Astrophotography in June 2026: get your camera ready to photograph the moon and the stars this month

June 9, 2017 - The rising full moon of June, dubbed the Strawberry Moon, as seen rising over a prairie pond in southern Alberta, Canada. At right, the glitter path from the moon also combines on the water. This illustrates the effect of the moon brightening and becoming less red/yellow as it rises into clearer air above the horizon, with less atmospheric absorption of the short wavelengths.

June 2026 brings a host of celestial targets for astrophotographers, from a rare gathering of bright planets at dusk to conjunctions starring a delicate crescent moon amid the shortest nights of the year. Early in the month, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury parade together low in the post-sunset twilight sky, while mid-month offers a brief but valuable dark-sky window before the June solstice ushers in lingering twilight in mid-northern latitudes. Here’s everything you need to know about astrophotography in June 2026:

Read: 10 must-shoot events for astrophotographers in 2026