Watching the stars in Houston

We're talking all-natural stars, sans the plastic and collagen (if plastic's your thing, check this out...).

Not only does June bring us the longest day of the year (summer solstice on the 21st at 7:26 AM), but it is also an active month for the planets. Mercury will be making its most unabashed showing of the year, and Mars, Saturn, and Cancer the crab will all join together in a rare cosmic rendezvous on the fifteenth.

If you're a night owl (or an early riser), Venus can easily be seen to the east before dawn, and with this month's handy star chart, you may be able to spot a few constellations. Hercules is also a prominent figure in the summer sky at this time, but apparently not in Houston.

We were under the impression that stars and planets did not exist in the Houston night sky (blame it on the chemical sunsets), but here's to hoping!

Photo: NASA/NSSDC