Jun 12
The Highland (IL) Jaycees asked the River Bend Astronomy Club to appear at their Schweizerfest on the Square in Highland on Sunday, June 14, 2026 from Noon through 2pm in and around the West Tent. Comet Chef Jeff will whip up a batch or two of kitchen comets and demonstrate what is a day, a month, and a year. Club members will bring telescopes for safe solar viewing (skies permitting) and describe how the different types of telescopes work. We’ll be there rain or shine!
May 27
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.
May 17
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.