www2.keck.hawaii.edu/.../charts/moonJun08.jpg

The new moon and lunar perigee fall on the same date today, the only time this happens in all of 2008. New moon marks the beginning of a new lunar month; it’s when the moon is more or less between the Earth and sun, and the moon’s dark side totally faces Earth. Lunar perigee means the moon is at its closest point to the Earth for the month. As we explain on today’s Earth & Sky radio show, a new moon that’s closest to Earth brings wide-ranging spring tides.

The new moon and perigee coincide every 14 lunar (or synodic) months, because 14 lunar months almost exactly equal 15 returns to perigee. A lunar month refers to the time period between successive new moons, a mean period of 29.53059 days. An anomalistic month refers to successive returns to perigee, a period of 27.55455 days. Hence:

14 × 29.53059 days = 413.428 days
15 × 27.55455 days = 413.318 days

This time period is equal to about 1 year 1 month and 18 days. New moon and perigee will realign again on July 22, 2009 (Universal Time).

Incidentally, 7 lunar months = 7.5 anomalistic months. Seven lunar months from today (on December 27, 2008) the new moon will closely align with apogee – the moon’s most distant point in its orbit!

Written by Bruce McClure , 3 June 08
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Map to the Stars



Star maps are essential for any stargazer. They’ll help you find well known targets like the Big Dipper, which will direct you to other constellations like Cassiopeia. “You can use the Big Dipper to find your way around the sky,” says Joe Eakin, Planetarium Interim Director for the University of Texas at Arlington. “Look in the north sky and try to find 7 bright stars with 3 stars making a handle and 4 stars making the bowl. In the summer the Big Dipper will be in the northwest sky,” says Eakin. Now, you’re ready to explore more. “Use the two stars at the end of the cup of the dipper and draw an imaginary line toward the north and you will run into the North Star (Polaris). Polaris is also on the end of the handle of the Little Dipper,” says Eakin. The W-shaped constellation known as Cassiopeia is on the other side of the Little Dipper.

Go back to the Big Dipper’s handle and make an arc down to a bright star called Arcturus. If you draw an imaginary spike from Arcturus you’ll see Spica. “These two stars will be in the western sky during the summer,” says Eakin. If you’d rather see a scorpion in the sky instead of crawling next to you, look low in the east during the summer months to find a squiggly line of stars. “It looks just like a giant fish hook,” says Eakin.

Visit www.skypub.com, www.astronomy.com or www.skymaps.com for free star maps to make your stargazing more enjoyable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ASTEROID FLYBY:
Today, (6/3/08) asteroid 2008 KT is flying past Earth only three times farther away than the Moon. To students of ancient history, any asteroid named "KT" may sound a little scary. But unlike the 10-km-wide killer that crashed into Earth at the K-T boundary 65 million years ago, modern-day asteroid 2008 KT is a pipsqueak less than 10 meters wide. If it hit Earth, it would disintegrate in the atmosphere, producing at most a harmless fireball and a scattering of meteorites on the ground. Our dinosaurs are safe for another day.

Grand Finale
A shooting star is a glorified name for a tiny dust particle or small rock that enters the Earth’s atmosphere and burns up. Yet there’s something almost magical about seeing a shooting star. It feels like a gift from God when you’re lucky enough to witness one.

They’re actually more common than you might think. According to Eakin, you’re likely to see one or two shooting stars per hour. We just need to slow down so we can take it all in. When we do that suddenly the stress of everyday life and our problems don't seem so big after all

https://www.spaceweather.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~