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.
Twilight is the transition between day and night, as the atmosphere scatters sunlight from the dayside to the fringes of the nightside. Astronomical twilight begins or ends when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon, when the sky is as dark as it’s going to get.
The full Moon of June has many names, including Flower, Strawberry, and Honey Moon. But it’s also known as the Short-Night Moon. That’s because it’s in view for less time than any other full Moon of the year.
The star Antares, the bright heart of Scorpius, stands close to the Moon at nightfall. The Moon will move closer to it during the night, overpowering the star’s light and making Antares look washed out.
The planet Saturn is in the southeast at dawn, and looks like a bright star. We’re viewing its rings almost edge-on, so there’s not much to see even through large telescopes. But the view will improve over the coming months.
Vega, one of the brighter stars in the northern sky, stands low in the east-northeast at nightfall and climbs high overhead later on. A disk of dust surrounds the star. It may be the debris from collisions between asteroids or even planets.
Hydra, the water snake, is low in the southwestern quadrant of the sky at nightfall. One of its treasures is the binary system V Hydra. Its main star is old and puffed up. It expels gas into space, which the second star grabs and shoots out like cannonballs.
Spica is the bright star quite close to the left or lower left of the Moon at nightfall. The Moon will slide closer to Virgo’s leading light during the night. They will set in the wee hours of the morning.
The Sun, Moon, and planets move in front of the zodiac, the “pathway of animals.” The only inanimate member of the zodiac is Libra, the scales of justice. Libra arcs across the southern sky this evening. Its four main stars form a lopsided square.
Two constellations that are entwined in both mythology and the sky are in good view in the east and southeast on June evenings. The outline of Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer, looks a bit like a coffee urn. It is flanked by the two halves of Serpens, the serpent.
Venus is standing due east at dawn now. It is the brilliant Morning Star, so it’s hard to miss. The planet’s path across our sky repeats every eight years, so Venus will appear at almost exactly the same spot in early June of 2033.
