The beginning of summer is rapidly bringing us closer to the shortest nights of the year. In June and the first half of July, there is no real astronomical night in northern Ukraine at all – the Sun does not fall below 18° below the horizon, and even away from city lights, the sky does not become truly dark. On the other hand, the season of visibility of the brightest part of the Milky Way begins, rich in various attractions, including scattered star clusters and large hydrogen nebulae, such as the North America Nebula and Pelican Nebula in Cygnus.
Particular attention should be paid at this time to the constellation Sagittarius, in particular to the part of it that borders on the Ophiuchus. It is in this direction, hidden by gas and dust clouds, that the central part of our Galaxy is located.
Of the bright planets in the evening sky in June, only Mars will remain, moving in the constellation Leo, but its season is slowly coming to an end. In the second half of the month, you can try to find Mercury shortly after sunset. Although the planet is approaching its greatest eastern elongation at this time, it will be quite low above the horizon, making it difficult to observe.
Jupiter will be inaccessible, and on June 24, it will be in conjunction with the Sun, hiding behind it for a while. The morning sky will be decorated with bright Venus, which will be at its greatest western elongation on the night of May 31-June 1. Saturn will also be visible not far from the Morning Star. It rises a little earlier, although it occurs in a relatively bright sky. Using a telescope, you will likely be able to find a much fainter Neptune, which will be approaching Saturn throughout June.
For those who want to not only enjoy the aesthetic pleasure of looking at the starry sky but also make their own (even small) contribution to science, we remind you that the season of evening visibility of the T Coronae Borealis star is underway, and scientists expect an outburst soon. Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict the exact time of the event, so both scientists and amateurs are constantly monitoring, hoping to catch the beginning of the outbreak. In any case, it will be useful to find the Corona Borealis constellation in the sky and memorize what it looks like to see the difference when the outbreak finally occurs.
List of events
👀 🔭 📷 June 1 – conjunction of the Moon (31%) with Mars (1.3m), the minimum angular distance at 12:48 will be ~1°, depending on the geographical location of the observer.
👀 🔭 📷 June 7 – the maximum of the Daytime Arietids meteor shower, which is active from May 14 to June 24. The radiant of the shower is located in the constellation Aries, so it rises before dawn; the predicted ZHR is 30.
👀 🔭 📷 June 11 – a full moon, the exact time is 7:43 a.m. GMT (2:43 a.m. EST).
👀 🔭 📷 June 17 – Mars (1.4m) will come almost close to Regulus (α Leo), with an angular distance of 0.7°.
👀 🔭 📷 June 19 – conjunction of the Moon (47%) with Saturn (1m), before dawn, the planet will be about 2° from our satellite.
👀 🔭 📷 June 21 – the summer solstice (2:42 a.m. GMT (9:42 p.m. EST)), the beginning of the astronomical summer.
👀 🔭 📷 June 25 – a new moon, the exact time is 12:31 p.m. GMT (7:31 a.m. EST).
👀 🔭 📷 June 27 – the peak of the June Boötids meteor shower, which is active from June 22 to July 2, and is usually very weak, with a ZHR of only 2-8. However, from time to time, this stream shows bursts of activity, the last of which, with a ZHR of 90 to 100, was observed in 1998.
👀 🔭 📷 June 30 – conjunction of the Moon (20%) with Mars (1.4m), the minimum angular distance will be ~0.6° when both bodies are below the horizon, so the best time to observe is the evening of June 29.
A detailed overview of the most interesting events
June 1: Moon in conjunction with Mars – a chance to see the Red Planet in the daytime sky.
Because all the planets in the Solar System and the Moon move in roughly the same plane, our satellite passes Mars every month, and differences in viewing conditions are mostly related to your geographic location and the Moon’s current orbital position. Nevertheless, the June 1 conjunction can be very special for owners of medium and large amateur telescopes.
Few people know, but Mars is quite possible to see in the daytime sky. Of course, it’s not as bright as Jupiter or Venus, let alone Venus. But its angular size and albedo are enough to see the Red Planet against a light background. If your telescope is installed permanently and has an automatic object pointing system, then the search issue is completely resolved. If you are pointing manually, then localizing Mars in a completely bright sky is a very difficult task.
But on June 1, we were lucky – at approximately 9:48 a.m. GMT (4:48 a.m. EST), Mars will be at 1° from the Moon. The latter is easy to find even during the day. The Moon will serve as a guide to finding the Red Planet. The orange-colored Mars against the blue sky is something special!
June 7: Daytime Arietids’ “starfall” – when and how to watch?
Popular meteor showers such as the Perseids, Geminids, and Quadrantids are easy to observe in the night sky. But the Daytime Arietids reach their maximum activity when their radiant, in the constellation Aries, is only 30° from the Sun. Nevertheless, this stream is believed to be the most powerful daytime starfall, some of which can be caught just before dawn.
Different sources indicate different ZHR values for the Daytime Arietids, mostly from 30 to 50. And radar observations, which track daytime meteors, give a ZHR of 60 and even higher. The stream meteors are not very fast – about 38 km/s.
According to the IMO (International Meteorological Organization) Calendar, the activity of the stream lasts from May 14 to June 24, but the maximum is reached on June 7. On this day, the radiant rises above the horizon 2 hours before sunrise, which limits the observation to the time from about 0:00 to 1:00 a.m. GMT (on June 6, at 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. EST). In addition, during this period, the sky will become increasingly lighter. Thus, during this time, it will be realistic to see about 5-7 meteors, provided that the country sky is completely open.
Source: Stellarium virtual planetarium.
June 21: summer solstice
Although it is common to talk about the day of the summer solstice, this event occurs at a specific moment. The day and moment are different every year. Since the year does not last for a whole number of days, the summer solstice falls on June 20-22. In 2025, it falls on June 21, at 2:42 a.m. GMT (on June 20, at 9:42 p.m. EST).
It is at this moment that the northern hemisphere receives the greatest amount of sunlight and heat, while the southern hemisphere receives the least. The phenomenon is because the Earth, like a gyroscope or a spinning top, maintains the direction of its rotation axis relative to distant stars (although on the scale of thousands of years, the axis changes direction – phenomena known as precession and nutation). As a result, there are two times during the year when both hemispheres are equally illuminated (equinoxes) and two more when one of them receives significantly more energy (solstices).
The summer solstice is the longest day of the year for us, when the Sun is at its highest in the sky. For example, in Kyiv, the daylight hours will last almost 16 hours and 27 minutes. In addition, this day marks the beginning of the astronomical summer, which will last until the autumnal equinox on September 22.
June 25: new moon – time for deep space objects.
Summer nights are short but warm, so observing at this time is as comfortable as possible. In the second half of the night, a wide, bright band of the Milky Way stretches across the sky, where you can find many scattered star clusters. However, in June, we suggest paying attention to many planetary nebulae and globular clusters.
The easiest of these will be the Dumbbell Nebula (M27 – the Chanterelle constellation) and the Ring Nebula (M57 – the Lyra constellation), suitable even for beginners with small instruments. The Blinking Planetary (NGC 6826 – Cygnus) and the Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543 – Draco) will be more compact and therefore more difficult to find.
The undisputed king of globular clusters is M13, located in the constellation Hercules. Not far from it, you can find M92, which is more compact but has a brighter core. Another globular cluster, M56, can be found near the Ring.
