June 5th: Venus reaches its highest altitude (27°) off the western horizon this evening. The planet will continue to brighten in the sky throughout the month as it moves toward a crescent phase..

 

June 9th: Venus and Jupiter meet up in the twilight skies after sunset on the western horizon, separated by only about 1.5°. Look for the twin stars of Gemini, Castor & Pollux, just to the right of the pair.

 

June 10th(AM): The crescent moon will appear near Saturn in the pre-dawn skies for early risers.

 

June 10th: Mercury reaches its highest altitude (18°) off the western horizon this evening.

 

June 17th (daylight): The Moon will occult the planet Venus, causing the planet to disappear from the sky for about an hour and a half between 3:33PM and 5:01PM. While this occurs during daylight, binoculars or small telescopes should be able to view the event if the skies are clear.

 

June 17th: The thin crescent Moon will appear near Venus and Jupiter in the low western sky shortly after sunset.

 

June 21st: The Summer Solstice for the northern hemisphere occurs at  4:27AM on June 21st. Both June 20th and June 21st are 14 hours, 55 minutes, and 7 seconds long. On both days, solar noon, when your shadow will be the shortest for our location, occurs at 1:39PM.

 

 

June 7th: Tianwen-2 - China's mission to the near-Earth asteroid Kamo'oalewa achieves orbital insertion. Rendevous and sample collection will occur on July 4th.

 

TBD June: NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer will have a rescue mission launched to boost the satellite's orbit and extend the spacecraft's mission. 

 

June 3, 1965: Ed White carries out the first American space walk.

 

June 16, 1963: The first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, launches aboard the USSR's Vostok 6.

 

June 29, 1995: The Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian space station Mir for the first time.

 

June 8th - 3rd Quarter

June 14th - New

June 21st - 1st Quarter

June 29th - Full (Strawberry Moon)

 

 

Mercury - Visible very low on the western horizon immediately after sunset all month, with peak visibility near the middle of the month.

 

Venus - Easily visible in the western sky after sunset all month, appearing highest early in the month and brightest toward the end of the month.

 

Mars - Rising in the eastern pre-dawn sky around 5AM early in the month and around 4AM late in the month.

 

Jupiter - Visible and bright early in the month, setting around midnight. By late in the month, it is lost to twilight, setting around 10:30PM late in the month.

 

Saturn - Visible pre-dawn, rising in the east around 3:30AM early in the month and around 2AM late in the month.