What’s Up in the Night Sky? June 2023

Fred Barrett | May 31, 2023

The planets are the main attraction this month. You can’t beat the brilliant sight of Venus high in the west this month. It’s prominent soon after sunset until it sets about 11:30 pm. Its brightness reaches -4.7 by month’s end. It sits in Gemini near the twin stars Castor and Pollux at the top of the constellation. Use your binoculars to follow its movement as June progresses. Try to catch nearby Mars on June 1 and 2. It’s above and left of Venus. It sits as a red gem within the clustered stars of M44, the Beehive Cluster. Mars is close to the Beehive most of the month, presenting a beautiful sight but there’s more! On June 21, about 9 pm, a crescent Moon joins the mix. It passes about 3 degrees north of Venus. Mars is 4.5 degrees left and above and the spectacular Beehive is 7 degrees to the west. All are easily in view with binoculars; talk about eye candy!

Saturn shouldn’t be forgotten. It rises soon after midnight at the start of June and rises higher as the month passes. A small telescope makes finding and following its moons a light challenge. Jupiter rises about 4 am early in June but by end of month, is up by 2 am. It can be seen in the constellation Aries, the Ram. You can find the waning crescent Moon 3 degrees east of Jupiter on the 14th. Speaking of the Moon, don’t forget that there are plentiful craters, canyons, rills, mountains and just interesting shapes to be investigated pretty easily with a pair of trusty binoculars.

Highlights: June 3: Full Moon. This is the Full Strawberry Moon -yum! Also known as the Birthing or Egg laying Full Moon. June 6: The Moon is at perigee – 362,742 Kms. June 10: Last quarter Moon. June 14: Moon passes 1.5 degrees north of Jupiter at 3 am. June18: New Moon. June 21: Summer Solstice, the longest day and summer begins. The Moon passes north of Venus with Mars nearby. June 21: The Moon passes 4 degrees north of Mars. The Moon is at apogee – 403,032 Kms. June 26: First quarter Moon.

The North Frontenac Astronomy Club has assumed responsibility for organizing and running events at the newly renamed North Frontenac Dark Sky site. Henceforth it will be known as the North Frontenac Astronomy Park. Although the township staff have done a marvellous job at the dark site, having dedicated volunteer amateur astronomers responsible for its activities should be a definite advantage.

Keep looking up!

Let me know how your observing has gone this month, especially anything unusual. I enjoy the feedback. If you have any questions or suggestions you can contact me through this paper or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Clear Skies! Fred.