Two Rare Celestial Events Are Coming in June: How to See Them

June’s night sky is putting on a subtle but rare show, and you don’t even need a telescope—or a PhD—to appreciate it.

Over two nights, Mercury and Mars will pass close enough to the moon to look like they’re leaning in for a kiss. It’s understated, beautiful, and gone in under an hour if you’re not paying attention.

The first conjunction happens on June 26, when Mercury—the solar system’s most elusive planet—finally slips out from behind the sun’s glare. Just after sunset, it’ll appear low on the western horizon alongside a paper-thin crescent moon and the twin stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux. It’ll form a short line of lights that hangs for about 30–45 minutes. 

By the next night, June 27, the moon will shift slightly above Mercury, still visible just after sunset. As always with Mercury, your view will depend on where you are and how clear your west-facing skyline is. NASA recommends checking tools like TimeandDate.com or Stellarium to get a sense of timing.

But the main event happens on June 29. That evening, the moon and Mars will pass within 0.2 degrees of each other in the constellation Leo. That’s tight enough to cover with your fingertip held at arm’s length—and close enough to see both in a single telescope frame if you have one.

The moon will be about 24% lit, sitting just below Mars like a glowing comma under a faint red dot. You won’t need gear to catch it—just wait until the sky darkens and look west.

Two Rare Celestial Events Are Lighting Up June’s Night Sky

These kinds of conjunctions aren’t exactly once-in-a-lifetime, but this one’s unusually close. The moon loops the Earth on a tilted path, and about twice a month, it crosses the sun’s apparent path in the sky, which astronomers call the ecliptic. Sometimes that results in eclipses. Other times, like this, you get clean, strange alignments that last just long enough, feel like a cosmic coincidence meant only for you.

June’s also prime time for seeing the Milky Way’s core—visible all night if you can get somewhere without light pollution. And with the solstice landing on June 20, the longest day of the year already behind us, the nights are only getting better for watching planets slip past each other like strangers on a sidewalk.