Moon close to Antares 'The Rival of Mars'

 It doesn’t get dark until late on June evenings but there are still some great things that can be seen in the sky with the naked eye.

Even on bright evenings the Moon cannot be missed and there is a great opportunity to see it either side of the bright red star Antares in the constellation of the Scorpion on the 19^th and 20^th of June.

As soon as it gets dark look to the south where you will see the Moon. On the 19^th the Moon will be to the right of Antares while on the 20^th it will be to the left.

Antares is always seen low in the sky from Britain which is a shame because it is a fantastic object in the sky. It I a red supergiant star. In fact it is so big that the orbits of the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars could all fit inside the star. Antares is sometimes known as the ‘Rival of Mars’ because of its bright red hue.

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