June 26
The Dragon's Neck
Sun Position
The Sun is in Cancer, declination near +23.2°. Northern days are still long but measurably shortening; the southern hemisphere is near the midpoint of winter.
Sky Highlight
No major meteor shower peaks today. The June Bootid shower, with its unpredictable outburst potential, peaks around June 27; tonight is a good night to watch the northern sky near Boötes for any slow meteors from this irregular shower.
Deep Sky Object
M64 (Black Eye Galaxy), a spiral galaxy roughly 17 million light-years away. M64 in Coma Berenices is named for the prominent dark dust lane absorbing light on one side of its nucleus; unusually, the outer disk of stars rotates in the opposite direction from the inner disk, likely the remnant of a galaxy merger. Well-placed in June evenings from the Northern Hemisphere; accessible but lower from southern latitudes.
Featured Star
Kang (κ Vir) is a white subgiant (A1IV) about 202 light-years away in Virgo; in the Chinese lunar mansion system it gives its name to the second mansion, Kang (亢), representing the neck of the Azure Dragon of the East. A star whose name is better known in Beijing than in London.
Around This Date
- June 27, 1995Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with Mir on mission STS-71, the first Shuttle-Mir docking and the beginning of a joint program that laid groundwork for the International Space Station.
- June 25, 1997Progress M-34 collided with Mir's Spektr module during a manual docking test, depressurizing and permanently disabling the module in the worst accident of Mir's operational life.
The dragon's neck is a star in Virgo, different cultures drew different figures through the same points of light.