Space Calendar June 2020: Happenings in Space

Space Calendar June 2020: These dates are subject to change. Launch dates are taken from Space.com.

June 5: A penumbral lunar eclipse will be noticeable from Asia, Australia, Europe and Africa. The moon will begin passing through Earth's shadow at 1:45 p.m. EST (1745 GMT), and the eclipse will last for 3 hours and 18 minutes.

June 5: The full moon of June, called the Strawberry Moon, occurs at 3:12 p.m. EDT (1912 GMT).

June 8: In the morning, the sky fading, gibbous moon will form a small triangle with Jupiter and Saturn. It will be in conjunction with Jupiter at 1:21 p.m. EDT (1721 GMT), followed closely by conjunction with Saturn about 9 hours later at 10:12 p.m. EDT (0212 GMT on June 9).

June 12: Just a day before reaching the last quarter phase, the moon will make a close approach to Mars in the predawn sky. The pair will be in conjunction at 7:55 p.m. EDT (2355 GMT), but they will be below the horizon for skywatchers in the U.S. at that time. You can find them above the southeastern horizon for a few hours before sunrise.

June 18: An Arianespace Vega rocket will launch on the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) proof-of-concept mission carrying 42 microsatellites, nanosatellites and cubesats. The rideshare mission will lift off from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou, French Guiana.

June 19: The one-day-old moon will make a close approach to Venus in the evening sky. It will be in conjunction with Venus at 4:53 EDT (0853 GMT). Look for them above the eastern horizon just before sunrise.

June 20: Happy Solstice! Today marks the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

June 21: An annular solar eclipse will be visible from parts of Africa and Asia.

June 30: Asteroid Day

June 30: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the U.S. Air Force's third third-generation navigation satellite, designated GPS 3 SV03, for the Global Positioning System. It will lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Source: SPACE.com