What’s Up Above? June Stargazing

Let’s go to the park, run in the grass, and feel summer between our toes. Across the land, the call went out to one and all. Summer is coming! Summer is coming! Cometh oneth by hazy lazy long days, or twoth by the cool waters swelling around your ankles, calves, and knees. On Thursday, June 20st, at 8:42 pm Mountain Daylight Time, summer arrives. A cheer will rise and be heard throughout the northern hemisphere, summer is here!

Indeed, the summer solstice is important, essential, and required by the movement of the cosmos. So much so that this month’s stargazing highlights includes this event. The Summer Solstice is a top line item on our Solar System’s invisible balance sheet. The northern hemisphere gets summer, and the southern hemisphere gets winter. The northern hemisphere has its longest day; and the southern hemisphere has its shortest day. Each is opposite, and each requires the other. As stargazers, we know this balance well. When winter grips the northern hemisphere, we witness the spectacular sparkles of dazzling gems shivering under layered blankets of wool. Our ventures outside are momentary.  Summer releases us from winter’s grip. In summer we linger longer outside at night. We lie on woolen blankets, now spread out under a canopy of pin pricks of light that shimmer and twinkle. We are mesmerized. It’s as if we’re floating on a celestial summer river. And now that you’re in the best frame of mind, here’s some June delights to view.

A Month of Mercury, 6th – 30th

After rising and falling our early eastern morning skies, Mercury, the swift winged-footed messenger of the gods, is visible now in the western sky at sunset.

June 6th is your first chance to spot Mercury in the western twilight shining at a magnitude of -1.5 floating about two fingers width west of the planet Jupiter. The pair are the brightest objects in the sky located the same two-finger distance above the western horizon. Get out and look for them about 30 minutes after sunset. Jupiter’s prominence makes it much easier to find our elusive and diminutive first planet. You’ll have about 25-minutes to view the pair before they fall below the horizon. Pro tip: Grab your binoculars to view the Mercury and Jupiter as it will cut out some of the sunset glow making them easier to view.

Moving forward to June 8th, now Jupiter and Mercury are in formal conjunction. Mercury is one finger’s width due north of Jupiter, with Jupiter being a slight 3 degrees above the western horizon about 30-minutes after sunset.  Notice how within the two days, Mercury dims to a -1.3 magnitude. That’s a noticeable difference. Yet, while Mercury dims throughout the month, it also continues to rise higher in the western sky, and stay visible longer into the night.  

When June 27th rolls up, Mercury reaches a whopping peak altitude of 16 degrees above the western horizon after sunset at a magnitude of 0.4. It easy peasy to spot our solar system’s sun-scorched rock as it lies three fingers width to the left (south) of the two-day old crescent Moon. More importantly, the Moon won’t wash it out That’s quite high in the sky for Mercury to achieve as it is an inferior planet, making it much simpler to spot and enjoy as this elusive planet usually rides close to the horizon; whether in its morning or evening apparition. 

In fact, the ancients thought they were seeing two different stars, one in the morning and a different star in the evening. It wasn’t until circa 350 BCE that it was realized the two stars were indeed one. Before that time the Babylonians called Mercury “Nabu”; the ancients in China called it the “Hour Star”; and the Maya saw it as an owl serving as a messenger to the underworld. Interestingly, the common themes regarding Mercury, which span time and cultures are those of messages and speed. Hum. 

The Milky Way Returns, June 7th     

The month of June brings a close to the Galaxy Season and the return of the Milky Way.  Indulge an initial question: What is the Milky Way? 

The Milky Way is a Galaxy. It is a barred spiral galaxy, like a large pinwheel.  The Milky Way is our home. Inside our barred spiral galaxy we find our solar system. (The Sun, Planets, Moons, Dwarf Planets, Asteroids, Comets)  The Milky Way Galaxy is approximately 13.6 billion years old.  The spirals off the end of the bar originate from the galactic center of our Galaxy.  These long spiraling arms fan out with some having spurs. Earth resides in the Orion Spur of the Sagittarius Arm. We live approximately 26,000 light-years away from the Milky Way’s galactic center, and all of the objects in our Galaxy revolve around the galactic center.  And remember, a light-year is just shy of 6 trillion miles!  Yowza! For our solar system to make one revolution around the Milky Way’s galactic center, it takes 250 million years.  Better have your mail held at the Post Office for that trip. 

And when you look up at the night sky in June, you’ll see the Milky Way rising above the eastern horizon as night progresses.  The Milky Way you view as a hazy band of white light is the Orion Spur. This haze results from billions of unresolved stars (blurry), dust, and gasses.  Brighter regions through the band appear as soft patches of light known as star clouds.  Dark regions within the band is interstellar dust, which blocks the light from the background stars from shining through to us. 

Cultural mythologies concerning the Milky Way are varied and rich. The Babylonians believed the Milky Way is created from the severed tail of the primeval salt water dragoness, Tiamat. For the Greeks, it’s said Zeus places his son, born by a mortal woman, on Hera's breast while she sleeps so the baby will drink her divine milk and become immortal. It is no surprise that Hera wakes to see she is nursing an unknown baby, she pushes the baby away, spilling her milk, and in so doing creates the band of light known as the Milky Way.  The Romans called it the Via Galactica, or "road made of milk." 

