Because I’m going to be out of action for a while (not a long while, I hope), I’m going to cover the coming week by giving you simplified pictures of the evening sky for this Saturday and the next.
The curve from east to west is the celestial equator, and the other, lower in a summer night, is the ecliptic. You probably recognize the constellation outlines of Scorpius, Leo, and Gemini. What’s the little quadrangular one, and do you agree that it is conspicuous enough to qualify for the simplified picture? It’s Corvus, the Crow.
For the astronomical events of the week, go to the “Astronomical Calendar 2019” tab at the top. The main ones are that the Moon is Full on June 17, and Mercury and Mars have a very close conjunction on June 18, 24° from the Sun though low to our horizon.
And that June 21 is the summer solstice! I hope to be getting some sunshine, instead of the cold wet low that is now stationary over us.
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ILLUSTRATIONS in these posts are made with precision but have to be inserted in another format. You may be able to enlarge them on your monitor. One way: right-click, and choose “View image”, then enlarge. Or choose “Copy image”, then put it on your desktop, then open it. On an iPad or phone, use the finger gesture that enlarges (spreading with two fingers, or tapping and dragging with three fingers). I am grateful to know of what methods work for you.
I agree that Corvus is conspicuous enough, but alpha and beta, and maybe sigma Librae should also be included in the simplified picture since those stars are of about equal magnitudes as the stars of Corvus.
I agree that Zubenelgenubi and Zubenelshamali should be depicted. What’s a scorpion without its claws?