What You Can See in the Night Sky this Summer from Montréal

After almost five months, the curfew in Montréal is being lifted. The weather is warming up. Folks are getting vaccinated. It actually feels like we might get a summer this year.

There's gonna be a lot of things to see this summer in the night sky: solar eclipses, Full Moons, planets, meteor showers, and more. In this post, I'm going to give you a month-by-month breakdown so you can plan to catch them all. Jump to each month with the links below:

• May
• June
• July
• August
• September

May

Full Moon / Moonrise

May 25 - May 26

The Moon will appear full on the following dates. The Moonrise is when the Moon first appears above the horizon in the East. When it's low on the horizon, the Moon appears larger and red.

• May 25 - Moon rises in the East at 7:45 PM. The Sun sets at 8:29 PM.
• May 26 - Moon rises in the East at 9:09 PM. The Sun sets at 8:30 PM.

Lunar Eclipse?

May 26

Well, yes, there will be a lunar eclipse happening early in the morning on May 26th, but much won't be visible from Montréal. Here's the full information on it, but I'd recommend you sleep and wait until November 19, 2021 when we get the real deal.

Space Station Flyover

May 21 - May 31

The International Space Station will fly overhead, appearing as a bright moving dot in the sky for several minutes. Here's the estimated times for Montréal when it'll fly overhead, but you should download the free ISS Detector app to get a full list and an alert several minutes before it flies over:

• May 21 - 10:22 PM
• May 22 - 9:35 PM
• May 23 - 10:24 PM
• May 24 - 9:37 PM
• May 25 - 10:26 PM
• May 26 - 9:39 PM
• May 26 - 11:16 PM
• May 27 - 10:28 PM
• May 28 - 9:40 PM
• May 28 - 11:18 PM
• May 29 - 10:30 PM
• May 30  - 9:42 PM
• May 31 - 10:33 PM

Mercury and Venus Together in the Sky

May 21 - May 31

The two inner planets, Mercury and Venus, will get closer together in the Western sky late in May, visible shortly after sunset. Each night, they'll get closer and closer.

On May 28th, the day the curfew is lifted in Montréal, the two planets will be at their closest. In fact, they'll be visible at the same time through the telescope eyepiece. I'll be doing a special Sunset Club workshop that night to show you it!

June

Partial Solar Eclipse

June 10th - 5:05 AM - 6:30 AM

Yes! Get out of bed for this one. Early on the morning of June 10th, the Moon will partially block out the Sun as it rises in the East.

I've made a video showing you how to see it, as well as a few good locations to spot it without obstructions (Jeanne Mance Park and Belvedere Kondiaronk, the top of Mount Royal).

To see the eclipse, you're gonna need the right equipment: a pair of eclipse glasses. I sell them for $5.

Buy Eclipse Glasses

Crescent Moon

June 12 - June 15

The Moon will appear as a crescent between June 12 -June 15, appearing in the west after sunset. Each night, the crescent will become more and more lit up. Seeing the Crescent Moon with a sunset just feels more magical.

 

Full Moon / Moonrise

June 23 - June 25

The Moon will appear full on the following dates. The Moonrise is when the Moon first appears above the horizon in the East. When it's low on the horizon, the Moon appears larger and red.

• June 23 - Moon rises in the East at 7:59 PM. The Sun sets at 8:46 PM.
• June 24 - Moon rises in the East at 9:11 PM. The Sun sets at 8:47 PM.
• June 25 - Moon rises in the East at 10:11 PM. The Sun sets at 8:47 PM.

July

Saturn and Jupiter (Late Evening)

July 1 and onwards

This summer, we'll again see Saturn and Jupiter in the sky! As I write this in late May, they are visible if you stay up late until the early morning, but they'll become easily visible after midnight starting around July 1st.

Look to the East. You'll see a bright dot, which is Saturn. A little later, Jupiter will also become visible, appearing to the left of Saturn as a brighter dot.

