Derekscope

Stonehenge at Milton Keynes
Famously, Midsummer Boulevard at the Central Milton Keynes shopping centre, is aligned with the path of the sun at summer solstice every year, so this year 2025 the sunrise will be 04:42am at altitude 48 degree in the east horizon.

This road aligned with the sunrise on the summer solstice conjure echoes of “Stonehenge” where I tracked time with sunlight.

The long shadow stretching behind me as the first light of day peeks over the east horizon.

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(Enlarge on click above)

The summer solstice on Saturday, 21st June 2025 marks the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky.

This astronomical event occurs because Earth’s axis is tilted 23.44°, causing the Northern Hemisphere to receive the most direct sunlight for around 16 hours 38 minutes to compare in the winter solstice for a whopping 7 hours and 50 minutes.
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How to sign solstice in BSL?

This year’s Full Strawberry Moon is the lowest full moon in UK skies since 2006.

Why the Strawberry Moon is so special this year?
The Strawberry Full Moon will be very low in the southern sky ~ making it the lowest Moon in its 18.6-year lunar cycle, and it will appear bigger than it because it is near the horizon.

The last time the full Moon sat this low in the sky was nearly 19 years ago, in 2006 (see my photo above), won’t happen again until 2043.

The Moon can indeed help in identifying the constellation Libra (The Scales) – its brilliance makes it easier to locate Libra, especially in the early evening, but the moonlight also makes it harder to see the faint constellation’s stars.

Virgo is a prominent constellation during this summer month in June and is located in the southern sky – tonight the Moon forms triangle with Spica and Porrima making it easier to identify Virgo in the night sky.

Challenging to spot two planets – Saturn & Neptune in the early morning – good opportunity for photography.

Moon near Mars and Regulus in the west as twilight ends.

Today Venus will reach its greatest eastern elongation – this means it will be at its farthest point from the Sun in the morning sky, making it the easiest time to observe Venus in the eastern sky before dawn this month, June.

Conjunction of the Moon and Mars – the pair will be too widely separated to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but will be visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars.

A superior conjunction occurs when Mercury is on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth, making it difficult to observe as it appears behind the Sun.