Saturn’s small moon Dione transits north of the ringed planet early on the morning of June 19. You can watch its progress while the sky is still dark before dawn.
Two hours before sunrise in the Central Time Zone, Dione is still approaching Saturn from the northeast. The young moon will pass north of Saturn about two hours later, just before 4:30 a.m. PT. Note that Enceladus at magnitude 12 may not be visible. Credit: Alison Klesman (via TheSkyX)
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June 18: The moon and the sickle
Saturn rules the early morning sky, shining first in dim Pisces. Dione, one of the planet’s many ringed moons, passes north of Saturn on the morning of June 19. The 10 degree advance of the Moon is visible if you have a dark sky and a telescope.
Two hours before sunrise, Saturn’s temperature is about 20 degrees in the east. The brightest light is easy to find in this part of the sky, crossing the boundary between southern Pisces and northern Cetus. Through a telescope, you’ll of course see Saturn’s stunning ring system, and you can easily catch its largest and brightest moon, Titan, to the northwest of the planet.
Dione – again at magnitude 10 – is much closer to the planet than Titan and is located northeast of Saturn. As the hours pass, it gets closer, passing north of Saturn shortly before 4:30 a.m. PST – note the time zone, as at this point the planet and moon will only be visible along the west coast of the United States. The further west you are, the better, as the sky is likely already brightening. See if you can spot Dione about an arcsecond above the planet’s north pole, despite the slowly brightening twilight; You can also try taking a quick photo if you have it set up, as this may show the Dione’s location even if your eyes can’t find it.
sunrise: 5:31 am
sunset: 8:32 pm
Moonrise: 10:41 am
Moon setting: —
Moon phase: Growing crescent (32%)
* Sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset times are given in local time from 40°N to 90°W. Moonlighting is provided at 10pm local time from the same location.
Alison Klesman He is a senior editor at astronomy magazine. She holds a doctorate degree. He has a PhD in astronomy and has studied a variety of topics, from small planets to supermassive black holes.
