Three bright planets stairstep up the evening sky for most of the month. Venus, the Evening Star, is the brightest, followed by Jupiter, then Mercury (see Featured Event). Scorpius arcs low across the south during the night, while the Summer Triangle—the bright stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair—is in the east at nightfall and soars high overhead in the wee hours. The Big Dipper is high in the north at nightfall early in the month, but a little lower in the northwest by June’s end.
The full Moon of June is known as the Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon, Rose Moon, or Honey Moon.
Perigee June 14
Apogee June 28
Moon phases are Central Time.
Spica, the leading light of the constellation Virgo, is close to the lower left of the Moon as they climb into view late this evening. They will move closer together during the night. The bright star will stand above the Moon as they rise tomorrow night.
To find the Little Dipper, first find the Big Dipper, which is in the northeast around 9 p.m. The stars at the outer edge of its bowl point toward Polaris, at the tip of the Little Dipper’s handle. The dipper stretches to the lower right of Polaris.
The Moon and Sun will stage a total lunar eclipse in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, as the Moon passes through Earth’s long shadow. All or most of the eclipse will be visible across most of the United States.
The Moon tonight stalks Regulus, the heart of Leo. And seen from Hawaii, it will catch the star, passing in front of it and blocking it from view. As seen from the rest of the U.S., Regulus and the Moon will be separated by just a whisker as they set, around dawn.
Dubhe, the star at the outer corner of the bowl of the Big Dipper, looks like a single point of light, but it actually consists of at least four stars, which are divided into two pairs.
Pollux and Castor line up to the upper left of the Moon at nightfall. Pollux, the brighter of Gemini’s twin stars, is closer to the Moon. The planet Jupiter is farther to the upper right of the Moon. Jupiter outshines all the true stars in the night sky.
Jupiter teams up with the Moon and the twins of Gemini tonight. The giant planet looks like a brilliant star below the Moon at nightfall. It’s far brighter than any of the true stars. Gemini’s twin stars, Castor and Pollux, line up to the lower left of the Moon.
The brightest star in the night sky is Sirius, a white jewel in the constellation Canis Major, the big dog. It stands fairly high in the southern sky in early evening. In ancient Egypt, the star represented Isis, the wife of Osiris, the god of the underworld.
The Moon is at first quarter today at 6:27 a.m. CST. It aligns at a right angle to the line between Earth and the Sun, so sunlight illuminates half of the lunar hemisphere that faces our way.
The Moon passes through the outskirts of the Pleiades Cluster tonight. The cluster forms the outline of a small dipper, and is the best-known star cluster in the heavens. But the moonlight makes it tough to see the stars.
