WAITING FOR THE CME: A CME expected to hit Earth on June 8th has not yet arrived. That means either it is moving more slowly than expected, or it completely missed. Either way, this CME is not going to cause a strong (G3) geomagnetic storm. Instead, only minor (G1) storms are possible on June 9th if it is still coming but running late. CME impact alerts: Space Weather Alert Service.
VENUS-JUPITER CONJUNCTION: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. The two brightest planets in the Solar System are converging for a beautiful conjunction. Last night in Austria, Michael Jaeger watched them set together in a blizzard of Starlink satellites:
"What a beautiful pair in the sky," says Jaeger. "Venus and Jupiter are the stars of the night as darkness falls."
At closest approach on June 9th, Venus and Jupiter will be just 1.6 degrees apart--similar to the Great Conjunction of 2002. And this is just the beginning. During the nights ahead, Mercury and the crescent Moon will join Venus and Jupiter to form a must-see quartet in the twilight sky. It's a marvelous week-long sky show.
Browse our sky maps for a night-by-night preview. Sky maps: June 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.
more images: from Georg Klingersberger of Kobernaußen Upper Austria; from Hazarry Ali Ahmad of Keriam, Tutong, Brunei; from Shahrin Ahmad of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; from Teresa Molinaro of Sicily, Italy; from Khosro Jafarizadeh of Karaj, Alborz, Iran; from Arturo Gómez Moreno of Santiago, Chile
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Space Weather Newsletter
FATHER'S DAY "DLG" IRON STATUE: DLG means "Daddy's Little Girl." On May 1, 2026, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the Father's Day DLG Sculpture to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. At the apex of the flight, it floated 102,222 feet above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $149.95. Handcrafted from iron, the sculpture celebrates the special love between dads and their daughters. The students are selling Father's Day Gifts to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter