Current Night Sky: June 2018

The June solstice occurs on June 21, at 6:07 am EDT, as the Sun reaches its northernmost declination on the celestial sphere; by convention, this is considered the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and of winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Moon & Planets: 
Beehive Cluster

Venus buzzes the Beehive Cluster (M44). The open cluster looks like a small, nebulous object to the naked eye. A telescope, though, is overkill; its field of view is too small to embrace the entire cluster. The ideal instrument for appreciating the Beehive is a pair of binoculars; they can bring forth the richness of the hundreds of stars making up the cluster while providing a comfortable field of view. The Beehive is about 600 light-years distant; Venus is just 9.5 light-minutes away! (June 18, 2018, 11:00 pm EDT)

Earth's rotational axis always points toward the celestial pole, 23.5° away from the axis of its orbit around the Sun. When the planet reaches its June location, the Northern Hemisphere is at its maximum tilt toward the Sun; it is experiencing the warmth of summer. The Southern Hemisphere, in the meantime, is tilted at a shallower angle to the Sun; there, winter is bringing cooler weather.

Saturn

Saturn reaches opposition on June 27; it lies opposite the Sun in our sky, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise. It is also at its brightest, largest, and nearest to Earth – around 841 million miles distant. In this view some of Saturn’s larger moons are visible: Rhea (on left), Tethys (lower right), and Dione and bright Titan (above) (June 27, 2018, 4:00 am EDT).

Evening Planets (after sunset): 
  • Mercury, NW
  • Venus, W
  • Jupiter, S
  • Saturn, SE
Morning Planets (before sunrise): 
  • Saturn, SW
  • Mars, S
  • Neptune, SE
  • Uranus, E
Comets: 

There are no comets brighter than magnitude 8 visible this month.

Meteors: 

There are no significant meteor showers in June.

Phases of the Moon: 
Last Quarter Moon June 6 2:32 pm EDT
New Moon June 13 3:43 pm EDT
First Quarter Moon June 20 6:51 am EDT
Full Moon June 28 12:53 am EDT

Text, graphics, and animations by John Sheff. Graphics courtesy of Starry Night(©) Pro Plus 7 / Imaginova(©) Corp. Starry Night images are used with permission from Imaginova Corp. Starry Night is a registered trademark of Imaginova Corp. Star charts generated by Starry Night Pro Plus 7 © Imaginova Corp. All rights reserved. www.StarryNight.com