Look up! What's going on in the June night sky?
See the Moon near some of the brightest planets this month, and be on the lookout for some of the rarest meteors to spot.
Eyes to the sky for the month of June, to watch the Moon take a tour amongst some of the brightest planets in the sky, and come close enough to Mars that the two appear to nearly touch.
Here is the Astronomical Guide to June 2025:
June 1 — Waxing Crescent Moon near Mars and Regulus
June 3 — First Quarter Moon
June 10-11 — Full Strawberry Moon
June 18 — Last Quarter Moon
June 19 — Waning Crescent Moon near Saturn (predawn)
June 20 — Summer Solstice
June 25 — New Moon
June 26 — Waxing Crescent Moon near Mercury (after sunset)
June 29 — Waxing Crescent Moon very close to Mars (evening)
The Moon
The astronomical events for June 2025, including the phases of the Moon, planetary conjunctions, and the date of the Summer Solstice. (Scott Sutherland, moon graphics from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio, conjunctions courtesy Stellarium)
Look to the west in the evening hours to spot the Waxing Crescent Moon on the first night of the month. It will be located near the bright star Regulus, and the planet Mars will be close by, as well.
The First Quarter Moon is on the 2nd, with the Waxing Gibbous Moon lighting up our night skies for over a week after.
Rising on the night of the 10th to the 11th is the Full Strawberry Moon, the final Full Moon of Spring 2025. Also, after three months of smaller, dimmer 'micromoons', this is the first of average size and brightness. Plus, each Full Moon after this will get larger and brighter, up until November's Beaver Moon.
The Moon passes through its Waning Gibbous phase from the 11th to the 17th, with the Last Quarter Moon rising on the 18th. We will then see the Waning Crescent Moon in the predawn sky each morning from the 19th to the 24th.
Look for the Moon near Saturn in the predawn sky on the 18th and 19th (with Venus shining brightly closer to the horizon). It will then transition over to pass by Venus on the mornings of the 21st and 22nd.
With the New Moon on the 25th, the few nights around that are the best for stargazing. This is due to a phenomenon called 'light pollution', which is any kind of unwanted light in the sky, whether it’s from technology or urban sources, or from the Moon. With only a thin sliver of Crescent Moon or no Moon in the sky at all, it's a great time to get out a pair of binoculars or a telescope, and scan around at the various bright objects in the sky, without the Moon's light interfering. You may even spot a June Boötid meteor or two, as well. (Read on to learn more!)
Afterward, from the 26th through the 30th, we will again see a Waxing Crescent Moon in our evening skies.
See the Moon line up with Mercury and the bright stars Pollux and Castor just after sunset on the 26th. Also, on the night of the 29th, the Waxing Crescent Moon and Mars will appear very close together as they cross Canadian skies. For those observing from farther west and south, the Moon will actually 'occult' the Red Planet, blocking it from view for a short time.
DON'T MISS: What's in the sky this Spring?
Meteor shower "pause"
With the eta Aquariids having ended in the final days of May, we are now in a bit of a meteor shower pause for the month of June.
There is one recognized meteor shower occurring during this time — the June Boötids. Unfortunately, though, the shower is brief, beginning on June 22, peaking on June 27, and then ending on July 2. It is also very weak, typically only producing 1 or 2 meteors every hour, even during its peak.
Thus, this meteor shower often goes unnoticed, and barely gets mentioned in any observer guides.
The location of the June Boötids radiant, in the northwest sky, on June 27, 2025. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland)
The June Boötids are consistent every year, though, and they have a known source, the comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke.
Remarkably, this shower is known for its infrequent but spectacular outbursts of activity. It was first discovered during one such outburst in 1916, which was followed by others in 1921 and 1927. In 1998, during the last outburst, this shower rivaled the Perseids, producing 100 meteors per hour.
If you want to see the June Boötids, locate the Big Dipper and Little Dipper in the night sky. To the 'left' of the Big Dipper will be the constellation Boötes, and the radiant of the meteor shower lies in the space between these three constellations. It will take some patience, but as mentioned above, with the New Moon on the 25th, this may be a great year to try!
The next major meteor shower is the Southern delta Aquariids, which begins on July 12 and peaks on July 30.
Summer Solstice
On June 21, at 2:42 UTC, the Sun will reach its highest point in the northern hemisphere sky, as the Summer Solstice ushers in Astronomical Summer for 2025. We won't see that happen, at that exact moment, from here in Canada, though. It occurs at 10:42 p.m. EDT.
This 'solargraph' shows the path of the Sun through the sky from June 21 to December 21, 2023. (Bret Culp)
This timing does result in something interesting, though.
Normally, the Summer Solstice is the single longest day of the year — at least with respect to the amount of time between sunrise and sunset.
This will be true for much of the country. For everywhere from the Pacific coast through to eastern Ontario, June 20 will be the longest day of 2025.
However, if you live anywhere from eastern Ontario to the Atlantic coast, you will see two longest days of the year! Both the 20th and the 21st will be the same length, down to the second! This includes Timmins, North Bay, Ottawa, and Bainsville, Ontario, plus everywhere to the east (Montreal, Quebec, Fredericton, Moncton, Charlottetown, Halifax, St John's, etc).
To be clear, though, the difference between the 20th and 21st for the rest of the country will be miniscule, with the 21st only 1 second shorter than the day before.
June Constellations
The transition to summer constellations begins during the month of June.
In the southern sky, Gemini can be found along the western horizon after sunset, with Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Serpens/Ophiuchus, and Aquila in a loose lineup across the evening sky. Hydra stretches across much of the horizon as well, while higher up, we can see Ursa Major, Boötes, Hercules, and Cygnus.
The constellations in the southern sky at midnight on June 15, 2025. (Stellarium)
After midnight, Sagittarius, Capricornus, and Aquarius follow along, with Pisces rising towards dawn. High up, Pegasus and Andromeda swing around from the northern sky.
Meanwhile, facing north, Auriga, Camelopardalis ("The Camel"), Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Cygnus are visible along low in the evening sky, with Ursa Major ("The Big Dipper"), Ursa Minor ("The Little Dipper") and Draco circling the north celestial pole.
The constellations in the northern sky at midnight on June 15, 2025. (Stellarium)
Later in the night, Pegasus, Andromeda, and Perseus all rise, one after the other, to the northeast.
(Thumbnail image courtesy Lisa O’Driscoll, who captured this zoomed-in view of the Full Strawberry Moon from June 2024, from Chartwright, NL)