Not only the summer, which will begin on the 21st with the solstice, but a partial solar eclipse minimally visible in the center-north and the progressive easing of the anti-Covid measures and the curfew, which will allow observation enthusiasts of the night sky to gradually return to see the stars again, as the Italian Amateur Astronomers Union (Uai) notes.
Although as Mauro Messerotti, of the Trieste Astronomical Observatory of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) points out, the summer season will officially begin on June 1st in the northern hemisphere and the meteorological winter in the southern hemisphere. on the 21st, with the solstice falling at 05.32 Italian time.
As far as the partial solar eclipse is concerned, in Italy the phenomenon will be of very limited magnitude. The eclipse will be annular at very northern latitudes, such as those of the Arctic region, while in Italy in the center north we will see a tiny portion of the solar disk hidden by the Moon. On the other hand, we will see very little in the center south up to Florence, nothing from Rome down. The recommendation is always to never look at the Sun without adequate protection, recalls the Uai, which for the occasion is promoting the Sun Day event in live streaming.
As for the planets, in the evening Venus will continue the long pursuit of Mars as it happened in May, which will end only in the month of July, while Jupiter and Saturn are observable in the second part of the night.
On the evening of June 12, a rich concentration of stars will show, with Venus, the thin crescent moon and the two brightest stars in the constellation of Gemini, Castor and Pollux. The following evening the crescent Moon will reach Mars in the constellation of Cancer, while on June 23 Mars will be right in the center of the star cluster of the Nativity scene, in the constellation of Cancer. Finally, between 27 and 28 June, the meeting between the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn that inaugurated the month will be repeated.