June 7
Guard of the Pole
Sun Position
The Sun is in Gemini, declination near +23°. The Northern Hemisphere approaches its longest days; Ursa Minor sits high for northern observers all night long.
Sky Highlight
No major shower peaks today. Ursa Minor and the circumpolar stars are best appreciated in June evenings from northern latitudes, where Polaris rides high and the Little Dipper wheels fully above the horizon throughout the night.
Deep Sky Object
NGC 6543 (Cat's Eye Nebula), a planetary nebula roughly 3,300 light-years away. NGC 6543 in Draco is one of the most structurally complex planetary nebulae known, revealing nested shells, jets, and filaments in detailed images; it was the first nebula to have its spectrum analyzed, in 1864. Circumpolar from northern mid-latitudes; accessible year-round, but June evenings place Draco high overhead.
Featured Star
Pherkad (γ UMi) is a white giant (A3II-III) about 487 light-years away, one of the two 'Guardians of the Pole' flanking Polaris in the bowl of the Little Dipper. Its light left this star more than four centuries ago, long before the telescope was invented.
Around This Date
- June 7, 1905Albert Einstein submitted his paper on the photoelectric effect to Annalen der Physik, for which he would later receive the Nobel Prize; the paper introduced the concept of the photon.
- June 7, 1966OGO 3 (Orbiting Geophysical Observatory 3) launched from Cape Canaveral, carrying 21 scientific experiments, the largest experimental complement ever placed in orbit at that time; all 21 returned good data.
Pherkad has circled the pole without setting for every observer born above latitude 18° north.