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.
Cygnus, the swan, soars across the east at nightfall. One of its stars may explode around 2022. The system’s two stars are spiraling closer together. They should merge, causing an outburst that will make the system one of the brightest in the night sky.
Sagittarius climbs low across the southern sky on summer nights. Its brightest stars form the shape of a teapot, which clears the southeastern horizon a couple of hours after sunset. The center of the Milky Way galaxy is above the teapot’s spout.
The star Regulus perches just a whisker away from the crescent Moon this evening. It’s the leading light of Leo, the lion. The name Regulus means “the little king.” The star is also known as Alpha Leonis, 32 Leo, and more than a dozen other names.
About an hour after nightfall, the Milky Way curves from the northeast to the south-southeast. In the northeast, look for cross-shaped Cygnus immersed in the Milky Way’s glow. And in the south, look for the scorpion and Sagittarius, the archer.
The Summer Triangle is in good view at nightfall. Its brightest point is Vega, in Lyra, the harp, which is high in the east-northeast. The faintest point, Deneb, is well to the lower left of Vega, with Altair farther to the lower right of Vega.
A system of three orange stars is in the south-southwest at nightfall, not far to the lower right of the bright planet Saturn. 36 Ophiuchi looks like a single, faint point of light. It consists of three stars that are smaller and cooler than the Sun.
The Moon is “new” today, as it crosses the imaginary line between Earth and Sun. It will return to view as a thin crescent on Sunday evening, quite low in the west shortly after sunset.
Eltanin, an Arabic name that means “the serpent,” is the brightest star of Draco, the dragon, which is high in the north on summer evenings. Eltanin is as bright as the nearby North Star, Polaris.
Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer, passes high across the south tonight, above Sagittarius and Scorpius. Ophiuchus is the only one of the 13 constellations along the Sun’s path that is not a member of the zodiac.
Summer begins tonight in the northern hemisphere, when the Sun stands farthest north for the year — a moment known as the summer solstice. The season lasts until the September equinox, when the Sun crosses the equator from north to south.
