African sky

The constellations of the zodiac this month in the African sky

Audio 04:09

The constellations of the zodiac are 13 in number and not 12 as one might think with the signs of the zodiac.

©Pixabay

By: Caroline Lachowsky

3 mins

A beautiful program is announced.

I invite you this month to discover the famous constellations of the zodiac.

So as a reminder, the zodiac is this circular area of ​​the sky at 360° which surrounds the ecliptic.

The ecliptic plane is the plane in which the Earth orbits around the Sun.

So it is in the zodiac when we can observe the different planets of the solar system.

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The constellations of the zodiac are 13 in number and not 12 as one might think with the signs of the zodiac.

At the beginning of the night, high in the sky, you will discover Cancer due west and high in the sky the constellations of Leo, Virgo and Libra.

Around midnight, the constellations of Scorpio, Serpentarius, Sagittarius and Capricorn will be easily observable.

Take advantage of this moment of the night to discover Saturn, which is in Capricorn.

In the second part of the night, you will then discover the constellations of Aquarius, Pisces and Taurus.

Then take the opportunity to see the different planets aligned with Mars and Jupiter in Pisces, Venus and Mercury in Taurus just before sunrise.

Nice planetary reconciliations to observe

First on June 18 and 19, the gibbous Moon will not be far from Saturn.

On June 21, our satellite will approach Jupiter.

On June 22, the Moon will be between Jupiter and Mars, and on June 23, the thick lunar crescent will be close to the Red Planet.

On June 26, it will be Venus' turn to be visited by the Moon.

After greeting the evening star, a fine lunar crescent will approach Mercury on June 27 just before sunrise.

Take advantage of a clear east-north/east horizon to see this last rapprochement.

It will then be necessary to wait until July 15 to see the Moon next to a planet and it will be Saturn.

A beautiful lunar event organized in the next 30 days

On July 8, 9 and 10, the international event On the Moon Again will take place.

During this weekend, we hope that everyone, young or old, can discover the Moon through a telescope or an astronomical telescope.

If you have an observation instrument, install it on a street corner, on the edge of a river, on a village square and share the beauty of the Moon with passers-by... do not hesitate register at onthemoonagain.org.

During this weekend, the Moon will be close to the first quarter allowing a quality observation of several hours just after sunset.

A new astronomical telescope to be won!

I remind you that a new astronomical telescope is always put into play thanks to our partners SSVI and RFI.

To participate, send on our Facebook page L'astronomie Afrique your most beautiful photos or video or even a nice text that you have written.

The winner will be announced monthly on July 13.

Good comments.

Good heavens to all and don't forget the sky is the biggest screen, just look up.

Ciel d'Afrique

, with

, planetologist at the GeoSciences laboratory of the University of Paris Sud and President of the Astronomical Society of France.

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