Summer begins officially at 1:17 p.m. this Tuesday, when the sun's vertical rays touch the tropic of Cancer (latitude 23.5 degrees north) off the northern coast of Cuba. On this day, the sun will rise farthest to the north of east, peak highest for the year (73 degrees altitude) in mid day and set farthest to the north of west. For those with a flat eastern and western horizon, sunlight will last about 15 hours. Those of us living in valleys will be lucky to get 14 hours of sun on that day. Summer will end on Sept. 23 in the early morning hours, when the sun's vertical rays cross the equator, moving south. So 2011 summer will last nearly 94 days, compared to winter that lasts about 88 days. Read more
Saturn is high in the south by 8 p.m. Jupiter rises about 2 a.m., while Mars is a dim morning object in the east about 5 a.m. Venus is a possibility in morning twilight, but Mercury is still washed in sun glare. Read more
Penumbral lunar eclipse begins at 17:23:06 UT (below horizon for Scotland) Full Moon at 20:13.6 UT, 15th June. This is the second most southerly (declination: -23.23°) full moon for the next 10 years.
Moonrise in the constellation Ophiuchus at 20:58.9 UT (for Scotland) Lunar Eclipse totality ends at 21:03:02 UT Partial lunar eclipse ends at 22:02:34 UT Penumbral lunar eclipse ends at 23:02:13 UT