Friday, June 15
As twilight fades after sunset, look very low in the west-northwest for the thin crescent Moon under Venus, as shown here.
It's almost summer. But as twilight fades, look very low in the north-northwest for wintry Capella very out of season. The farther north you are, the higher it will appear. You may need binoculars. If you're as far north as Portland Oregon and Portland Maine, Capella is actually circumpolar.
Saturday, June 16
Look west as twilight fades for Venus and the thin waxing crescent Moon, as shown below. They're about 8° apart at the times of twilight for North America. Higher to their upper left, look for much fainter Regulus coming out as twilight fades further.
Sunday, June 17
The crescent Moon, far upper left of Venus, shines near Regulus tonight. Almost as bright as Regulus is orange Gamma Leonis (Algieba), higher above the Moon as shown here.
Monday, June 18
Now Regulus shines to the Moon's lower right. Look for Denebola, Leo's tail tip, higher to the Moon's upper left.
Tuesday, June 19
With summer officially just two days away, the Summer Triangle stands high and proud in the east after dark. Its top star is bright Vega. Deneb is the brightest star to Vega's lower left (by 2 or 3 fists at arm's length). Look for Altair a greater distance to Vega's lower right.
If you have a dark sky, you'll see that the Milky Way passes under Vega through the Summer Triangle.
Wednesday, June 20
Spot Vega high in the east and Arcturus high in the southwest. Draw a line from Vega to Arcturus. A third of the way along this line is the dim Keystone of Hercules. Two thirds of the way is the semicircle of Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, with its one modestly bright jewel, Gemma or Alphecca.
Thursday, June 21
The June solstice arrives at 6:07 a.m. EDT, marking the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. This is when the Sun is at its farthest north in the sky and begins its six-month return southward. It's the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day in the Southern.
If you have a good view of the west-northwest horizon (from mid-northern latitudes), mark precisely where the Sun sets. In a few days you should be able to detect that it's again starting to set a little south of that point.
As the stars come out at dusk, look below the gibbous Moon for Spica. Off to the left of Spica is much brighter Jupiter.
Friday, June 22
The waxing gibbous Moon this evening shines with bright Jupiter to its lower left and fainter Spica to its lower right.
Saturday, June 23
The bright "star" with the Moon tonight is Jupiter. Although they look rather close together, Jupiter is currently 1,800 times farther away — and it's 40 times larger in diameter.
This is the time of year when the two brightest stars of summer, Arcturus and Vega, are about equally high overhead soon after dark: Arcturus toward the southwest, Vega toward the east.
Arcturus and Vega are 37 and 25 light-years away, respectively. They represent the two commonest types of naked-eye stars: a yellow-orange K giant and a white A main-sequence star. They're 150 and 50 times brighter than the Sun, respectively — which, combined with their nearness, is why they dominate the evening sky.
