The best time to see the core of our stunning home galaxy, the Milky Way, is fast approaching.
Wherever you are on the planet, if you can get away from light pollution and face south without any artificial lights to spoil the view, one of the most spectacular sights in stargazing is all yours.
Although the Milky Way is visible in May from the Northern Hemisphere, it’s only in June that the galactic center comes into view. About 26,000 light-years from the solar system, it’s located around the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius, which are both now visible in the south after dark.
“This is the time of year when the Milky Way is visible as a faint band of hazy light arching across the sky all night,” says Preston Dyches at NASA in the June 2025 installment of his monthly vlog, What’s Up. “What you’re looking at is the bright central core of our home galaxy, seen edge-on from our position within the galaxy’s disk.”
Finding the Milky Way is easy. Look to the east after dark, and you’ll see three bright stars rising — Vega in the constellation Lyra, and Deneb in Cygnus, at the top, and Altair in Aquila below them. This is the vast Summer Triangle, an asterism (shape) in the night sky rather than an official constellation.
As seen from the Northern Hemisphere, the fainter top of the Milky Way pours through the Summer Triangle, specifically from Deneb through Altair. Follow it diagonally across from east to south, and low on the southern horizon will be the Milky Way’s bright core.
The farther south you are, the more of the bright core you’ll see and the darker the sky will be at this time of year. Around the solstice on June 20 to 21, nights in the Northern Hemisphere will be at their shortest, with persistent twilight and no astronomical darkness at latitudes north of about 49 degrees north, according to EarthSky. Closer to the equator is better, and so is anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, where nights are at their longest during June.
The Milky Way will get brighter and higher in a darker sky in July, August and September. Whenever you see it, try taking a long exposure image, which you can try either with one of the best cameras for astrophotography or with a newer smartphone. A tripod will be required for a good image because the shutter will need to be open for about 10 to 25 seconds.
