June 2026 Sky Planetary Highlight

I want to highlight a view that was visible in the nighttime sky in New York City area at 9:10 PM on the night of June 16 (shortly after sunset). Looking to the west to west northwest horizon, Venus, Jupiter, the Moon, and Mercury appear close to each other (seen at the center right on the image below). The planets take on the appearance of "stars" to the unaided eye.

Image Credit: skyandtelescope.org (View on June 16, 2026 at 9:10 PM from Central Park Zoo)

Here is a picture I took of Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon on May 18, 2026. I find it amazing that you can take an image like this with your cell phone.

Image of Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon I Took Shortly after Sunset on May 18, 2026

Before cell phones and computers, star charts were used to locate stars in the sky. But these were limited to stars and objects which appeared in the same spot in the sky year after year. The positions change extremely slowly and are only noticeably different on the time scale of thousands of years. Because solar system objects like the planets and the Moon are much closer to us than starts, their positions are constantly changing in the night sky. For this reason, old star charts did not mark the positions of solar system objects. Once computers were invented, you could print star charts with solar system objects on them. After that, when smart phones became available, star charts became available using a number of useful apps on your smartphone. Some recommendations can be found here. Apps are useful as you can point your cell phone strait at the sky and it shows you where objects are.

Another useful way to differentiate stars from planets is planets twinkle far less than stars in the night sky. Planets appear more steady in comparison to stars. This effect is most noticeable when the sky is completely dark as twilight conditions create more twinkling. Objects closer to the horizon also twinkle more than objects strait overhead. The twinkle is due to Earth's atmosphere.

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are visible in light polluted skies. This makes them interesting targets to find in New York City, which has extreme light pollution. The visibility of each planet is dependent upon its location in orbit relative to the Earth and Sun. All planets appear as starlike pinpoints of light to the unaided eye. The image below of North America light pollution was created using multiple satellite images from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite from nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012.

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Light pollution remains a problem to astronomers today as it dims the nighttime sky. It is problematic to some in the general public as well as it keeps some awake at night. Taking a trip away from city lights to see dark skies is a worthwhile adventure. If you go, go during the New Moon phase. The full moon is bright enough to dim the night sky and the greater the phase (percent of the Moon that is illuminated) the more of the sky is dimmed. I have been fortunate enough to visit Death Valley (where light pollution exists but is much less than NYC and skies are significantly darker) as well as the Colorado Rocky Mountain backcountry wilderness (where light pollution does not exist at all). That being said, there are still plenty of objects to be seen in NYC's light polluted skies. You just have to know where to look.