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Powerhouse Museum - Sky Guide May 2025

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Country Always

Country Always

Caring for Country

A Corner of the Empire

A Corner of the Empire

The Garden Palace

The Holding Pen

The Holding Pen

The Agricultural Hall

Regional Networks

Regional Networks

Across New South Wales

A Museum of Doing

A Museum of Doing

Technological Museum

Expanding Stories

Expanding Stories

Evolution of the Castle Hill site from botanical research station to Museum Discovery Centre

Transforming the Tramsheds

Transforming the Tramsheds

Powerhouse Stage 1 and the Harwood Building

A Symbol in Time

A Symbol in Time

Sydney Observatory

Ongoing Transformations

Ongoing Transformations

Powerhouse Ultimo

Applied Arts and Sciences

Applied Arts and Sciences

Defining the terms in the 21st century

Powerhouse Renewal

Powerhouse Renewal

A transformative renewal program across four sites

We Rise

We Rise

Blak Powerhouse

Powerhouse-1 Mission Launch to the ISS

Powerhouse-1 Mission Launch to the ISS

An initiative of the Powerhouse: Future Space program

2024

2024

Exoskeleton

Exoskeleton

Powerhouse Parramatta

Powerhouse Parramatta Topping Out

Powerhouse Parramatta Topping Out

Major construction milestone achieved for the new museum

Sky Guide June 2025

Sky Guide June 2025

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

2025

Stories

Sky Guide June 2025

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

With Dr Nick Lomb, Geoffrey Wyatt and Dr Andrew Jacob

Object No. 85/59-25/31

‘It’s cold outside but arguably the best time of year to enjoy stunning views of the river in the sky, the Milky Way, on a moonless night away from the lights of towns and cities. Join us as we explore the wonders of the southern sky with your guide for this month.’

Geoffrey Wyatt, education program producer and astronomer

Moon Phases

A sepia image of the moon

First quarter – Tuesday 3 Jun 1:41 pm AEST

Full Moon – Wednesday 11 June 5:44 pm AEST

Last quarter – Thursday 19 June 5:19 am AEST

New Moon – Wednesday 25 June 8:31 pm AEST

Planets

Jupiter is quickly lost but Mercury joins Mars in the evening sky.

EVENING

Mercury appears low in the north-west at the end of the second week of the month. It starts the month in Gemini but moves into Cancer during the last week of the month. On 27 June, a thin crescent Moon is below and to the right or north of Mercury.

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Mars is in the north-west in Leo. On 1 June, the crescent Moon is below Mars, while on the next evening it is above, to the right or north and further away from the planet. On 17 and 18 June, Mars passes within one degree, or two moon-widths, of Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. On 29 June, the crescent Moon is below and to the left or west of Mars, while on the next evening the Moon is much closer to the planet, above and to its right or north.

Jupiter is low in the north-west in Taurus at the start of the month but disappears below the horizon after a few days.

MORNING

Venus is in the north-east. It starts the month in Pisces, moves into the non-zodiacal constellation of Cetus, the Whale, during the second week of the month for a day, then into Aries and finally Taurus at the end of the month. On 22 June, the crescent Moon is to the left or north of Venus, while the next morning it is below.

Saturn is in the north in Pisces. On 19 June, the last-quarter Moon is below and to the left or west of Saturn.

Constellations

Constellations are groups of stars that represent mythological figures, fanciful beasts or old scientific instruments. Some have been used for millennia as a tool to share significant cultural stories and to track the passage of the weeks and months. Today they also help astronomers mark out portions of the sky and locate astronomical objects. Those listed below have been selected for their visibility in the evening up to two hours after sunset as seen from the Southern Hemisphere.

Boötes the herdsman is low in the north and quite unremarkable apart from its brightest star Arcturus, which is the fourth brightest star in the night sky overall and the brightest in the northern sky. Arcturus is only slightly more massive than our Sun, but its advanced evolution has taken it off the Main Sequence to become a bloated giant 25 times bigger and 170 times brighter than the Sun. It has a golden orange hue and is about 37 light years.

Centaurus the half man half horse represents the scholarly Chiron, tutor of many of the Greek gods and heroes including Heracles, Achilles and Jason. Its two brightest stars of Alpha Centauri — the closest star system to the Sun — and Beta Centauri make up the front legs of the centaur. When used with Crux, they help find south. It also contains the most spectacular globular cluster of all: Omega Centauri (NGC 5139). Centaurus was one of the original 48 constellations as mapped by Ptolemy and originally included Crux before the latter was identified separately in the 17th century CE.

Crux or the Southern Cross is the smallest of all 88 western constellations and consists of four bright stars. Along with the nearby pointers of Alpha and Beta Centauri, Crux can be used to find south. Draw an imaginary line from the top of the cross shape though the bottom and across the sky. Midway between the pointers draw a line perpendicular to the line that joins them. Where these two longer lines intersect is close to the southern celestial pole. From this point drop a vertical down to the horizon to locate south. This technique works at any time of the night, any time of the year. The superb open cluster NGC 4755 (Jewel Box) appears very close to the second brightest star, Beta Crucis

Lantern slide used at the Sydney Observatory for teaching astronomy.
Object No. 85/59-9/165

Libra has been recognised historically as set of balance scales, the scales of justice, or a part of Scorpius (the scorpion’s claws). However, the Romans returned it to the separate set of scales we are familiar with today. The former association of Libra and Scorpius is reflected in the names of the two brightest stars in Libra: Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali (meaning ‘the southern claw’ and ‘the northern claw’ respectively). Libra is host to the star Gliese 581 — the first star identified with an Earth-like exoplanet.

