The Night Sky in June 2025
Jupiter might be seen low in the northwest at the beginning of the month, setting an hour after the Sun. It soon slips down into the twilight. Mercury appears in the northwest sky in the second half of the month, looking like a medium-bright star. It sets two hours after the Sun at the end of the month. The Moon will be near Mercury on the 27th. Because Jupiter and Mercury set before 8 pm they are not on the chart. Mars is the only planet visible in the later evening sky. It looks like a medium-bright red star, low in the north at dusk, setting around 10 pm. It will be close to Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, around the 17th, making an eye-catching red and white pair . The Moon will be near Mars on the 1st and again on the 30th.
Sirius, the brightest true star, appears in the west as the sky darkens. It sets in the southwest around 9 pm, mid-month, twinkling like a diamond. Canopus, the second brightest star, is in the southwest. Canopus is a 'circumpolar' star. It circles the South Celestial Pole (SCP on the chart) clockwise but never sets from Aotearoa NZ except for the most northern places. Around 1 a.m. it will be near the southern horizon, twinkling colourfully.
Arcturus is the brightest star in the north sky. Its orange light is often split into red and green when it is low in the sky. It sets in the northwest in the morning hours. Arcturus is relatively close at 37 light-years* from the Sun. It appears bright because it is 170 times brighter than the Sun.
Crux, the Southern Cross, is south of the zenith. Beside it, and brighter, are Beta and Alpha Centauri, often called 'The Pointers' because they point at Crux. Alpha Centauri is the closest naked-eye star, 4.3 light-years away. Beta Centauri and three of the four brightest stars in Crux are hot, extremely bright blue-giant stars hundreds of light years away.
Orange Antares, high in the eastern sky, marks the body of Scorpius the scorpion. It is a red giant star: 600 light years away and 19 000 times brighter than the sun. The scorpion's tail, upside down, curves off to the right. Below Scorpius is Sagittarius, its brighter stars making 'the teapot'.
The Milky Way is brightest and broadest in the southeast toward Scorpius and Sagittarius. It remains bright but narrower through Crux and Carina then fades in the western sky. The Milky Way is our edgewise view of the galaxy, the pancake of billions of stars of which the sun is just one. The thick hub of the galaxy, 30 000 light years away, is in Sagittarius. A scan along the Milky Way with binoculars will find many clusters of stars and some glowing gas clouds. Relatively nearby dark clouds of dust and gas look like holes and slots in the Milky Way. The dust, more like smoke, mostly comes from red-giant stars like Antares. These clouds eventually coalesce into new stars.
The Clouds of Magellan, LMC and SMC, in the lower southern sky, are luminous patches easily seen by eye in a dark sky. They are two small galaxies about 160 000 and 200 000 light years away. They are much smaller than our galaxy but still contain billions of stars.
Saturn rises due east around 1:30 a.m. at the beginning of the month and around midnight at the end. It is a medium-bright ‘star’ in an empty region of sky. By dawn it is midway up the north sky. The Moon will be near Saturn on the morning of the 19th.
Brilliant Venus rises around 4 a.m. mid-month, a bit earlier at the beginning of the month, a bit later at the end. The crescent Moon is left of Venus on the morning of the 22nd.
The Matariki/Pleiades/Subaru star cluster rises in the northeast, directly below Venus, around 5:40 a.m. on Matariki Day, June 20th. It is faint so needs to be well above the horizon before it is visible. The moonlight won’t help. Well to the right of Matariki is the ‘The Pot’, Orion’s belt and sword. The Pot is also visible in the west at dusk in June along with nearby bright stars.
*A light-year (l.y.) is the distance that light travels in one year: nearly 10 million million km or 10^13 km. Sunlight takes eight minutes to get here; moonlight about one second. Sunlight reaches Neptune, the outermost major planet, in four hours. It takes sunlight four years to reach the nearest star, Alpha Centauri.
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