You can see five planets with the naked eye without a telescope: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. However, if you do have a telescope, you can see the four large moons of Jupiter, as well as the rings of Saturn.

I'm hoping to show you it this summer with my telescope.

Crescent Moon

July 12 - July 15

The Moon will appear as a crescent between July 12 - July 15, appearing in the west after sunset. Each night, the crescent will become more and more lit up.

Venus and Mars Together in the Sky

July 12 - July 13

Venus appears as the brightest planet in the sky. Mars appears less bright, but still visible with the naked eye.The pair will appear close together in mid-July, getting closest on July 12 and 13.

Both planets will be visible at the same time through the telescope on those two dates.

Full Moon / Moonrise

July 22 - July 24

The Moon will appear full on the following dates. The Moonrise is when the Moon first appears above the horizon in the East. When it's low on the horizon, the Moon appears larger and red.

• July 22 - Moon rises in the East at 7:56 PM. The Sun sets at 8:34 PM.
• July 23 - Moon rises in the East at 8:48 PM. The Sun sets at 8:32 PM.
• July 24 - Moon rises in the East at 9:29 PM. The Sun sets at 8:31 PM.

Space Station Flyover

Late July (to be updated)

The International Space Station goes through 2-month cycles of being visible over a location. Because the flyovers occurred in late May, my guess is we'll get another cycle of flyovers in late July. I'll update this post when I have exact info.

August

Crescent Moon

August 10 - August 13

The Moon will appear as a crescent between August 10 - August 13, appearing in the west after sunset. Each night, the crescent will become more and more lit up.

Perseides Meteor Shower

August 11 - August 12

The brightest meteor shower of the year, the Perseides, are merely grains of dust passing through Earth's atmosphere. They're the remains of a comet trail that Earth passes through each August.

Most meteor showers, you need to be outside of the city to be able to see as light pollution makes them difficult to spot. But last summer, I tested going up to the Belvedere Outremont on top of Mount Royal to watch the Perseides and it worked! Over about two hours of lying on our backs, we spotted more than 20 meteors shooting by. Not bad for a light-polluted city.

Below, a photo from my iPhone of a meteor:

Full Moon / Moonrise

August 20 - August 23

The Moon will appear full on the following dates. The Moonrise is when the Moon first appears above the horizon in the East. When it's low on the horizon, the Moon appears larger and red.

• August 20  - Moon rises in the East at 7:25 PM. The Sun sets at 7:52 PM.
• August 21  - Moon rises in the East at 7:59 PM. The Sun sets at 7:51 PM.
• August 22  - Moon rises in the East at 8:27 PM. The Sun sets at 7:49 PM.
• August 23  - Moon rises in the East at 8:50 PM. The Sun sets at 7:47 PM.

September

Crescent Moon

September 9 - September 12

The Moon will appear as a crescent between September 9 - September 12, appearing in the west after sunset. Each night, the crescent will become more and more lit up.

Autumn Equinox / Measure the Earth

September 22

On the spring and autumn equinox, every location on Earth gets equal amounts of daylight. A bonus of this, is that we are able to measure the Earth with a stick, a measuring tape, and some trigonometry! Here's a replay of how I did this live on March 20, 2021:

Full Moon / Moonrise

September 19 - September 22

The Moon will appear full on the following dates. The Moonrise is when the Moon first appears above the horizon in the East. When it's low on the horizon, the Moon appears larger and red.

• September 19 - Moon rises in the East at 6:53 PM. The Sun sets at 6:57 PM.
• September 20  - Moon rises in the East at 7:15 PM. The Sun sets at 6:55 PM.
• September 21  - Moon rises in the East at 7:34 PM. The Sun sets at 6:53 PM.
• September 22  - Moon rises in the East at 7:53 PM. The Sun sets at 6:51 PM.

Space Station Flyover

Late September (to be updated)

The International Space Station goes through 2-month cycles of being visible over a location. Because the flyovers occurred in late May, my guess is we'll get another cycle of flyovers in late September. I'll update this post when I have exact info.