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.
Comet Lemmon is cruising across the pre-dawn sky, to the right of the Big Dipper. It is an easy target for binoculars, and is even visible to the unaided eye under dark skies. It is expected to grow much brighter during the month as it continues along that path.
The bull is charging into the evening sky. Taurus is in full view by about 11 p.m., low in the east. He stands high in the south before dawn. He’s rising earlier each night, and will be in view all night long by about Thanksgiving.
The Moon is full tonight. It’s the most famous full Moon, the Harvest Moon, which is the full Moon closest to the fall equinox. Most years it’s in September. This year, October’s full Moon is a few hours closer to the equinox, so it takes Harvest Moon honors.
The planet Saturn is easy to spot tonight. It looks like a bright star quite close to the lower right of the Moon at nightfall, and below the Moon as they set, before dawn.
Saturn and Venus bracket the pre-dawn sky now. As Saturn drops from view in the west, Venus nudges into view in the east. Saturn looks like a bright star, while Venus is the even brighter Morning Star.
Autumn is barely under way, but you can get a preview of the winter sky this week before dawn. Taurus, the bull, is high overhead. Orion stands to its southeast, with Sirius, the sky’s brightest star, low in the south-southeast.
The dwarf planet Ceres is lining up opposite the Sun in our sky, so it rises at sunset and is in view all night. It’s also closest to us at opposition, so it’s at its brightest. Even so, you need binoculars or a telescope to see it, in the constellation Cetus.
As darkness falls, look low in the west for the brilliant star Arcturus. It stands at the base of Botes the herdsman. In most depictions, Botes is holding something long and straight against his side. In some cases, it’s a staff. In others, it’s a spear.
The Coathanger, a pattern of 10 stars that looks like an upside-down hanger, is one of the highlights of the faint constellation Vulpecula, the fox. It is a great target for binoculars.
The southern evening sky is pretty bare at this time of year, with lots of dark, empty spaces but few bright stars. A notable exception is Fomalhaut, the brightest star of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish. It is low in the southeast at nightfall.
