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.
The planets Venus and Uranus cross paths in the evening sky this week. Venus is the Evening Star. Uranus is a couple of degrees to its upper left tonight, and is easy to see with binoculars. They will be even closer on Thursday, standing almost side by side.
The Lyrid meteor shower should be at its best the next couple of nights. Even at its peak, the shower produces no more than a dozen or so meteors per hour. But the Moon won’t get in the way, so if you have good weather and a good viewing spot, it’s worth a look.
The Moon is passing through the bull tonight. The bull’s “eye,” represented by the star Aldebaran, is to the left of the Moon. The bull’s face and shoulder are even closer, represented by a pair of star clusters, the Hyades and the Pleiades.
The planet Venus is the brilliant Evening Star now. It’s quite close to the crescent Moon this evening. The Moon will stand above the planet tomorrow night.
There’s a meeting of planets in the dawn sky. It’s a bit frustrating because the planets are quite low, so they are hard to see. Mercury is the brightest member of the trio, followed by Saturn, then Mars. The view is best from southern latitudes.
There’s a nice planetary alignment in the early morning sky now. Mars, Saturn, and Mercury are close together in the dawn twilight. But they are so low in the sky that you need a clear horizon and binoculars to spot them.
The Coma galaxy cluster is one of the closest clusters to Earth. It is in Coma Berenices, which is in the east at nightfall. The cluster is above the brilliant star Arcturus and to the lower left of Leo, the lion. Small telescopes reveal many of the galaxies.
The Coma star cluster, in the constellation Coma Berenices, consists of hundreds of stars about 280 light-years from Earth. The constellation is high in the east at nightfall. Under dark skies, the cluster is a good target for binoculars.
The long-lost tail of the lion climbs high across the sky this month. It’s a spray of faint stars that trails behind Leo. Today, it’s known as the hair of Queen Berenice of Egypt. Originally, though, it was the tuft of fur at the end of the lion’s tail.
One of the first planets ever found outside our own solar system orbits Tau Botis, a fairly bright star in Botes the herdsman. Under dark skies, Tau Botis is visible to the eye alone, above bright yellow-orange Arcturus, which is in the east at nightfall.
