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

The rising of the full Hunter's Moon of October 9, 2022, with the moon reflected in the calm waters this night at Crawling Lake Reservoir in southern Alberta, Canada. The moon appeared very pink as it rose into the clear sky near the horizo, then turned more yellow as it rose into scattered bands of cloud. — (Image credit: Getty Images)

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

June 9-11: Venus and Jupiter in conjunction

Bright planets Venus and Jupiter unite in Western skies over a very still lake illuminated by the rising Moon. Long exposure. — Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. Nikon D800 with 50m., 15secs at f/5, ISO800 (Image credit: Getty Images)

June begins with one of the most eye-catching planetary displays of the year. Look to the west-northwest about 30-45 minutes after sunset to see brilliant Venus and Jupiter drawing together in the fading light. Though Venus is highest above the horizon this year on June 5, it’s on June 9 that the two planets will be closest, separated by just over 1.5 degrees. They’ll appear as a striking double “star” low above the horizon, though — depending on location — it’s not until June 11 that Venus will shine right above Jupiter, creating arguably the most photogenic moment of the conjunction. Mercury will also be lurking beneath Venus and Jupiter, visible briefly low on the horizon. A short telephoto lens will help compress the scene and exaggerate the planets' closeness against a twilight landscape.

June 8-19: Dark sky window

Great Globular Cluster in Hercules or the Hercules Globular Cluster, is a globular cluster of several hundred thousand stars in the constellation of Hercules (Messier 13 or M13, also designated NGC 6205) — (Image credit: Getty Images)

With the last quarter moon on 8 June, a valuable — if brief — dark-sky window opens for astrophotographers. In the nights that follow, the moon rises later and wanes toward new on 14/15 June, leaving the evening sky free of moonlight.

Even after the new moon, skies remain largely dark until around 19 June, when the waxing crescent begins to interfere. With nights rapidly shortening as the June solstice approaches, deep-sky imagers will have no time to waste, with classic summer objects including the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (M13) and the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius.

Read: The best star tracker camera mounts

Saturday, June 13: Crescent moon and the Pleiades

The 4-day-old waxing crescent Moon on April 8, 2019 with it below Mars (at top) and the star clusters, the Hyades (at left, with reddish Aldebaran) and Pleiades (at right) in Taurus, and set into the deep blue evening twilight. This is with the 135mm Canon telephoto at f/2.8 with the Canon 6D at ISO 400, in a blend of 7 exposures from 1/4 second to 8 seconds, blended with luminosity masks from ADP Pro3 extension panel in Photoshop, to prevent the Moon from being too overexposed while retaining the stars and blue sky. The camera was tracking the sky. I added an Orton effect glow to the stars for artistic effect, with a star mask to limit the glows to just the stars. I really needed a 105mm lens for this, as the framing is pretty tight! (Photo by: Alan Dyer/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) — New moon and Pleiades. Canon EOS 6D with 135mm lens. Blend of 7 exposures from 1/4 second to 8 seconds, at ISO 400, blended with luminosity masks from ADP Pro3 extension panel in Photoshop, to prevent the Moon from being too overexposed while retaining the stars (Image credit: Getty Images)

Early risers are rewarded with a delicate pre-dawn scene as a super-slim 5%-illuminated waning crescent moon rises in the east-northeast near the Pleiades open cluster (also called M45 and the Seven Sisters). Mars will sit just to the right of the pair. The fleeting sight of the moon and the Pleiades will be best captured using a telephoto lens before twilight brightens the sky.

Read: When to photograph the moon

June 17-18: Crescent moon meets planets and stars

Rising moon in conjunction with Venus is framed on the left by brick townhouses with wooden dormers and an unfurled American flag in Boston's historic South End. Leafy treetops complete the framing on the right. The photo was taken at the start of nautical twilight. — Rising moon in conjunction with Venus, Boston, USA (Image credit: Bookes Payne / Getty Images)

A series of photogenic encounters unfolds in the western sky after sunset. On 17 June, a young 5%-illuminated waxing crescent Moon appears between Jupiter and Mercury, with Venus shining brightly above. However, the sky will be relatively bright. The astrophotography highlight comes after sunset on 18 June, when a now 12%-lit moon will shine very close to Venus and pass in front of across the Beehive Cluster (M44), an open cluster of 100+ stars.

Read: Astrophotography: How-to guides, tips and videos

June 29: Full Strawberry Moon rises

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. — Multiple exposure of full moon. Canon EOS 6D with 200mm f/2.8. 1/50sec at f/4, ISO100. (Image credit: Getty Images)

June’s full moon reaches its peak at 7:57 p.m. EDT, rising in the southeast at sunset. As always, the best time to photograph it is at moonrise, when it appears on the horizon looking larger than it is, and draped in orangey light due to Earth’s atmosphere. Foreground planning is key — use apps like PhotoPills and TPE (The Photographer's Ephemeris) to align the moon with buildings, landscapes or distant hills. A long lens (200–600mm) will exaggerate its size and create a more dramatic composition. An increasingly popular way to image the moon is with one of the best smart telescopes.

Read: How to photograph the full moon

• The best lenses for astrophotography

• The best star tracker camera mounts

Jamie has been writing about photography, astronomy, astro-tourism and astrophotography for over 20 years, producing content for Forbes.com, Space.com, Live Science, Techradar, T3, BBC Wildlife, Science Focus, New Scientist, Sky & Telescope, BBC Sky At Night, South China Morning Post, The Guardian, The Telegraph and Travel+Leisure.

As the editor of When Is The Next Eclipse and author of A Stargazing Program For Beginners, he has a wealth of experience, expertise and enthusiasm for astrophotography, from capturing the Northern Lights, the moon and meteor showers to solar and lunar eclipses.

He also brings a great deal of knowledge on action cameras, 360 cameras, AI cameras, camera backpacks, telescopes, gimbals, tripods and all manner of photography equipment.