What’s up in the night sky: June 2023

Welcome to our night sky monthly feature where we focus on easy and fun things to see in the night sky, mostly with just your eyes. This month: Evening and morning planets, and Mars and Venus get closer.

All month: Super bright Venus is in the west after sunset. Venus is the brightest star-like object in the night sky and hard to miss.

All month: Reddish Mars is relatively near the much brighter Venus in the evening west.

All month: Saturn is high in the predawn east, getting higher quickly as the weeks pass. 

All month: Very bright Jupiter is low in the predawn east getting higher and easier to see as the weeks pass.

June 4: Full Moon.

June 4: Super-bright Venus will be at its highest point above the western evening horizon before it begins dropping lower over the coming weeks. 

June 14: The crescent Moon is close to bright Jupiter in the predawn east, low to the horizon.

June 14, 2023 night sky snapshot
June 14, 2023 night sky snapshot Predawn eastern sky showing bright Jupiter near the crescent Moon, and yellowish Saturn. (Location: Pasadena, California. Latitude: about 34 degrees north.)Image: Bruce Betts/The Planetary Society using Stellarium

June 21: The crescent Moon is near super bright Venus in the evening west.

June 21, 2023 night sky snapshot
June 21, 2023 night sky snapshot Early-evening sky showing the crescent Moon near super bright Venus and reddish Mars. (Location: Pasadena, California. Latitude: about 34 degrees north.)Image: Bruce Betts/The Planetary Society using Stellarium

July 1: Low in the west after sunset, super bright Venus and much dimmer reddish Mars are at their closest in the night sky, within 3 1/2 degrees, before moving apart over the following weeks.

You can get weekly sky updates as well as weekly trivia and Random Space Facts in the What’s Up segment of Planetary Radio.

Learn more about the Night Sky

Our journey to know the cosmos and our place within it starts right outside our windows, in the night sky. Get weekly reports on what's visible and learn how to become a better backyard observer.

Bruce Betts

Bruce Betts

Chief Scientist / LightSail Program Manager for The Planetary Society
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