Night sky June 2027 UK: planets, Moon and meteor showers
What to see from Britain in June 2027, with times worked out for UK skies rather than copied from American guides.
June has the shortest nights of the year: around the solstice the sky never gets fully dark anywhere in the UK, which is when noctilucent clouds can appear. Mars is in the evening sky in mid-June 2027. The full Moon, the Strawberry Moon, is on Saturday 19 June 2027. No major meteor shower peaks in June.
June 2027 night sky: key dates
| Date | What's happening |
|---|---|
| Friday 4 June | New Moon at about 20:45 BST |
| Friday 11 June | First Quarter at about 11:55 BST |
| Saturday 19 June | Full Moon, the Strawberry Moon at about 01:45 BST |
| Monday 21 June | June solstice: the longest day (about 15:05 BST) |
| Wednesday 23 June | Mercury passes between Earth and the Sun (conjunction) and can't be seen |
| Sunday 27 June | Last Quarter at about 05:55 BST |
Times are UK local time, rounded to five minutes. For what's up on a particular night, see the UK night sky this week and the 7-night astronomy weather forecast.
When does it get dark in June in the UK?
On 15 June the Sun sets at about 21:30 BST in central England and the sky is dark enough for stargazing from about 23:45 until 02:30. The sky never gets fully astronomically dark at this time of year, so faint galaxies and the Milky Way are washed out.
| Date | Sunset | Dark enough to stargaze | Astronomical darkness |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 June | 21:20 BST | 23:20 to 02:50 | None: twilight all night |
| 15 June | 21:30 BST | 23:45 to 02:30 | None: twilight all night |
| 30 June | 21:35 BST | 23:45 to 02:40 | None: twilight all night |
For Birmingham. "Dark enough" means the Sun is 12° below the horizon; astronomical darkness means 18°. Around midsummer it never gets that dark in Edinburgh or anywhere further north. In midwinter Edinburgh is dark about 5 minutes earlier than Birmingham and Plymouth about 15 minutes later; in spring and autumn the whole country is within about 15 minutes of these times.
Planets visible in June 2027
Mars is in the evening sky in mid-June 2027. The details below are for 15 June from central England; times move by a few minutes from night to night.
Not well placed this month: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
Moon phases June 2027
| Phase | Date and time |
|---|---|
| New Moon | Friday 4 June, about 20:45 BST |
| First Quarter | Friday 11 June, about 11:55 BST |
| Full Moon | Saturday 19 June, about 01:45 BST |
| Last Quarter | Sunday 27 June, about 05:55 BST |
The best evenings for faint targets this month are 1 to 8 and 28 to 30 June, when the Moon is out of the sky for at least the first hour after dark. The full Moon is the Strawberry Moon; our moon phase tonight page shows the Moon for any night.
Meteor showers in June 2027
No major meteor shower peaks in June.
For a quick verdict on any night, see is there a meteor shower tonight, and the UK meteor shower calendar for the year ahead.
Constellations and deep-sky objects in June
Arcturus is high in the south-west after dark, Vega is close to overhead, and the Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair takes shape in the east. Antares in Scorpius skims the southern horizon from southern England.
- M13 in Hercules, high in the south
- Noctilucent clouds, glowing electric-blue wisps low in the north an hour or two after sunset, from late May to early August
- Albireo in Cygnus, a gold and blue double star in a small telescope
To find your way around, our constellation guides show each star pattern, and binocular astronomy explains how to star-hop to clusters like these. For the darkest skies near you, try the UK dark sky sites map.
Kit for a month of stargazing
Kit we've reviewed in full
Nothing on this page needs more than your eyes, but a star chart and a red light make finding things far easier, and binoculars show the Moon's craters, Jupiter's moons and the best star clusters.
Philip's Planisphere (latitude 51.5° North)
Turn the wheel to the date and time and it shows exactly which constellations are up. Made for 51.5° north, so it matches the sky over Britain.
Lepro Rechargeable Head Torch with Red Light (2 pack)
Red light lets you read a chart without undoing the 20 minutes your eyes need to adapt to the dark.
The UK astronomy forums' standard first pair: waterproof, bright and the right size for clusters, the Moon and the Milky Way.
Our best binoculars for stargazing
Honest, research-based recommendations for every budget.
Browse all →Affiliate links: you pay the same price, we earn a small commission that helps keep WatchTheStars free.
Every figure on this page is calculated for central England (52.5° north) when the site rebuilds each night, using the same methods as our stargazing tonight tool, checked against the JPL ephemeris. Each month's page moves on to the following year once the month ends.