June Night Skies
A brief overview of what to see in the sky with the unaided eye:
Stars and Constellations
● Some prominent stars to notice include the 3 bright stars of the “Summer Triangle” climbing in the eastern sky during June evenings. The bright blue star Vega is the highest (in the eastern sky), and below Vega are Deneb to the north (lower left of Vega when looking eastward toward Vega) and Altair to the south
● Some prominent constellations to notice are the constellations of the Summer Triangle stars:
● Lyra is a small constellation that includes Vega
● Cygnus is a cross-shaped constellation (also known as the Northern Cross) that includes Deneb
● Aquila is a constellation that includes Altair
● The summer Milky Way extends north-to-south through Cygnus and Aquila
Planets
● Mercury is visible low in the pre-dawn eastern sky during the first week of June (below and left of Jupiter) and then becomes more difficult to see
● Venus shines very brightly in the evening sky and reaches greatest eastern elongation June 4
● Mars is visible in the evening sky, moving eastward from the Cancer constellation to the Leo constellation
● Jupiter rises several hours before sunrise and is visible in the pre-dawn sky in the Aries constellation
● Saturn rises after midnight and is visible in the southeastern sky in the middle of the Aquarius constellation
Moon Phases
● Full Moon June 3, 23:42 EDT
● Last Quarter Moon June 10, 15:31 EDT
● New Moon June 18, 00:37 EDT
● First Quarter Moon June 26, 03:50 EDT
Noteworthy Sky Events
● June 2-3: Mars appears in front of the Beehive star cluster in the Cancer constellation
● June 12-13: Venus very close to (north of) the Beehive star cluster
● June 21: summer solstice, 10:58 EDT
Sky Resources Online
Some website resources for sky charts, weekly sky events, and more information:
● astrogeo.ca/skylights
● www.heavens-above.com
● In-the-sky.org
● www.skyandtelescope.org
● www.skymaps.com
Star Chart for mid-June, mid-evening (courtesy of www.heavens-above.com):
