THIS is the hardest month of the year to see the stars. In June the Sun does not set until very late in the evening, meaning there are only a couple of hours of true night time. However, there are some compensations.

Although we will have to wait late into the evenings for the sky to get dark, June heralds the beginning of the Noctilucent or ‘night shining’ cloud observing season.

The noctilucent clouds are beautiful, often eye catching, silver blue formations of ice crystals at very high level, reflecting the rays of the Sun after it sets or before it rises. Unlike normal day time clouds, noctilucent clouds form in the atmosphere at a height of about 50 miles (82 kilometres). The nature of noctilucent clouds is not fully understood but it is believed that they are formed of very small grains of meteor dust covered in ice.

Noctilucent clouds appear in a variety of forms, often seen as a bright herringbone pattern while at other times they are wispy in appearance. As the month goes by, the chances of seeing the noctilucent clouds increase. They can, however, only be seen for a short period of time. Over the next few weeks during twilight, an hour or so after the Sun sets, or at dawn before the Sun rises, look to the north in the hope of seeing the silver-blue clouds of a noctilucent cloud display.

Seeing the stars from town centres can be difficult due to light pollution making the sky too bright, but noctilucent clouds can be seen from town centres just as well as from a dark sky.

The Plough has now shifted to a point somewhat west of the overhead but is still very high up. The ‘W’ of Cassiopeia has correspondingly gained a little height in the east. The three stars that form the Summer Triangle; Altair in Aquila the Eagle, Deneb in Cygnus the Swan and Vega in Lyra the Lyre, are now all above the horizon and will dominate the sky during the summer months.

Arcturus, the bright orange star of Bootes the Herdsman, is now at its highest, while the other two main stars of spring, Spica in Virgo the Virgin and Regulus in Leo the Lion, are now dropping westwards. The large faint constellations of Hercules, Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer and Serpens the Serpent occupy much of the south eastern sky now and will be around in the southern sky during the summer months. Alphard the Solitary One in Hydra the Water Snake has now set. However, there is a bright newcomer; a red star called Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion, appearing low in the south east. Antares is known as ‘The Rival of Mars’. It is a pity that the Scorpion never rises high in the sky in Britain as it is a grand constellation. I will take a closer look at Antares next month.

The Planets in June Like May, June is not a good month to see the naked eye planets. There are none visible in the evening sky. If you are an early riser you can see the planet Saturn low in the south east around an hour before the Sun rises. The other naked eye planets Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus are all too close to the Sun to be seen this month. However, if you can wait until next month some of these planets can be seen again, although only in the morning sky before the Sun rises.

Meteor Showers There are no major meteor showers predicted for this month.

The Phases of the Moon New Moon June 6; First Quarter June14; Full Moon June 22; Last Quarter 28 The Full Moon in June is called the Strawberry Moon, because this is the time of year when the strawberries, considered the most celebrated and important of the berries, were traditionally harvested. Nowadays we can buy strawberries at any time of year. This month summer officially begins. At 9.50 pm on June 20 the Sun reaches its most northerly point in the sky, marking the instant in time known as the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice. The nights will be at their shortest for the next few weeks, making it difficult to see the stars until very late in the evening. In the Southern Hemisphere of course, winter officially begins.

One things astronomers like about midsummer's day is that after this date the length of night time slowly begins to increase.