Best things to see in the Southern Hemisphere sky tonight

If you're based in the Southern Hemisphere and want to know what you can see in the night sky tonight, this page is for you.

Our monthly-updated night-sky guide will show you what you can see in the Southern Hemisphere over the coming weeks.

We'll include monthly highlights, stars, constellations, planets and deep-sky objects.

More guides

Southern Hemipshere stargazing
Best night-sky targets to see in Australia
Australian astrophotography

The Strawberry Moon captured by Taran Sohal over Byron Bay Lighthouse, New South Wales, Australia, 11 June 2025, 16:41 local time. Equipment: Sony A7 IV camera, Sony 200-600mm f/5.6 lens, Sirui tripod. Exposure: Single exposure at f/11, ISO 320, shutter 1/100. Processing: Adobe Photoshop 2025 — Credit: Taran Sohal

June 2026 highlights

As the Moon orbits Earth, it passes in front of multitudes of stars. Most are faint, but on the morning of 28 June, an occultation of first-magnitude Antares is visible from southeastern Australia.

Low in the western sky, it’s a dark-limb event on a near full (13-day-old) Moon. Disappearance occurs at the following times, all in EST

Sydney: 02:28
Canberra: 02:23
Melbourne: 02:12
Hobart: 01:57

Adelaide and Brisbane see a near miss, being closest to the northern limb at 02:00 CST and 02:57 EST respectively.

Stars and constellations

The winter equinox brings the longest nights of the year, but you might be surprised just how much of the celestial sphere you can see if you pull an all-nighter.

At the end of twilight, summer constellation Canis Major is still visible in the west, while the southern sky still shows the magnificent autumn Milky Way view.

Pre-dawn has a late spring/early summer evening vista, with the Milky Way now close to the horizon, with the Magellanic Clouds high in the south. What variety!

Venus and Jupiter, southern hemisphere

From the southern hemisphere, you can see Venus and Jupiter in the early evening sky, low in the northwest near Castor and Pollux.

June opens with brilliant Venus rising from below Jupiter and passing on 10 June, just 1.7° away. Mercury makes a good evening return; trying looking one hour after sunset.

Approaching Jupiter from below, it spends the last week of June 4° away. Turning to the morning, Neptune and Saturn rise shortly after midnight. Mars is clear in the east, rising around one hour before dawn.

Deep-sky

The Norma constellation consists of four main (fourth-magnitude) stars in a kite shape about 5° across, a great binocular view in a rich Milky Way star field.

The brightest is Gamma2 (γ2) Normae (RA 16h 19.8m, dec. –50° 09’), which forms a wide double star with Gamma1 (γ1), 0.5° away.

At magnitudes 4.0 (yellow) and 5.0 (white), binoculars are ideal to show the colour contrast.

Another of its main stars is Epsilon (ε) Normae (3° north-northeast of Gamma), a brilliant double with a mag. +4.5 blue-white star and mag. +6.1 companion, 23 arcseconds apart.

Move 1.7° south to finds open cluster NGC 6134 (RA 16h 27.7m, dec. –49° 09’). Its brightest stars are only 11th magnitude, but this rich, compact cluster stands out well in a busy, pretty field.

Best things to see in the Southern Hemisphere sky, June 2026

More guides

June 2026 highlights

Stars and constellations

Venus and Jupiter, southern hemisphere

Deep-sky