Tonight's Night Sky During the Month of June
From Mercury’s best appearance of the year to striking moon-planet meetups and a stunning summer solstice sunset, June offers one beautiful skywatching moment after another. Mark your calendar, grab a blanket, and enjoy the cosmic wonders overhead!
Planets and Stars on Display
June 1: Crescent Moon and Mars
June skywatching starts big. Head outside June 1. You’ll be rewarded with a captivating crescent Moon between Mars and Leo’s blue star Regulus.
Around 9:15, Jupiter will join the party, very low in the evening twilight.
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June 12-30: The Best of Mercury
From June 12 to June 30, Mercury will be offering its finest showing of 2025. Look low in the Western Northwest from 9:00 to 9:15 P.M. Right near 9:00, it will be at its brightest magnitude (-.8)
On June 26, you can see Mercury low to the left of the crescent Moon, before it achieves a more comfortable 8-degree elevation from June 29-30.
June 16, 17, 18: The Blue Star
A Regulus conjunction will take place on June 16, 17, and 18, 2025. Be sure to mark your calendar—bright orange Mars will appear right next to the blue-white star Regulus shortly after nightfall. The best part? You won’t need a perfectly clear western horizon to enjoy the view. During this time, the Mars-Regulus duo will sit comfortably about 20 degrees above the horizon.
June 29: Mars is Back
On the 29th of June, mark your calendars for a brilliant conjunction, with Mars hovering just above the crescent Moon. For viewers in the eastern U.S. and Canada, it will look like the red planet and the Moon are practically touching!
Spotlight on the Moon
June 11: Strawberry Moon
Get out the strawberries and cream! Yes, June’s Moon is traditionally called the “Strawberry Moon.” Find out why on our June Full Moon page.
June 20: A Summer Solstice Spectacle!
The 20th (at 10:42 P.M.) marks the first day of summer for the Northern Hemisphere and the longest day of 2025 in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the day when the Sun is at its highest at midday, rising from its leftmost position and setting at the year’s rightmost spot on the horizon.
June 25: New Moon
Prefer to stargaze and ponder the cosmos? June 25 is your best opportunity, with the new Moon peaking at 6:31 A.M. Read more about the new Moon.
June Stargazing
- Look for the Big Dipper riding high in the northwest at nightfall this month. Learn more about how to spot the Big Dipper and Little Dipper!
- It’s also fun to spot the Summer Triangle! See how to spot the Summer triangle, as well as other constellations and star groupings!
Click here for the June Sky Map to see a star chart for this month!
Bob Berman
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I live in Bridgeport Ct; If I face North looking west at about 3:AM I see a bright planet; the planet sets in the north westerly just before sunrise; what the planet? its beautiful; ty~
My best guess is that it's the star Arcturus. It's a red giant and the brightest star in the northern sky, and is a part of the constellation Bootes.
Thanks for the information about he star Arcturus + the constellation Bootes; I have an exceptionally good night time northern sky; ty~
Live in East York, part of Toronto, Canada and face south. What a sight on a few nights of late May, early June to see the moon so bright, and thanks to the Farmer's Almanac, I now know that the outstanding bright star to the southeast of the moon is Jupiter; just spectacular!
Can the summer equinox ever have a full moon?
Kenneth - check this out - http s://james.darpinian. com/satellites/
Hello thanks for all the information about the night sky, what really would be neat is being able to (track) the international space station, and different satellites.
I don’t know if you’ll see this since you commented years ago, but the Stellarium app shows all that!
