June 2026 smart telescope observing guide
25 May. 2026
In the Northern Hemisphere, June brings the summer solstice and some of the shortest nights of the year. While observing windows may be shorter, warm evenings and the Milky Way core at its peak make this a magical season for stargazing and astrophotography.
In the Southern Hemisphere, longer nights provide excellent conditions to explore rich deep-sky regions, from glowing nebulae to dense star fields stretching across the Milky Way.
June 2026 astronomical calendar
It is recommended to observe nebulae and galaxies when the Moon is not visible. Its brightness diminishes the darkness of the sky and reduces the quality of observations of faint and diffuse objects.
Refer to the following calendar for the best days this month.
- June 8 – Last Quarter Moon
- June 15 – New Moon
- June 17 – Close approach of the Moon and Venus. From Western Europe, both objects can be seen in the same Vespera field of view just after sunset, especially with Vespera Pro. Run a Moon observation with custom camera settings.
- June 17 – A thin crescent Moon passes through the Praesepe open cluster (M44). Visible from the United States just after sunset. Run a Moon observation with custom camera settings.
- June 19 – Venus passes through the Praesepe open cluster (M44). Observe it just after sunset.
- June 21 – June solstice. It is the shortest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest in the Southern Hemisphere.
- June 21 – First Quarter Moon
- June 30 – Full Moon
Celestial Scene of the Month
Northern sky
The Elephant Trunk Nebula
Located in Cepheus, the Elephant Trunk Nebula is a well-known target for smart telescopes. Yet it is not as easy to capture as it may seem, at least if you want to clearly reveal its full extent. There are many details to uncover, but doing so requires substantial integration time. This target will remain visible from the Northern Hemisphere over the coming months, so starting now gives you plenty of time to take full advantage of Multi-Night Mode and capture it at its best.
The Elephant Trunk Nebula is a dense column of gas and dust embedded within the large emission region IC 1396. It is a classic example of a dark globule being sculpted by radiation from nearby massive stars. The bright H II region surrounding it is ionized primarily by the hot star HD 206267, while the trunk itself remains a colder, denser structure resisting that erosion.
The dark pillar stands out clearly against the glowing hydrogen background, giving it a striking and highly structured appearance rather than a diffuse one. Longer integration reveals finer structure along its edges, as well as subtle variations in the surrounding nebula.
It is best to observe it with the dual band filter
Southern sky
The Fighting Dragons of Ara
NGC 6188, also known as the Rim Nebula, is one of the most spectacular emission nebulae in the southern sky. This bright H II region is sculpted by the intense radiation and stellar winds of young, massive stars in the nearby open cluster NGC 6193.
Using Mosaic Mode, two luminous curved arcs of hydrogen seem to face one another, divided by dark dust lanes and creating the impression of two dragons in confrontation. The effect is made even more striking by the sharply sculpted edges of the gas clouds, where ultraviolet radiation ionizes the surrounding hydrogen and shapes bright, defined ridges.
NGC 6188 is part of a vast star-forming complex in the Milky Way’s disk. There, radiation from massive stars compresses and erodes the surrounding molecular material, forming pillars, ridges, and cavities.
Short observations are enough to reveal the main arcs, but longer integrations of 6 hours or more will bring out finer structures along the glowing edges and the fainter surrounding gas. For best results, a dual-band filter is recommended.
"Plan my Night" of the month
Suggested observation program you can automate with "Plan My Night."
Give each object as much observation time as you can to get the best results.
Northern sky
use the dual band filter for this plan.
Southern sky
use the dual band filter for this plan.
Around the full moon
During the few nights surrounding the full moon, it's best to focus on star clusters, which are less affected by the Moon’s light pollution.
Northern sky
The Hercules Cluster (Messier 13)
The most famous globular cluster of the northern sky is high in the sky all night long.
Magnitude: 5.8
Apparent size: 17'
Southern sky
Caldwell 89 (NGC6067)
An open cluster on a rich starfield of the MilkyWay
Magnitude: 5.6
Apparent size: 8'
Challenging Target of the Month
Northern sky
LDN 673: a fragmented dark cloud in Aquila
LDN 673 is a dark nebula complex cataloged in the Lynds Dark Nebula catalogue. It lies in Aquila, close to the rich Milky Way fields near the Eagle constellation region. Unlike emission nebulae, it does not glow; it is a cold molecular cloud that absorbs and obscures background starlight.
It is part of a larger molecular cloud system within the Galactic plane. It consists of dense clumps and filamentary dust structures.
LDN 673 sits in a crowded Milky Way environment, with dense stellar fields that make the dark structures visible.
Since it is not in the currated catalog, you must create a manual target with the following coordinates:
Right Ascension (RA): 19h 21m
Declination (Dec): +11° 21′
Southern sky
Baboon Nebula (NGC 6726–6727–6729) and its dark cloud extension
The Baboon Nebula is the bright core of the R Coronae Australis (R CrA) molecular cloud complex, a nearby star-forming region in Corona Australis, about 430 light-years away. The visible nebulae (NGC 6726, 6727, 6729) are compact reflection patches illuminated by young stars, most notably the variable star R CrA.
However, what makes the region truly interesting is not just the bright reflection core, but the network of opaque dust lanes and filamentary dark nebulae that extend well beyond the bright reflection region. These dark structures are part of the broader Corona Australis molecular cloud, one of the nearest such complexes to the Sun.
The region alsofeatures the globular cluster NGC 6723. The mosaic mode is required to make the most this target. Do not use any filter.
Here are the coordinates for a manual targeet
Right Ascension (RA): 19h 02m
Declination (Dec): −36° 57′
Magnitude and angular size reminder
