Sky Diary June 2026

Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter
Tue, 09 Jun 2026 at 13:35 BST

Venus and Jupiter will share the same right ascension, with Venus passing 1°38′ to the north of Jupiter. From Edinburgh , the pair will become visible at around 22:30 (BST), 12° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. They will then sink towards the horizon, setting 2 hours and 23 minutes after the Sun at 00:18.

Venus will be at mag -4.0, and Jupiter at mag -1.9, both in the constellation Gemini.

Close approach of the Moon and Venus
Wed, 17 Jun 2026 at 21:30 BST

The Moon and Venus will make a close approach, passing within a mere 16.2 arcminutes of each other. From some parts of the world, the Moon will pass in front of Venus, creating a lunar occultation (not from Edinburgh). The Moon will be 2 days old.

From Edinburgh , the pair will become visible at around 22:37 (BST), 12° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. They will then sink towards the horizon, setting 2 hours and 22 minutes after the Sun at 00:23. The Moon will be at mag -10.3; and Venus will be at mag -4.0. Both objects will lie in the constellation Cancer.

Twilight and Noctilucent clouds
Twilight has taken over and there is no true Astro dark after until 9 August.

Noctilucent clouds are now possible and the first of the season have already been reported. Keep an eye open for these beautiful phenomena.

Summer / June Solstice
Sunday, 21 June 2026, 09:24 BST
At the June solstice, the Sun reaches its most northerly point in the sky, standing directly above the Tropic of Cancer. This marks the furthest north the Sun appears during the year before its path begins to drift south once more.

The chart shows the sky at 23:30 BST on 15 Jun 2026.

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Much of the material is provided with thanks to Dominic Ford on his excellent site in-the-sky.org.