June 2023 Best Night Sky Events
June 1, 2 - Mars in the Beehive. The planet Mars will pass through the beehive cluster, an open cluster of stars located in the constellation Cancer. Mars can be seen in or very near the cluster on the nights of June 1 and 2. A good pair of binoculars should be enough to see this rare event.
June 4 - Full moon. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Strawberry moon because it signaled the time of year to gather ripening fruit. It also coincides with the peak of the strawberry harvesting season. This moon has also been known as the Rose moon and the Honey moon.
June 4 - Venus at Greatest Eastern Elongation. The planet Venus reaches greatest eastern elongation of 45.4 degrees from the sun. This is the best time to view Venus since it will be at its highest point above the western horizon in the evening sky. Look for the brightest object in the western sky after sunset.
June 12, 13 - Venus in the Beehive. The planet Venus will pass through the beehive cluster. Venus can be seen in or very near the cluster on the nights of June 12 and 13. Once again, a good pair of binoculars should serve you well for this event.
June 18 - New moon. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.
June 21 - June Solstice. The June solstice occurs at 7:51 a.m. PDT. This is the time of year when the North Pole of the earth will be tilted toward the sun, and the sun will have reached its northernmost position in the sky. This is the first day of summer (summer solstice) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of winter (winter solstice) in the Southern Hemisphere. It is both the longest day of 2023 and the shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere. So to recap, June 21 we get 16 hours of sunshine, 90 minutes of true dark skies, and the rest is dusk and dawn twilight, roughly 6 ½ hours.
Also, on the 21st, about 40 minutes after the sun sets, you will see a gorgeous three-way conjunction of Venus, Mars and the crescent moon. Look first for the slender crescent moon; Venus is the very bright planet (-4.4 magnitude), just to the moon’s left (3° away) is Mars.
Late June is the time to spot the Summer Triangle. See how to spot the summer triangle from the image above.
John Taylor is an amateur astronomer who lives in Hayden. Rimrock is a private observatory.
