A ‘Planetary Parade’ May Be Visible In June Across America... If You Wake Up Early
By Meg Archer|Published May 22, 2024
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Meg Archer
Author
Meg Archer is an Editor & Newsletter Editor who has called Oregon home for nearly 30 years. She spent her childhood exploring the mountains, forests, and high desert of Central Oregon before relocating to Portland after a brief stint out-of-state for college. She holds an B.A. in English from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and a B.S. in Psychology from Portland State University. Meg has worked in writing, editing, and media-related fields for over 10 years and joined the team at OnlyInYourState in 2015. When she’s not writing or exploring the West Coast, Meg enjoys playing tabletop games, working on visual media projects, and can always be found in the front row at Portland Timbers matches.
The first five months of 2024 have been pretty stellar for stargazers and space nerds like me. Between the total solar eclipse in April and the stunning auroras produced by a massive solar flare in May, we’ve already had two unique opportunities to marvel at the beauty of the universe this year… and there’s another one coming up in early June, but you’ll have to wake up early if you want to see it.
I fell in love with astronomy back in middle school when an awesome teacher taught me a trick for spotting the brightest stars in the sky (anyone out there recognize the phrase “arc to Arcturus, speed to Spica?”) and my interest was reignited in college during a particularly cool physics course, so I’m always on the lookout for new ways to learn about our universe. If you are, too, I recommend checking out one of the many Night Sky apps out there. Stellarium is a great simulator for visualizing sky conditions from any location at specific times and dates. I’ve also used the StarWalk phone app for years to help me locate celestial objects, even if I can’t see them with my eyes alone. Both are free and are pretty cool tools for learning about constellations, star identification, and tracking the path of the ISS as it circumnavigates the globe!
So there you have it: everything you need to know about the “planetary parade” in June 2024. Here’s hoping for clear eyes and clear skies!
Were you lucky enough to see the awe-inspiring auroras in May? I never thought I’d see them so close to home! Several of our editors snapped photos from all across the country – you can see our views from Oregon, Utah, and Ohio on the OnlyInYourState Instagram page!
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