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.
Three tiny constellations stairstep up the eastern sky at nightfall. From bottom to top, they are Equuleus, the little horse; Delphinus, the dolphin; and Sagitta, the arrow. Under dark skies, both Delphinus and Sagitta are easy to pick out.
Venus and Aldebaran huddle close, low in the east at first light the next few days. Venus is the Morning Star, with fainter Aldebaran directly below it. Venus will slide to the lower left, and stand side by side with Aldebaran on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The largest globular star cluster in the galaxy, Omega Centauri, stands low in the south-southwest at nightfall for skywatchers in the far-southern United States. It looks like a tiny smudge of light. Binoculars reveal a few of its millions of stars.
Scorpius is low in the south at nightfall, to the right of the Moon. It’s marked by the scorpion’s “heart,” the star Antares, which is the most prominent member of a giant complex of young, bright, massive stars that spans many light-years.
Antares, the star that represents the heart of the scorpion, stands to the upper right of the Moon at nightfall. It will lead the Moon down the southwestern sky later on. The supergiant star is expected to explode as a supernova sometime in the next million years or so.
The Moon will step on the head of the scorpion tonight. It will pass directly in front of one of the stars that outlines the head, blocking it from view. The star, Pi Scorpii, is actually a system of three stars about 600 light-years away.
Leo, the celestial lion, is in the west as darkness falls. It is dropping toward the horizon head first, like a lion pouncing on its prey. Its brightest star, Regulus, is quite low in the sky. The slightly fainter planet Mars is well to the upper left of Regulus.
The “solar highway” curves low across the south on July evenings, outlining the path the Sun will follow during fall and winter. It is marked by some of the brightest objects in the night sky, including Mars and the stars Regulus and Spica.
The star Spica stands especially close to the upper right of the Moon at nightfall. The brightest star of Virgo is actually a pair of giant stars locked in a tight orbit around one another. The heavier member of the pair is likely to explode as a supernova.
Spica, the brightest star of the constellation Virgo, stands to the left or upper left of the Moon this evening. The Moon will slide a bit closer to the star before they set, after midnight. Spica will stand closer to the Moon tomorrow night.
