June 11
The Thirteenth House
Sun Position
The Sun is in Gemini, declination near +23°. Northern days remain near their maximum; twilight lingers past 10 p.m. at mid-latitudes.
Sky Highlight
No major meteor shower peaks today. Ophiuchus, the constellation the Sun actually passes through from late November to early December, is well-placed for observation in June evenings, a quiet irony of a sky that crosses twelve official zodiac signs but ignores the thirteenth.
Deep Sky Object
M62 (NGC 6266), a globular cluster about 22,500 light-years away. M62 in Ophiuchus is one of the most centrally concentrated globular clusters in the Messier catalog and sits unusually close to the galactic center, which has distorted its shape; it also contains more than 100 known variable stars. Better viewed from southern latitudes; northern observers can catch it low in the south in June and July evenings.
Featured Star
Rasalhague (α Oph) is a white giant (A5III) 47 light-years away, the bright head of Ophiuchus, a figure that stands in the ecliptic plane and is crossed by the Sun each December, yet is omitted from the traditional zodiac. This is the serpent-bearer's prominent star, overhead in summer, named in Arabic for the man who holds the snake.
Around This Date
- June 11, 1985ESA launched the Giotto spacecraft on its mission to encounter Halley's Comet, the first European deep-space mission.
- June 13, 1983Pioneer 10 became the first spacecraft to cross the orbit of Neptune, moving beyond all the known planets of the solar system.
The Sun ignores this constellation once a year; the rest of the time the sky belongs to the healer.