Scorpius the scorpion is one of the easiest constellations to pick out as it is one of the few that does look like what it’s supposed to represent. It sits in the brightest parts of the Milky Way, with the red supergiant star Antares (meaning ‘Rival of Mars’) marking its heart. From the heart, three stars mark the head and claws while moving the other way we see the body, hooked tail and sting. The scorpion plays a role in many myths; however, it is best known in Greek mythology for its pursuit of Orion through the night sky. Scorpius dominates the sky from June to August when it sits high overhead. It contains the globular cluster M4, the first in which individual stars were resolved, approximately 6000 light years away. It also has two open clusters M6 the Butterfly cluster, which is 100 million years old, and M7 the Ptolemy cluster at just 200 million years old.

Deep sky

Alpha Centauri is a triple star system consisting of Alpha Centauri A and B, and the closest star to our Sun, Proxima Centauri (Alpha Centauri C) at 4.2 light years away. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star, only visible through large telescopes, and revolves around the other two stars once every 550,000 years.

NGC 3293 and NGC 3532 are two stunning open clusters in Carina and both excellent targets for binocular and telescope viewing. NGC 3532 was the first target of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990. It contains around 150 stars thought to be 300 million years old at a distance of 1300 light years. NGC 3293 is much younger with stars between 6 and 20 million years but around 9000 light years away.

The Jewel Box (NGC 4755) is an open star cluster, approximately 10 million years old. It is close to Beta Crucis (Mimosa), the second-brightest star in Crux (Southern Cross). In binoculars and small telescopes it appears as an ‘A’ shape. It is about 20 light years across and contains around 100 stars. One of these is the red super giant DU Crucis, which is around 500 times the diameter of the Sun. The Jewel Box is one of the youngest open clusters in our skies with an estimated age of about 14 million years. It lies at a distance of about 6400 light years.

M4 is the closest globular cluster to Earth at 6000 light years away. M4 is easy to locate, sitting next to the red supergiant star, Antares, in Scorpius. The cluster contains more than 100,000 stars with approximately 40,000 of these being white dwarf stars.

Omega Centauri (NGC 5139) is the brightest and largest of approximately 150 globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way. It is so bright it was labelled as a star on early sky charts by Ptolemy and is one of the few objects in the sky that carries both a star designation and an object catalogue designation. Omega Centauri shines with the luminosity of a million suns and is relatively close to us, only 15,800 light years away. It contains approximately 10 million stars and some theories suggest it could be the remnant core of a galaxy that is merging with the Milky Way.

Special Events

The night sky showing a Carina Nebula also known as a fine star cloud showing as red glow

The Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere usually occurs near 21 June. This year it is on Saturday 21 June at 12:42pm AEST. At this time our Sun has reached its most northerly point in the sky. After this, it heads back toward the southern sky. This day also has the least hours of daylight for the year and the longest night. The apparent annual north-south movement of the Sun in the sky is probably the result of an impact by an object called Theia around 4.5 billion years ago. That collision led to the formation of the Moon and left the Earth’s axis tilted by 23.5 degrees. This tilt is the reason for the season and the changing path of the Sun as we see it.

Gallery image

Star Map June 2025

Past Months

Southern Cross' plate negative c.1900–1950

Sky Guide April 2025

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

600 Kilometre Segment of Longest Channel on Venus.

Sky Guide February 2025

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

Scanned visual of a graph map of Mars within an open book.

Sky Guide January 2025

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

Lantern slide of a meteor flight.

Sky Guide December 2024

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

A rectangular black and white silver gelatin glass plate positive showing six images of Jupiter. The original storage envelope accompanies the glass plate.

Sky Guide November 2024

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

Comet C2023-A3, or Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

Sky Guide October 2024

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

Small Magellanic Cloud in space.

Sky Guide September 2024

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

A dense galaxy cluster.

Sky Guide August 2024

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

X-rays stream off the sun in this first picture of the sun, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory SDO, taken by NASA NuSTAR. The field of view covers the west limb of the sun.

Sky Guide July 2024

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

Saturn's rings diagram of inclination.

Sky Guide June 2024

Sydney Observatory's monthly guide to the southern sky

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2025 Australasian Sky Guide

2025 Australasian Sky Guide

Featuring monthly sky maps, with details of the movement of the planets, stars and constellations, the 2025 Australasian Sky Guide is a must-have handbook to the year's most exciting celestial events.

2024 Australiasian Sky Guide

2024 Australiasian Sky Guide

The Australasian Sky Guide will tell you everything you need to know about the southern night sky. With month-by-month features and sky maps for viewing the Moon, planets, stars and constellations, it is ideal for stargazers who are beginners and experts alike.

Two people walking down a driveway towards a heritage building.

Sydney Observatory

Open for pre-booked tours, located on Gadigal land, a national place of connection and scientific research. The site is undergoing heritage conservation works.