The Moon, Mars and Saturn close together during evenings from June 16th to 19th, 2016

Mars and Saturn are currently visible as soon as it's dark enough and remain so until the early hours of the morning. The two planets are positioned about 15 degrees apart in their respective constellations of Libra and Ophiuchus. Due to their southern declinations they are better placed from tropical and southern latitudes, appearing higher in the sky with a longer visibility period than at mid-northern latitudes. This rich area of sky also contains many deep sky objects and bright stars, including first magnitude red supergiant Antares (α Sco - mag. +1.0). Of the three objects Mars (mag. -1.7) is the brightest followed by Saturn (mag. +0.1) then Antares.

Some pleasant viewing opportunities occur between June 16th to 19th when the Moon is also in the same region of sky. On June 17th, it passes 7 degrees north of Mars and two days later 3 degrees north of Saturn. The image below shows the view just before midnight from London, England. From other mid-latitude northern locations the scene will be similar to that shown.

Mars and Saturn during June 2016 - pdf format (credit:- freestarcharts)

See also

The Planets this Month - June 2016