Overview

• On the night of June 17, Mars will pass within about 1.5 full-moon diameters of Regulus, allowing observers to track the red planet’s swift motion against the bright star with the naked eye.
• The full moon on June 11, dubbed the ‘Erdbeermond’ or Strawberry Moon, will appear low on the horizon and benefit from the classic moon-illusion effect.
• The summer solstice occurs on June 21 at 4:42 AM EDT, delivering the year’s longest daylight period and leaving briefer windows for true darkness.
• Before dawn on June 23, the waning moon will occult four of the Pleiades’ brightest stars in Taurus, a rare event visible across much of the Northern Hemisphere.
• Mercury emerges above the northwest horizon in late-June evenings, while on June 28 Saturn and Neptune sit less than a degree apart before sunrise and Venus shines as a brilliant morning star.