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.
A conjunction between the two brightest points of light in the night sky, the planets Venus and Jupiter, plays out in the west the next couple of evenings. They are separated by less than two degrees, which is the width of your finger held at arm’s length.
Jupiter and Venus stand side by side at nightfall. Brighter Venus, the Evening Star, is on the right. The planets are the two brightest objects in the entire night sky other than the Moon. Fainter Mercury is to their lower right.
The constellation Serpens consists of two disconnected parts, a head and a tail. They wrap behind Ophiuchus the serpent bearer. Serpens is in view in the east and southeast by early evening. The half that represents the head is highest, above Ophiuchus.
Venus and Jupiter are staging one of the top skywatching events of the year-an especially close encounter of the two brightest points of light in the night sky. It plays out in the west over the next few evenings.
The Omega Centauri star cluster puts in a late-evening appearance. It stands highest above the southern horizon around 10 p.m. and looks like a faint smudge of light. It is about 17,000 light-years away, and contains a million stars or more.
Hercules and Ophiuchus stand almost head to head in the east and southeast this evening. Each has a star with an Arabic name that means “the head.” In Hercules, it’s Ras Algethi (head of the kneeler); in Ophiuchus, Rasalhague (head of the serpent bearer).
From the southern latitudes of the United States, the upper half of Centaurus the centaur stands in the southern sky at nightfall. The brightest star in that part of the constellation is Menkent, the centaur’s shoulder.
Pollux and Castor, the twins of Gemini, have a front-row seat for a planetary waltz this month. Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury are fairly close to the twins now, and will bunch up even closer during June. The group is in the west as evening twilight fades.
Four stars in the constellation Corvus, the crow, form a small lopsided box that resembles a sail. It’s in the south at nightfall. The star at the top left corner of the sail is Delta Corvi. Clockwise from there, the others are Gamma, Epsilon, and Beta Corvi.
The Moon is full tonight. As the second full Moon of the calendar month, it’s known as a Blue Moon. After major volcanic eruptions or big forest fires, the Moon can actually look blue. Such appearances are quite rare, however.
