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.
Mercury is just peeking into view in the dawn sky. The little planet is in the east in the waxing twilight, and looks like a bright star. But because of the angle at which it rises, it’s hard to spot. The view is best from south of about Dallas.
For skywatchers, tonight is a time for old friends. There’s an almost-full Moon, so its glare overpowers most of the stars. But the brightest, most-familiar stars shine through. That includes the stars of the Big Dipper, which are in the northeast at nightfall.
One of the most beautiful double stars is Algieba, in Leo, the lion, a constellation that is prominent during spring. Seen through a telescope, both of Algieba’s stars shine golden yellow.
The star Regulus leads the Moon across the sky tonight. The bright heart of the lion is close to the upper right of the Moon at nightfall, with the gap increasing as the hours roll by.
Hercules climbs into prominence during spring. Most of its stars clear the northeastern horizon by about 11 p.m. Look for a pattern of four moderately bright stars that looks like a shield. This pattern, the Keystone, represents the strongman’s body.
Astronomers recently found a world that may be similar to Tatooine, the home of Luke Skywalker. Known as Bebop 3b, it orbits both stars in a binary system, giving it double sunsets. The system is high overhead at nightfall, but too faint to see without a telescope.
Pollux, the brightest star of Gemini, is quite close to the Moon tonight. Its “twin” star, Castor, and the brilliant planet Jupiter are a little farther from the Moon. Pollux is much bigger and brighter than the Sun. It’s also cooler, so it looks orange.
Jupiter stands near the Moon tonight. The solar system’s largest planet looks like a brilliant star, so you can’t miss it. The twin stars of Gemini, Pollux and Castor, are close by, standing almost directly overhead.
Elnath marks the tip of one of the horns of Taurus, the bull. It’s about 130 light-years away, and about five times the size and mass of the Sun. It’s close to the Moon tonight. As night falls, they’re no more than one or two degrees apart.
The Hyades star cluster, which outlines the face of Taurus, the bull, is to the lower left of the Moon this evening. Its stars form a “V” shape. The brightest star in the outline is Aldebaran. It’s only about half as distant as the stars of the Hyades, however.
