Updated June 16, 2025
NOTE: you can now follow the discussion below with a free planetarium program called Stellarium. To access the web version, go to https://stellarium-web.org/ and allow it to access your location to provide you with an accurate simulation of your nighttime sky. Experiment with it to learn more about the constellations mentioned below, and more.
NOTE: This will be the last update until July 7 or shortly thereafter. What follows highlights the next month’s worth of celestial activity.
As it gets dark these late June evenings, Jupiter is no longer visible in the west northwest as it is now lost in the solar glare. Mercury has taken its place somewhat but it is a visual challenge low in the west northwest 45 minutes after sunset. Binoculars, clear skies, and a flat horizon are needed to see Mercury, which fades from -0.5 this evening (June 16) to +0.2 on the 30th. The innermost planet actually lingers well into July, reaching its greatest apparent separation/elongation from the Sun on July 2nd.
On the evening of June 16, as it gets dark, two objects right next to each other become visible high in the western sky. They are Mars and Regulus, separated by 0.8 degrees. In the coming evenings, the two will start to separate again, with Regulus (along with Leo, tipped downward as it descends) drifting lower and lower each evening, while Mars maintains its altitude fairly low in the western sky. The two objects are still 0.8 degrees apart on the evening of the17th, with Mars more directly above Regulus. Mars glows at magnitude 1.3, and Regulus is 1.4. Look at these objects when they are close to each other for contrasting colors, which are more easily seen with binoculars.
By June 20, the two have separated to 2 degrees; in one week (the 27th), this increases to 6 degrees. Low in the west northwest, Gemini is starting to sink behind the west northwestern horizon. IT becomes mostly hidden by the 25th, with the twin stars low in the WNW 30 minutes after sunset. These stars line up with Mercury around June 25. On June 26th, a very thin crescent Moon sits between Pollux and Mercury as it returns to the evening sky. The waxing crescent Moon makes a close pass by Mars three days later, on the evening of the 29th of June. On this evening, the Moon is anywhere from 17′ to 2′ from Mars (a full Moon averages 31′ diameter), depending on observation location. For the U.S., the further south and west an observer is, the closer the two objects appear together.
In mid-June, Capella may be visible very low in the north northwest at dusk, with the object being higher in the sky the further north one is located. North of about 45 degrees north latitude, it is circumpolar (it never sets). Capella is now visible in the predawn sky toward the north northeast and gets higher and easier to see with each passing day.
The Moon reaches last quarter at exactly 2:19 pm CDT on June 18. The following morning, the planet Saturn is seen 4 to 5 degrees to the right of the Moon. Saturn itself rises around 1 am local time mid-June; this becomes midnight around July 1. Telescopically, the planet’s rings are now easily visible once again with at least low magnification.
Arcturus, magnitude 0.0, is very high in the south these evenings, and Spica is about 30 degrees below it. These two form a nearly perfect equilateral triangle with Denebola, the 2nd magnitude star that represents Leo’s tail tip. This asterism has been referred to as “the Spring Triangle”. Extending above Arcturus is the kite shaped Bootes constellation, about 23 degrees tall and slightly bent toward the left (as one would see facing south and looking overhead).
Facing east after nightfall, look one third of the way down from Arcturus to Vega for the semicircular Coronal Borealis (the recurrent nova or “blaze star”, T Coronae Borealis, is still quiet and has not brightened yet), crowned with 2nd magnitude Alphecca, its brightest star. Two thirds of the way down is the faint Keystone of Hercules, laying on its side. Then hanging down and right of Vega is the small constellation Lyra (Binoculars will help see these stellar patterns from light polluted locations). There is a small, almost equilateral triangle hanging down from Vega, and from the lower/lower right star of that triangle, a larger parallelogram extends down and to the right.
All of these constellations continue their march across the sky as days progress. By the first of July, Arcturus and Spica have started shifting to the western half of the celestial sphere, as the constellations of summer continue to rise higher along the eastern horizon with each passing day. Already at nightfall in mid-June, Antares (the brightest star of Scorpius) is easily seen low in the southeast. This will shift toward the south as the weeks progress, with Scorpius appearing almost due south at nightfall by mid-July. Scorpius is followed by Sagittarius which, in mid- to late June start to become visible by mid-evening, but is already well up by mid-July.
The start of the astronomical summer season in the northern hemisphere happens at exactly 9:42 pm CDT on Friday evening, June 20. This is the shortest night of the year, with the longest day of the year occurring immediately before. Note exactly where the Sun set that evening, and note your observation location as well, and check over the following few nights and weeks for the Sun to start setting a little left of its solstice position. This will be subtle at first but will accelerate as we head into July. Another feature to watch for is the length of day. Sunset will continue to get later for the next week or two, depending on latitude. Read more about the Summer Solstice and its interesting aspects at the Time and Date website.
