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By Deane Morrison

As the summer stars move into prominence in the evening sky, the spring constellation Leo, the lion, slinks away in the west as it begins its descent into the sunset.

Facing the same fate, Mars, with its relatively high orbital speed, resists its inevitable tumble. Between June 15 and 17, Mars and Regulus, Leo’s brightest star, slip past each other somewhat low in the west. Mars will be just above Regulus, the base of the Sickle—a backward question mark of stars outlining the lion’s head. Look at nightfall, before both objects set.

High in the south, brilliant Arcturus anchors kite-shaped Bootes, the herdsman. Immediately east of Bootes hangs crescent-shaped Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. The crown is set off by its one jewel, called Alphecca or Gemma.

Below and slightly west of Arcturus you’ll see Spica, the only bright star in the constellation Virgo, the maiden. The moon will make a convenient guide to the star by gliding past it between the 5th and 6th. If you like challenges, find a star chart, go out on a dark, moonless night, and trace the rest of the constellation.

In the morning sky, Venus glimmers low in the east as dawn starts to break. To Venus’s upper right, Saturn pulls away from it all month long as Earth chases the ringed planet in the orbital race.

June’s full moon rises in twilight the evening of the 10th. It will follow Antares, the heart of Scorpius, across the night sky.

Summer arrives with the solstice at 9:42 p.m. on the 20th. At that moment the sun reaches a point over the Tropic of Cancer, ending its annual journey north. An observer in space would see Earth lighted from the Antarctic Circle up to the North Pole and over to the Arctic Circle on the dark side of the planet.