Celebration of Space - Friday, June 12, 2026
The Occultation of Venus by the Moon on December 7, 2015. Captured by Frosty Drew Astronomy Team member, Scott MacNeill.
Tomorrow, Saturday, June 13, 2026 we will host our first Celebrate the Milky Way event of the year. These are the nights that we think the best views of the Milky Way will be available on a Saturday night. We will open the Observatory and Science Center at 9:30 pm. Best views of the Milky Way will occur later in the night, becoming much clearer after 10:30 pm. This event is usually a ticketed event with a $5 cover, though we are going to run this specific event in the old school Frosty Drew Observatory event method, which will forgo tickets and cover costs as well as checking in and dome group assignments. It should be noted that this method will reintroduce potential long lines for the primary observatory telescope. As of the time of writing, the forecast for tomorrow night looks fantastic with mostly clear sky conditions slated for the entire night. Learn more about this event.
This coming Sunday, June 14, 2026 at 10:56 pm ET, the Moon will arrive at the point in its orbit where it aligns in between the Sun and Earth. We call this Conjunction, but commonly this is referred to as the New Moon. On this night the Moon will set and rise with the Sun. The New Moon is not very visible to sky watchers as the Moon is out during the entire daytime period and the other side of the Moon is in direct sunlight with the side that we see being in shadow. In this position, the side of the Moon facing Earth will experience Earth at full phase.
The New Moon also brings the darkest night of the lunar synodic period (lunar phase cycle). This is because the Moon reflects a significant amount of sunlight. The more the side facing Earth is in direct sunlight the brighter the Moon will illuminate the night sky. Earth’s atmosphere responds to reflected sunlight the same way it does to direct sunlight, and Moon light, being reflected sunlight, will scatter and illuminate the atmosphere. The result is that dimmer stars and celestial objects become out shined by Moon light in the atmosphere, making the sky appear the same as it would in an urban environment. This doesn’t mean that the only dark night will be the night of the New Moon. Any time the Moon is not in the sky during the times after astronomical twilight will offer dark sky viewing opportunities, with the crescent Moon phases all offering good viewing chances. So take a moment to get out of the city this weekend and set out to a dark location free of artificial light and check out all the stars that you can see.
The ongoing conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in the evening twilight sky continues through this weekend. Even though the best nights to view the conjunction were during this past week, the planets still appear quite close in the sky and will slowly move apart over the next several nights. On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, the 12% waxing crescent Moon will join the conjunction, arriving about 1.5º from Venus in the evening sky. To catch a view all you need to do is step outside between 8:30 pm and 10:00 pm and look to the west. Earlier in this window will not require a good view of the horizon, though later in the window will as these objects will both set shortly after 10:00 pm. The later you view the better chance you have to see Earthshine, which is when the nighttime side of the Moon is illuminated and visible due to sunlight reflecting off of Earth. Take a moment on Wednesday evening to catch a view of the crescent Moon and Venus putting on their celestial dance.
This coming Wednesday, June 17, 2026 at 3:56 pm ET, the 10.8% waxing crescent Moon will occult Venus. An occultation occurs when two objects that reside along the ecliptic (path the Sun takes across the sky, and the plane of the Solar System) pass along the same line of sight from Earth. These events usually involve the Moon as the closer object that overtakes an object more distant. On Wednesday afternoon, starting at 3:56 ET, the Moon will begin to overtake Venus with Venus dropping behind the Moon just before 4:00 pm. About 70 minutes later Venus will exit the area of the Moon becoming visible again on the Western side. Catching sight of the occultation can be had with the naked eye, but binoculars or a telescope will offer significantly better views. Additionally, Venus will be at 73.9% waning gibbous, and the phase will be easily visible in a telescope with moderate to high magnification. At Frosty Drew we are planning to live stream the occultation to our YouTube. We will also archive the stream for viewers who can’t tune in to watch. So put the occultation up in the corner of your workstation display and add a little astronomy to your work day.
