Astronomy

🌌 Night Sky This Week: Through June 12th, 2026 🌠

Summer is beginning to make its presence known in the night sky this week. While the spring constellations still dominate the evening hours, some familiar summer sights are climbing higher in the east each night. The days are long, the evenings are warm, and this is one of the best times of year to spend a little time outdoors after sunset. Whether you’re watching a bright planet, searching for a favorite constellation, or simply enjoying a few quiet minutes under the stars, there’s plenty to see as the sky continues its seasonal shift toward summer.

🌙 Evening Highlights

Night sky map over lake and forest, labeled Cancer, Gemini, Auriga; Venus, Jupiter, Mercury and Procyon after sunset on June 9.

Mercury makes a brief appearance in the evening sky this week. About 30 minutes after sunset, look low in the western sky just above the horizon. It won’t stay visible for long, so you’ll want a clear view to the west if you’d like to catch it.

Right after sunset, Venus is stealing the show. It shines so brightly that it’s often the first object you’ll notice as the sky begins to darken. If you’re looking west, it’s nearly impossible to miss.

Venus has now moved into Gemini, where Jupiter is also shining nearby. The two planets continue to draw closer together in the evening sky. Since Venus is much closer to Earth and moves faster in its orbit, you’ll be able to notice their changing positions from week to week.

Jupiter remains visible for much of the evening before finally setting after midnight. Even a small pair of binoculars can make the giant planet more interesting. Under steady skies, you may be able to spot its four largest moons lined up beside it like tiny stars.

🌅 Early Morning Sky

Dark star map showing Moon near Saturn and Neptune, with constellation lines and labels like Pisces, Aries, Mars, and Andromeda.

If you’re up before sunrise, there is still plenty happening in the morning sky.

Saturn is becoming easier to find in the southeast before dawn. Its steady golden glow helps it stand out once you know where to look. On Wednesday morning, the waning Moon passes just north of the ringed planet, creating a nice pairing in the early sky.

Mars is nearby, sitting lower and a bit to the left of Saturn. The Red Planet rises about an hour before sunrise. On Friday morning, look for the thin waning crescent Moon hanging directly above Mars.

✨ Constellations of the Week

This is the time of year when the changing seasons become especially noticeable in the night sky.

Near Jupiter, you’ll find the bright stars that mark Gemini. The brighter of the pair is Pollux, a yellow-orange giant star located about 34 light-years away. Nearby is Castor, which appears to be a single star but is actually a fascinating multiple-star system about 51 light-years from Earth.

Leo the Lion star map on black background, with blue constellation lines, labeled Denebola, Regulus, and The Sickle

By around 11 p.m., Leo the Lion is sinking toward the western horizon. Once you learn its shape, it’s easy to recognize. Look for the backward question mark known as the “Sickle,” with a triangle of stars extending behind it. The bright star Regulus sits at the base of the Sickle and marks the lion’s heart.

Leo also has an interesting connection to history. In ancient Egypt, the Sun’s movement into Leo roughly coincided with the annual flooding of the Nile River. Those floods brought life-giving water to the land, and lion imagery later became common in fountains and artwork throughout Greek and Roman cultures.

Starry night sky showing the Scorpius constellation diagram above a dark horizon, with the word Scorpius in the corner.

Meanwhile, Scorpius the Scorpion is beginning to rise in the southeast, offering one of the first clear signs that summer skies are on the way. By around midnight, the constellation is standing proudly in the southern sky. Its bright red star, Antares, makes it easy to identify.

If you get a clear evening this week, take a few minutes to step outside and look up. The night sky is changing quickly now, with spring gradually giving way to summer. From bright planets to rising summer constellations, there’s something new to notice almost every night.

Garden almanac

Time to Thin Fruit

If you are lucky enough to have fruit showing up on your fruit trees this year, now is the time to thin the fruit out a little. It can feel wrong to remove perfectly good fruit, but your apples, peaches, and pears will really benefit from it. Try to leave about 4 to 6 inches between fruits. Thinning helps the tree put more energy into the remaining fruit. This usually means bigger, healthier fruit later in the season. This also helps reduce broken branches from being overloaded.

A large brown June Beetle on a leaf.

June beetles are starting to emerge from lawns right now. You may notice little holes in the ground where they are coming up. The beetles themselves usually do very little damage. If you have struggled with grub problems in the past, this is a good time to apply a lawn grub control treatment. Catching them early can help prevent lawn damage later in the summer and fall.

A bunch of red bladder galls on the underneath of a maple leaf.

A lot of people have also been noticing strange little bumps or growths on maple leaves, and soon linden trees may start showing them too. These are caused by tiny mites. As they feed, their saliva triggers the leaf tissue to grow around them, creating those unusual bumps or galls. They may not look great, but the good news is that they rarely cause any real harm to the tree’s overall health. Most years, the best thing to do is simply leave them alone.

