What's in the Sky Tonight?

JUNE 2025

June 1: Conjunction of the Moon and Mars

June 1: Venus at Greatest Elongation West
At the beginning of this year, Venus was shining brightly as the evening star. It is now the morning star: today the planet appears at its farthest distance from the Sun in the morning sky.

June 11: Strawberry Moon
June's Full Moon is often called the Strawberry Full Moon, after the berries that grow in the Northern Hemisphere around this time of the year.

June 19: Conjunction of the Moon and Saturn

June 21: June Solstice
This solstice is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is the longest day of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, it's the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year.

June 22: Conjunction of the Moon and Venus

June 25: New Moon
Make the most of a moonlight-free night to look for some stars and planets in the skies.

June 30: Conjunction of the Moon and Mars

ASTRONOMY BINOCULARS
A mini telescope you can take anywhere

If you love sky gazing, you have to have a pair of astronomy binoculars! Binoculars are a fantastic alternative to telescopes—inexpensive, lightweight, and portable. For city dwellers where there is a lot of light pollution, binoculars are essential if you want to see much of anything.

Binoculars enlarge and brighten the beauty and immensity of the night sky. You can see the detail of the moon's craters, the phases of Venus, the moons and stripes of Jupiter, the awesome jewels that dot the Milky Way, nebulae, star clusters, and comets when they're passing near.

Our favorite astonomy binoculars is the Celestron SkGiyMaster Giant 15x70 Binoculars. These are excellent as well:

ANOTHER GREAT ASTRONOMICAL TOOL:

THE PLANISPHERE
A year-round, real-time sky map

A planisphere is a rotating star chart that allows you to dial in the entire visible sky for any day and time of the year and with great precision. It has been called an analog star computer and was considered magical in ancient times.

Planispheres show the brightest stars, constellations, notable galaxies and nebulae, as well as the path of the Milky Way. The plane of the ecliptic is also shown, which reveals the pathway of the planets as they appear to move across the night sky.

Purchase a planisphere for $7.95