June Constellations

Home Show Names This view shows the sky as it appears on June evenings after the last of the sunset has begun to fade; the exact time changes as the month progresses, but the chart will be useful all month long. The most obvious star in the sky is just left (east) of the center of the chart: Arcturus, a yellowish spark even city dwellers will have no trouble spotting - it is in fact the 4th brightest of all the night stars. The "ice cream cone" shape north of Arcturus is the outline of Bootes the herdsman. A quick glance immediately east of Bootes will show the delicate semi-circle of stars that is Corona Borealis, the northern crown. High above the southern horizon, you will see Spica, a bluish star which along with many fainter stars marks Virgo the maiden. Zodiac star groups lead off to either side - you'll find Leo, to the west, with his reclining catlike self boasting a first magnitude star, the bluish Regulus. [More on the constellations below...] East of Virgo and Spica, you might notice the fainter quadrquadrangle of stars the form Libra the scales; you'll have a lot less trouble seeing the bright stars of Scorpius starting to rise in the southeast, led by orange Antares. Continuing around the eastern horizon, look for the bright blue summer star Vega starting to attract your attention in the northeast. Due north, arcing high above the north star and it's little dipper, is the famous big dipper - more on that in a moment.

To see the constellation names and read more about them, click on "constellations in depth", below. Home Constellations in Depth