Welcome to the June night sky. This is the month of the summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere. It happens when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky, creating the longest days and the shortest nights in the northern hemisphere. This year it is on June 21.
This month has only one notable meteor shower: this is the June Bootids occurring on the 27th. The constellation of Bootes is overhead on June evenings and it contains the bright star Arcturus. This orange-coloured giant star is close to us at 37 light years away. It is the fourth brightest star in the night sky.
Arcturus has approximately the same mass of our Sun, but it is more than 20 times the diameter. This is because Arcturus is about three billion years older than the Sun and it is evolving into a red giant as will our Sun when it reaches a similar age. There is no evidence of planets around Arcturus at the moment.
By the end of the month, the elusive planet Mercury may just be seen for a few days very low in the west after sunset. On the 26th, Mercury will be very close to the thin crescent Moon just a day after the new Moon.
The first week of the month, the bright planet Venus will be seen before sunrise as its elongation from the Sun is at its greatest.
The red planet Mars can now be seen high in the southeast just after sunset and it will disappear around midnight. On the 17th, Mars will be close to the star Regulus in Leo the Lion and the Moon will be close on the 30th.
The gas giant planet Jupiter is very low in the west at dusk, and it will disappear behind the Sun later this month.
The ringed planet Saturn can be seen rising over in the east after midnight. The Moon will be close to Saturn on the 19th, and Neptune will be in this area at this time. Uranus is too close to the Sun to be seen this month.
The Moon is at first quarter on the 3rd,full on 11th, last quarter on the 18th and new on June 25.
Camera Obscura
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To see the June Sky Map, click on the pdf link below
