The Space Shuttle Discovery launched yesterday towards the International Space Station, with not only the Japanese module of the Space Station, but also spare parts for their toilet! (see the full story on the BBC News).
We can actually see the International Space Station fly overhead – it is very bright indeed. And tonight (the 1st of June), for one night only, we can actually see the Space Shuttle Discovery fly over Europe just a minute after the station, as it plays catch-up! To find out when and where to look, see SpaceWeather.com.
Some lucky observers in the UK managed to see both the Space Shuttle and it’s separated external fuel tank last night – see this link. Unfortunately, it was cloudy here in Greenwich last night.
For up-to-the-minute updates on the latest mission to the Space Station, see Spaceflightnow.com.
The long days of summer are here again, allowing us to make the most of a full day in the Sun. In June, the Sun is rising over the UK at 04:45 BST in the morning, and setting around 21:20 BST in the evening, giving us almost 17 hours of continuous daylight.
The summer solstice occurs on the 21st of June. That is the day that the Earth’s northern hemisphere points in the direction of the Sun, making the Sun high in the sky at noon. At midnight, the Sun is only 15 degrees below the horizon, not enough for it to get astronomically dark.
The word planet originates from the Greek meaning ‘wanderer’. As the planets orbit around the Sun, they slowly wander across the starry background. During June, Mars and Saturn are both wandering closer towards each other in the night sky – look west for the pair before they set at 11pm.
On the 7th of June, the Moon is conveniently next to Mars, and a day later, Saturn, the bright star Regulus and the Moon are all conveniently close together.
At the end of the month, the bright planet Jupiter can be seen rising by 10pm at the end of the month. Take a look through binoculars, and you may be able to spot its four bright moons – just as Galileo first did almost 400 years ago.
