June 26, 2026: The Strawberry Moon appears near Antares after sunset while Mars approaches the Pleiades before sunrise. Follow Saturn, Venus, and Jupiter in the June sky.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:17 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:30 p.m. CDT. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Venus as an Evening Star
Moon, Four Planets
The bright Strawberry Moon and four planets are in the night sky.
Saturn Before Sunrise
An hour before sunrise, golden Saturn is over one-third of the way from the east-southeast horizon to overhead. It creeps slowly eastward in front of Pisces’ dim stars, washed out by morning’s light. The planet is high enough to see its rings through a telescope, now open slightly. Better views are ahead as the planet rises earlier and appears higher in the eastern morning sky before morning twilight begins.
Mars
Mars nears its conjunction with the Pleiades star cluster. During morning twilight, the Red Planet is nearly 15° above the east-northeast horizon. Because it is nearly 200 million miles from Earth – over twice Earth’s distance from the sun – Mars is dimmer than expected. Its brightness varies greatly with its distance from Earth.
Upcoming Mars-Pleiades Conjunction
The Mars-Pleiades conjunction occurs in three mornings. This morning the planet is 4.9° to the stellar bundle’s lower right. They fit into the same binocular field of view. By first finding either the planet or cluster, the other is easily located. Look for Mars each morning as it makes a fairly wide pass of the star cluster.
Strawberry Moon, Scorpius
An hour after sunset, the bright moon, approaching the Full Moon phase in three nights, is 20° above the south-southeast horizon. The Strawberry Moon is 6.1° to Antares’ upper right. The star marks the Scorpion’s heart in celestial artwork. In this bright moonlight, use a binocular to see the arachnid’s shape. The star Pi Scorpii (π Sco) is 1.0° to the lunar orb’s upper right.
Venus, Jupiter
After the moon, brilliant Venus is the second brightest body in tonight’s sky. At this time, it is nearly 15° above the western horizon. Stepping eastward in front of Cancer along the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system, the Evening Star is nearly 17° to bright Jupiter’s upper left. Notice that Venus is over halfway from Gemini’s Pollux to Leo’s Regulus. It passes the Lion’s brightest star on July 9.
Jupiter slowly rambles eastward in front of Cancer, 8.5° to Pollux’s lower left. Both are descending into evening twilight. Use a binocular to find Pollux. The Jovian Giant is at solar conjunction in about a month, reappearing in the eastern sky before sunrise later in the summer.
Watch the Strawberry Moon each evening as well as Mars approaching the Pleiades. Find Saturn, Venus, and Jupiter.
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