The First Nation people, the Mikmag, of the northeastern region of North America, saw the stars in the Milky Way as ancestral fires. For the Mikmag, the Milky Way was a path of the spirits. The stars of the Milky Way are the campfires of their ancestors, guiding the spirits of the departed on their journey to the afterlife.

A Full “Strawberry Fields Forever” Moon, June 10th 

“Let me take you down, cuz I’m going to, Strawberry Moon…”  No, that’s the wrong word? In truth, the lyric is “strawberry fields” but who can resist the comparison. Think John Lennon would be okay with it. Our Strawberry Moon reaches fullness on June 11th at 1:44 am local time. This month’s full Moon is different from all the others in that it is the lowest full Moon of the year. At only 28 degrees above the southern horizon at its highest point, known as the culmination, the Moon’s altitude is comparable to the highest attitude the winter Sun reaches for us in the northern hemisphere. This low trajectory arc across the night sky is characteristic of full Moons near the summer solstice resulting in the Moon appearing closer to the horizon throughout the night.

This create a “moon illusion.” The reflected Moon light we see passes through the through the thickest part of our atmosphere where air, dust, and other particulates bend the photons scattering them. This scattering causes the Moon to look bigger, and takes on a rusty-yellowish-orange. Some will see a golden color. Normally, the night of a full Moon is bright, almost well lit. Not so this June. Another consequence of the low altitude path is the Moon will be aloft for just a few brief hours that night. Hum. That’s unusual for a full Moon.  

The “Strawberry Moon” name for the June full Moon was used by generations of indigenous peoples, notably the Algonquian, Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota peoples of North America. The Haida people of British Columbia, used the term “Berries Ripen Moon” to denote the Moon when flowers bloom and early spring fruit ripens. For Europeans the June Moon was called the Honey Moon and the Mead Moon. Could it be that since June is the traditional month of marriage, the term “honeymoon” is derived from the name of the June full Moon? Sort of makes one wonder, doesn’t it?

So, rather than “Going down to Strawberry Fields,” how about we go outside the night of the 10th to view the “Strawberry Moon?”

Red Meets Reg. Mars and Regulus in Conjunction, June 16th 

Mars, the angry red planet, the Roman the God of War, looms large after speeding away from us for most of the autumn and winter. After reaching aphelion --its farthest point in its orbit around the Sun—this past April, now our lonely warrior of the sky gradually moving back closer to us and the Sun. Mars is visible in the western evening sky after sunset reflecting at a magnitude of +1.2 making it a bright object and easy to find. (Remember, you can see any objects in the night sky with a +6 magnitude or less including negative numbers. Example: the Full Moon is around a magnitude of -13, and the Sun is -26. I know, it’s a wonky scale.)   

The evening of the 16th, will make Mar easier to find as our fourth planet in the solar system is in conjunction with the alpha star of the constellation Leo the Lion. Regulus, the heart of the lion blazing at a magnitude of +1.35.  The proximity of the planet and the star are in stark contrast to one another; Mars cloaked in a rusty-reddish color, right next to Regulus, glowing in a bluish-white. It will be quite a sight to see, so mark your calendar now to view our solar system’s rust-stained wander and the Babylonian’s called the “Watcher of the North.”  

The Summer Solstice, June 20st 

The Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere (North America, Europe, most of Asia, Northern Africa) arrives in the Rocky Mountain Region on June 20, 2025 at 8:42pm.

The word “solstice” comes from the combination of two Latin words, “sol” (the Sun) and “sistere” (to stand still). On the 20tht, in the northern hemisphere, this appears to happen as the Sun, close to 90 degrees north of the horizon. At that time the Sun is directly overhead, and crosses the Tropic of Cancer. Interestingly, the Sun seems to be in the same location in the sky, the day before the solstice, and then the day after the solstice. At the time of the solstice for those living on the Tropic of Cancer, the Sun does indeed appear to stand still directly overhead.

And it’s all because of the Earth’s tilt and orbit around the Sun. The consequence of our orbit and tilt is that the Sun reaching its northernmost path in the sky. At the solstice, Earth’s North Pole is at its maximum tilt to the Sun, approximately 23.4 degrees, which is why the Solstice is the longest day of the year.  We can expect roughly 16 hours of daylight on the day of the Summer Solstice. 

For those residing in or near the Arctic Circle, the party never ends – I mean the Sun never sets. Sadly, after that date the Sun begins its long sojourn south, and hence the daytime shortens. But, we don’t need to concern ourselves with that now because it’s summer.

So sway away fellow stargazers, be it in your terra firma hammock or a nocturnal chaise lounge.  Get outside on the Summer Solstice.  The day and night of June 20st is significant for many reasons, and in many cultures. It is recognized around the world through rituals and festivals. Ergo, all the more reason for you to have a picnic, float on a lake, fly a kite, or lay in the grass sifting its dense blades between your toes. Then, after a day like that, now it’s time to relax and greet the night. Tilt your head back and look up to enjoy the wonders of the universe.  Blend your longest day of the year into a summer night under the celestial sphere. It’s June. Summer is here. Dive into the cosmos, Get wet.

Clear skies to you!