| Early June | Sunrise 5:38 a.m., Sunset 7:50 p.m. PST, day length is 14 hours 12 minutes |
| June 1, Monday | Venus and Jupiter appear within 8° apart in the west-northwestern sky in the evening |
| June 3 to 16 | Milky Way viewing: skies will be dark and moonless at nightfall, providing an excellent chance to view the Milky Way, which will rise at 10:57 p.m, on June 7 and as early as 10:30 p.m. on June 14. It will be visible for 4 hours and 29 minutes |
| June 6-13 | Grand Canyon Star Party in Arizona, for more information visit: www.grandcanyon.org |
| June 11, Thursday | Venus, Jupiter and Mercury span their shortest angle in the evening sky, 13.2° |
| June 15, Monday | New Moon (darkest sky for stargazing and astrophotography) |
| June 15, Monday | Best night to see Mercury shortly after sunset, at greatest elongation, 24.5° from the Sun. |
| June 21, Sunday | June Solstice, which marks the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere. Longest day of the year at 14 hours and 20 minutes. |
| June 22 to July 2 | Bootids Meteor Shower (see note below) |
| June 29, Monday | Full Moon rises at 8:17 p.m. – sets at at 5:04 a.m. |
| June 30, Tuesday | Asteroid Day (see note below) |
THE PLANETS AND THE MILKY WAY IN JUNE
Evening Planets
This month Venus and Jupiter will dominate the western sky after sunset and will appear to pass each other in the west-northwestern sky. Both will be in conjunction (a close visible encounter) around June 8-9. Venus, the brilliant “Evening Star” will appear in the west after sunset, moving from Taurus toward Gemini, getting higher each night, and Jupiter will be located near Venus and shining brightly in the western sky as well.
Mercury will become visible low in the western sky shortly after sunset during the latter half of June, with June 15 being the best time, as it will be at its highest point above the horizon.
Morning Planets
Saturn and Mars will be visible in the early mornings this month. Mars remains low in the east-northeast, while Saturn ascends from east to east-southeast during June. Mars will be passing near Saturn in early June.
Summer Milky Way
Summer is the best time to see the bright core of our own Milky Way galaxy rising in the Southeastern sky, as the core is most prominent from June through August.
Notes:
- The June Bootids or June Boötids (shower #170 JBO) is a meteor shower occurring every year between 22 June and 2 July that peaks around June 27. In most years their activity is weak, with a zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of only 1 or 2. However, occasional outbursts have been seen, with the outburst of 1916 drawing attention to the previously unrecorded meteor shower. The most recent outburst occurred in 1998, when the ZHR reached 100. The meteor shower occurs when the Earth crosses the orbit of Comet Pons-Winnecke, a short-period comet which orbits the Sun about every 6.3 years. They are very slow meteors making atmospheric entry at 14 km/s.
- Asteroid Day (officially International Asteroid Day) is a global awareness campaign celebrated annually on June 30 and sanctioned by the United Nations. It educates the public about the hazards of asteroid impacts and highlights the scientific advancements in planetary defense and space exploration. The date was chosen to commemorate the Tungunska Event of 1908. On this day, a massive meteor airburst occurred over Siberia, Russia, near the Podkamennaya Tungunska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia), flattening roughly 830 square miles of forest. The explosion was between 3 and 50 megatons TNT equivalent, making this event the largest recorded impact in modern history, though much larger impacts are believed to have occurred in prehistoric times, including the Chicxulub impact that ended the Cretaceous period. For more info on Asteroid Day 2026, please visit the United Nations website at www.un.org.
