What’s Up in the Night Sky – June 2026

from In-The-Sky.org

Moon Phases

Last Quarter – June 8

New Moon – June 14

First Quarter – June 21

Full – June 29 – The Strawberry Moon, also called The Honey Moon

Close Encounters

June 2 – The Great Globular Cluster (M13) in Hercules is visible all night, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise.

June 3 – The Globular Cluster M12 in Ophiuchus is visible all night, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise.

June 5 – Venus reaches its highest point in the evening sky in this apparition. The magnitude -4.3 spark of light is 28° above the western horizon at sunset.

June 6 – The Globular Cluster M10 in Ophiuchus is visible all night, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise.

June 7 – The Globular Cluster M62 in Ophiuchus is visible all night, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise. Its southern placement in the sky means it never rises more than 21° above the southern horizon.

June 9 – Venus and Jupiter are in conjunction in the western sky. Venus is magnitude -4.0 and Jupiter is magnitude -1.9, both in Gemini. Only 23° above the western horizon, they set about 2.5 hours after the Sun.

June 9 – Mercury is at dichotomy, with the planet showing its half-phase only about 18° above the western horizon as sunset. It shines at magnitude 0.0 a bit north of Venus and Jupiter.

June 10 – The Moon and Saturn are in conjunction, separated by over 6° in the early morning sky. They rise together about 2:20am in Pisces.

June 11 – The Globular Cluster M92 in Hercules is visible all night, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise.

June 16 – The Moon and Mercury are near each other in the western sky as the Sun sets.

June 17 – The Moon occults Venus for all of the contiguous Unites States. Venus disappears behind the Moon at 2:22pm and reappears at 3:52pm. Both events occur during the day so use the 3-day old Moon as your guide. See the link for more information.  https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20260617_16_100

Use caution attempting to watch this event as the Sun is above the horizon and nearby.

June 21 – The summer solstice.  Days begin to get shorter from now until the first day of winter on December 21.

June 23 – The Lagoon Nebula (M8) in Sagittarius is visible all night, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise.

Major Meteor Showers – from https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/

No major meteor showers are present during June.

Planet Watch for June 15, 2026

Mercury is too close to the Sun for good viewing. It’s only 10° above the western horizon at sunset.

Venus is visible in the western sky starting around 8:45pm and remains above the horizon until nearly 11pm.

Mars is not observable as it is only 12° above the eastern horizon at sunrise.

Jupiter becomes visible in the western sky near Venus at 8:45pm as the setting Sun dims and remains visible until nearly 11pm.

Saturn rises in the east around 2am and reaches an altitude of 31° as the Sun rises around 4:50am. It shines at magnitude 0.6 in Pisces.

Uranus is not visible due to its proximity to the Sun.

Neptune rises around 1:30am and reaches an altitude of 28° above the south-eastern horizon at sunrise. Neptune shines faintly a magnitude 7.9 in Pisces.

Please join us at Highland’s Louis Latzer Memorial Public Library on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 6:30pm in the basement auditorium as we celebrate and honor our newest Sky Puppies!  What’s a Sky Puppy?  A Sky Puppy has completed the program sponsored by the Astronomical League where kids between the ages of 8 and 10 learn about astronomy and the night sky. This is the third year for this program and is led by Terry and Jeff Menz, officers in the River Bend Astronomy Club.  Come out and celebrate Korah, Quincy, and Zackary! Let them share what they learned. Light refreshments will be served. Consider this program for your space enthusiast when we register the next class for the fall.

What’s Up in the Night Sky – May 2026

from In-The-Sky.org

Moon Phases

Full – May 1 – Full Flower Moon

Last Quarter – May 9

New Moon – May 16

First Quarter – May 23

Full – May 31 – Blue Moon

Close Encounters

May 3 – Close approach of the Moon and Antares. The Moon occults Antares for portions of the southern hemisphere.

May 6 – The Eta Aquariid meteor shower reaches its peak rate of meteors. See details below.

May 13 – Conjunction of Saturn and the Moon with the Moon passing over 5.5° north of Saturn. This is an early morning event and the pair will only be 11° above the horizon as sunrise begins.

May 14 – Conjunction of Mars and the Moon with the Moon passing 5° north of Mars. Another early morning event taking place with the pair only 4° above the horizon as sunrise begins.

May 18 – Mark your calendar for this one!  The 3-day old Moon passes 3° north of Venus in a fairly close conjunction in the evening sky. Watch Venus pop into view near the thin crescent Moon as the sky darkens.

May 20 – Conjunction of Jupiter and the crescent Moon. The Moon passes 3° north of Jupiter.

May 21 – The thick crescent Moon passes within 1 degree of M44 (The Beehive Cluster) in Cancer.

May 23 – Close approach of the Moon and Regulus. An occultation takes place for portions of the south Pacific.

May 28 – The globular cluster M4 in Scorpius is well placed for viewing. It passes the zenith near midnight.

May 31 – Early AM the second full Moon (Blue Moon) passes near Antares in Scorpius.

Major Meteor Showers – from https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/

The eta Aquariids meteor shower is active from April 19 through May 28 with a peak on May 8. The Moon will be waning gibbous (84% illuminated) and will severely affect the 10-30 ZHR.

Planet Watch for May 15, 2026

Mercury Is about to pass behind the Sun and is not visible. It will next be an evening object, reaching its highest altitude on June 10.

Venus becomes visible 22° above the western horizon in the evening as the Sun sets and will remain visible until a little after 10pm with a low western horizon.

Mars rises in the eastern morning sky as the sky begins to brighten and only 4° above the horizon at dawn. Mars’ next opposition is February 19, 2027.

Jupiter is halfway up the western sky at sunset and remains visible until around midnight. At magnitude -2 it continues to outshine nearby Castor and Pollux in Gemini.

Saturn begins its newest apparition. It shines at magnitude 0.7 in the morning sky, reaching an altitude of only 12° before dawn washes it out.

Uranus is at solar conjunction on May 22, ending this current apparition and beginning the new one. Uranus will next be visible in the early morning sky in June.

Neptune shines at a feeble magnitude 7.9 and is lost in the brightening morning sky. It is only 9° above the horizon at dawn.