuminated. As Mercury shrinks to a crescent, it dims rapidly and becomes harder to see in the evening twilight.
On June 27, the innermost planet shines at magnitude 0.9 and lies almost in line with Castor and Pollux. If Mercury is hard to find in the bright twilight, look for the slender crescent Moon - Mercury stands 6° below its silver sliver. For more information visit Astronomy.com.
Enjoy a graphic presentation of the June Sky.
The birthday paradox has always fascinated me. Statistically it’s true, but just doesn’t seem believable. The question is, in a room full of people how many are required to have a better than 50/50 chance that two or more of the guests have the same birthday as you. The answer is 23. You can try it out here with random rooms of 23 other people who are also taking part on the site. I only had time to try it once and got no matches.