Dark sunken areas on the limbs of a plum tree caused by brown rot cankers.

Stone fruits like plums and cherries can sometimes develop brown rot cankers this time of year. These show up as sunken, dead-looking areas on branches or trunks. If you spot a canker on a branch, prune it out several inches below the damaged area. Unfortunately, if the trunk is affected, there is not much that can be done. By monitoring the tree and hoping it can compartmentalize the damage.

Sometimes, though, what looks alarming is actually just natural gummosis. Stone fruit trees occasionally ooze sap naturally, especially during periods of stress. If there are no sunken or dead areas around the sap, it may simply be a normal response. Mechanical injuries from weed eaters or lawn mowers can also cause sap to ooze from the trunk.

And if your asparagus seems to have headed out earlier than usual this year, you are not imagining things. The hot, dry weather has pushed asparagus to mature faster than normal. Once it starts to fern out, it is best to stop harvesting. Just let the plants grow so they can store energy for next year’s crop.

Garden almanac

In the Garden this Week

In the garden this week is planting time. When you’re planting flowers, it’s a good idea to pinch off any blossoms before putting them in the ground. It feels a little backwards, but it helps the plant focus on what really matters first, building strong roots and healthy leaves. Those early blooms take energy, and giving that energy back to the plant will pay off later with better growth and more flowers. Same for vegetables with that one tomato or pepper hanging off the plant.

A young tomato plant starter with a visible white root ball lies flat against dark brown compost soil. Two large, curved red arrows point to the middle and upper leaf nodes on the stem. A translucent gray text box in the bottom left corner reads, "Bury up to the 2nd or 3rd highest set of leaves."

Tomatoes actually benefit from being planted deep. Go ahead and remove the lower leaves and set the plant deep in the soil. Even lay it in a shallow trench with just the top growth sticking up. Wherever the stem is buried, it will start to form new roots. That means a stronger, more established plant. In general, smaller tomato transplants tend to do better anyway, they adjust quicker and experience less transplant shock.

A close-up of a tomato plant with several large, yellowing leaves covered in numerous small, dark brown or black spots. The spots are scattered across the leaf surface, and the most heavily affected leaf in the center is almost entirely yellow, while a healthier green leaf is visible in the background.

As the season goes on, keep an eye on those tomato leaves, especially the lower ones. You may start to notice spotting, which could be septoria leaf spot or even early or late blight. If that happens, remove the affected leaves right away to slow it down. Consider starting a regular spray program with an all-purpose garden fungicide. The goal is to protect the newer, healthier growth at the top of the plant.

This image features Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica), a native groundcover characterized by its low-growing, arching, fine-textured green leaves.

Right now, sedges are becoming a popular choice for planting under trees. They handle shade well, stay low-maintenance, and often keep growing even when other plants start to fade. In many cases, they only need one or two mowings a season. This makes them a practical option for tough shady areas.

An outdoor, eye-level shot captures a collection of approximately nine weed killer containers arranged on a bed of brown wood mulch, with a blurred green hillside in the background. The containers vary in size, color, and brand, featuring names like Southern Ag, Ortho, Roundup, Spectracide, and Avenger. To the right, a portion of a wooden garden bed is visible. The scene is brightly lit by natural sunlight, casting soft shadows on the mulch.

When it comes to herbicides, it helps to understand that there are really three main types, and they often get mixed up. The first is a grass killer. These are designed for small, unwanted annual grass in flower beds or around shrubs. Just be careful, don’t use them on your lawn because they will kill your turf grass too.

The second type is a nonselective herbicide, often called a weed and grass killer. These products kill almost everything they touch, including both grasses and broadleaf plants. Think products like Roundup or Ground Clear. They’re best used on driveways, sidewalks, rock beds, or other areas where you want complete control.

The third type is lawn weed killers. These are made to target broadleaf weeds in turf without harming the grass itself. Most of them are “3-way” mixes that include ingredients like 2,4-D, dicamba, and others to get a broad range of weeds under control.

You may also start seeing some newer “organic” weed killers on the market, like Spruce. While they tend to be easier on the environment, they don’t always perform well on established perennial weeds, and they can be a bit pricey for what they do.

No matter what product you’re using, always read the label first. Timing and conditions matter more than people think. Avoid spraying when it’s windy or when temperatures are above about 85 degrees.

Pennycress weed showing white flowers and round seed pods in a meadow.

For now, the simplest and most reliable weed control is still mowing and hand-pulling. I’ve been battling pennycress in my own garden, and honestly, pulling and hoeing are the only way to stay ahead of it. Each plant can produce hundreds of seeds, so letting even a few go to seed just makes next year’s problem worse.