On the morning of June 21, the waning crescent Moon is relatively high in the east northeast about one hour before sunrise. Bright Venus is below and left of it. The next morning, the Moon is left of Venus, separated by a wide margin. Below and left of it are the Pleiades. On the 23rd of June, the thin crescent Moon is very low in the East Northeast, below and left of the Pleiades, which continue to climb higher with each passing morning.
The Summer Triangle has become visible in the evening sky, getting higher as the days pass. In mid-June, the stars Altair and Deneb are still low on the horizon as it gets dark, but get higher with each passing night and week. Along with this asterism, the constellations of summer continue to get higher, occupying all of the eastern half of the celestial sphere by mid-evening in early-to mid-July.
The Big Dipper is high in the northwest at dusk and its pointers are located at the bottom left of this familiar asterism. The pointers point toward Polaris, situated due north at an altitude equal to the observer’s latitude (e.g. it is 30 degrees high at 30 degrees north latitude). Above Polaris is a similarly bright star, Kochab, the top of the bowl of the Little Dipper. Kochab passes directly over Polaris around 9:00 pm local time (depending on your location within your time zone and the date of observation).
The predawn sky resembles the mid-evening sky in October. The stars and constellations of summer occupy the western half of the celestial sphere and those of autumn the eastern half. The Great Square of Pegasus stands on one of its ends high in the east southeast and is starting to level out as it gets higher. Saturn is getting higher in the southeastern sky and rises around 1 am or 2 am local time. It is about 30 degrees upper right of Venus, which remains the bright “morning star” fairly low in the east during early twilight. The summer triangle is overhead with Vega situated very high in the northwest, Deneb very high in the north, and Altair high in the southwest.
Go to “This Week’s Sky at a Glance”, where you will find the current “Sky at a Glance” (now for the week ending June 22). There are lots of links to interesting news stories and additional observing projects that one can look into.
The Sun has become active with the development of AR 14114 and flares are possible over the next few days at least. We will be watching, as the weather permits, on 16 and 17 June before halting operations until at least 7 July. The most recent images from Prairie View Solar Observatory can be viewed at https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/solar-observations-2025/.
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Images of the recent total lunar eclipse (14 March 2025) can be viewed here.
We observed two solar eclipses less than six months apart. Check out images from these celestial events at this site.
We observed and imaged the total lunar eclipsed that occurred during the predawn hours of 8 November 2022. The images and report can be viewed at https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/total-lunar-eclipse-2022-1-2/. Partial lunar eclipse began at 3:09 am CST, total eclipse started at 4:16 am CST, maximum eclipse (when the Moon should appear darkest) at 4:59 am CST, total eclipse ended at 5:42 am CST, and partial eclipse finished at 6:49 am. The subtle penumbral shading was detectable some 30 to 40 minutes before and after the partial stages. Lots more information can be found at Sky and Telescope’s eclipse page.
Over a year ago, a Total Lunar Eclipse, with totality lasting nearly 85 minutes, was visible across North and South America (except the far northwest part of North America). Partial eclipse began at 9:28 pm CDT (May 15), totality began at 10:29 pm, mid eclipse was 11:12 pm, total eclipse ended at 11:54 pm and partial eclipse ended at 12:56 pm, CDT (May 16). We did observe the event and got pictures, check out this website for these.
Jupiter was hit by a meteor in 2021, see https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/jupiter-whacked-again-japanese-astronomers-record-possible-impact/, for more information on what is the 11th confirmed observation of a fireball to burn up in its atmosphere. We plan to organize a campaign to watch for fireballs in Venus’ atmosphere early this summer; check back for more details in the near future. There was another event documented on 28 August 2023. You can read all about it at this website.
The Perseverance rover continues to perform wonderful feats of science, from finding evidence of a raging river, to making 10 g of pure oxygen from the Martian air to watching a small drone helicopter take its 51st flight over the Martian wasteland. For more information on it and other activity on Mars, visit mars.jpl.nasa.gov. Also, Curiosity has returned some beautiful sunset pictures of cirrus-like clouds in the Martian sky.
Observations of the partial phase of the May 2021 lunar eclipse (taken with smartphone and a University telescope), along with unfiltered, stacked galaxy and cluster images, can be viewed from the project update website https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/project-summary-2/. We are currently experiencing an extended spell of inclement weather, preventing much observing, but as conditions improve we plan to resume nighttime observations along with regular solar observations. Information on all the eclipses that will occur in 2022 can be found at this link.
The PVO complex has 3 domes, including the existing “Classic” Solar Observatory, and two new domes. For updates on this progress check out https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/project-summary-2/. Also, more information and images can be viewed at https://sites.google.com/view/saganti-astro/home. The two newer domes contain our Meade 16-inch advanced telescope (east dome, an Astrohaven clamshell-type dome) and a new 0.6 meter (24-inch) PlaneWave Corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope (west dome, an Ash dome). The design features these two domes situated east and west of a visitor’s center, which is immediately north of the existing Solar Observatory. Work is planned to resume on the 24-inch in early 2024.