What can you see in the night sky tonight? Find out what’s on view in our monthly stargazing guide.
In this guide we’ll reveal what you can see in the night sky tonight, and throughout the month.
Those of us who enjoy stargazing and observing the night sky can’t always plan when and where we’re going to get the chance to gaze upwards.
Busy schedules, light pollution, the weather: sometimes finding even just 30 minutes to stand and stare up at a clear, dark night sky and take in the planets, stars and constellations can be a feat in itself.
So when you do find the time, you’ll need to know what’s visible in the night sky tonight, and the best things to look out for when stargazing.
Complete newcomer? Read our guides to the best telescopes for beginners and astronomy for beginners.
Here’s our stargazing guide to what you can see in the night sky tonight.
Our guide is centred around what’s visible from the UK, but all northern hemisphere observers should be able to use it, with the odd adjustment to stated times.
In our guide, we use Universal Time (UT) and British Summer Time (BST). UT is the standard time used by astronomers around the world. BST is one hour ahead of UT
We also use RA (Right ascension)and dec. (declination).
These coordinates are the night sky’s equivalent of longitude and latitude, describing where an object is on the celestial ‘globe’.
For help with these, read our guide to celestial coordinates.
For more advice, read our guide on how to stargaze or sign up to receive the BBC Sky at Night Magazine e-newsletter for weekly tips delivered directly to your email inbox.
If you’re south of the equator, find out what you can see in the Southern Hemisphere night sky tonight.
What’s in the night sky tonight?
June astronomy highlights
- All month Possibility of noctilucent cloud displays
- 3 June Waning crescent Moon lies near Mars (am)
- 4 June Jupiter and Mercury lie half-a-degree apart (am)
- 20 June Northern hemisphere’s summer solstice (21:50 BST)
- 29 June Cutlass clair-obscur effect visible on the Moon
Planets and comets
The Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice occurs at 21:50 BST (20:50 UT) on 20 June 2024, a time when the Sun reaches its most northerly point against the stars.
From the UK, you probably don’t need reminding that this also means a very limited night sky.
Despite this, there’s still plenty to look out for, and some things which can’t be seen will bring excitement too.
An example is Venus, which reaches superior conjunction on 4 June.
Having languished in a poor position in the morning sky during the first part of 2024, after superior conjunction, Venus moves to the evening sky.
Its position won’t improve much until the latter part of 2024 though.
Mars and Jupiter are improving in the morning sky, as is Saturn, although the latter needs a little more time before reaching its best.
Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is now well within small telescope reach, expected to reach mag. +9.0 at the end of the month.
Passing from Virgo into Leo, unfortunately the lack of true darkness won’t do it any favours.
You can find out more in our guide on how to locate Comet C/2023 A3.
There’s an interesting conjunction between Jupiter and Mercury on 4 June.
Shining at mag. –1.8, Jupiter may be seen just before sunrise above a flat northeast horizon.
Mercury will be bright too, shining at mag. –1.1 on this date, located 33 arcminutes southwest of Jupiter.
This will be tricky to see but, as Mercury is so bright, if you have the means to find and view it during the day, this will allow you to see the closest part of this conjunction.
Both planets are slightly shy of 7 arcminutes apart at 11:20 BST.
Care must be taken though, as they will be just 12° to the west-southwest of the Sun at this time.
Shadows on the Moon
If you can catch the 73%-lit waxing gibbous Moon in daylight on 16 June, there are a couple of interesting things to look out for here too.
At 18:00 BST the Moon sits 13° above the southeast horizon.
Binoculars or a small telescope should show the arc of the illuminated peaks of the Jura Mountains extending into the lunar night, a clair-obscur effect known as the Jewelled Handle.
If you can see the Moon around 19:00 BST look for a tiny bright speck roughly one-third the apparent diameter of the Moon below the Moon’s disc.
If you can see it this, is Spica (Alpha (α) Virginis); a star visible in daylight.
Summer Triangle
The brief period of semi-darkness around the solstice hides all but the brightest stars at this time of year.
Most prominent are the three bright stars which form the giant asterism known as the Summer Triangle; Deneb (Alpha (α) Cygni), Vega (Alpha Lyrae) and Altair (Alpha Aquilae).
Vega is the brightest star visible nearly overhead as darkness falls.
The summer Milky Way passes down through the Summer Triangle, but this is better seen in the months following June.
Noctilucent clouds
June represents the first major period to look out for noctilucent clouds (NLCs).
These high-altitude ice-sheet clouds are formed when super-cooled water vapour freezes around the tiny particles left behind when a meteor vaporises in our atmosphere.
If visible, NLCs are typically seen 90-120 minutes after sunset low above the northwest horizon, or a similar time low above the northeast horizon before sunrise.
Big displays may persist all night long, typically starting low in the northwest, moving through north and ending low above the northeast horizon.
Night sky in June 2024, night-by-night
Monday 3 June
A 14%-lit waning crescent Moon sits 3.3° northeast of Mars this morning, both visible together low in the east shortly after rising, around 03:30 BST (02:30 UT).
For more info, read our guide to observing Mars in June 2024.
Tuesday 4 June
Jupiter and Mercury appear 31 arcminutes apart this morning, their closest approach occurring at 11:20 BST (10:20 UT) when they will be less than 7 arcminutes apart under daylight conditions, 12° from the Sun.
Wednesday 5 June
A slender 2%-lit waning crescent Moon sits 6° west-northwest of Jupiter this morning.
Friday 7 June
Can you spot a slender 2%-lit waxing crescent Moon shortly after sunset, low above the northwest horizon?
Saturday 8 June
This evening and tomorrow evening, the Moon’s libration favours a view of the tricky crater Humboldt.
Tuesday 11 June
Potentially visible to the naked eye this autumn, comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS is brightening but will be lost from view this month. It passes the mag. +9.0 threshold today, located 2.2° west-northwest of Zavijava (Beta (β) Virginis).
Friday 14 June
Today, a daylight observation of the Moon will reveal a small set of lights in the crater Aristillus around 17:00 BST (16:00 UT). This is the clair-obscur effect known as the Stars of Aristillus.
Sunday 16 June
An optically assisted view of the late-afternoon Moon in daylight will reveal the Jewelled Handle clair-obscur effect, formed by the illuminated arc of Montes Jura extending into the lunar night.
At 19:00 BST (18:00 UT) under daylight conditions, the star Spica lies 25 arcminutes south-southwest of the 73%-lit waxing gibbous Moon.
Monday 17 June
The UK experiences its earliest sunrise of the year.
Thursday 20 June
The Sun reaches its most northerly point against the background stars at 21:51 BST (20:51 UT), a point in time known as the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice (the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere).
Saturday 22 June
The tricky-to-observe crater Einstein may currently be seen close to the Moon’s western limb. Conditions also favour a view of Mare Orientale, close to the Moon’s southwest limb.
Thursday 27 June
This morning and tomorrow morning, the waning gibbous Moon appears close to mag. +0.7 Saturn.
Saturday 29 June
There are a number of lunar clair-obscur effects visible today: the Cutlass at 02:00 BST (01:00 UT), Curtiss’s Cross at 07:00 BST (06:00 UT) and the Star-Tip Mountain at 11:00 BST (10:00 UT).
Sunday 30 June
Now is a good time to hunt down dwarf planet Ceres which is due to reach opposition on 5 July. Shining at mag. +7.3, it currently lies immediately southeast of the ‘handle’ of the Teapot asterism in Sagittarius.
Share your observations and images with us, or send us your astronomy questions to contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com