The 2018 Friday the 13th solar eclipse will be seen mainly over the Southern Ocean, between Australia and Antarctica. The southeastern Australia coast will see a very skimpy partial eclipse on Friday afternoon. Eclipse times for that region here.

The end of retrograde means the end of the best time for viewing Jupiter in 2018. But Jupiter will remain bright and fun to see for many months to come. In the meantime, Mars is now as bright as Jupiter ... soon to be brighter!

Look west after sunset to see Venus in conjunction with Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. Dazzling planet! Fainter star near it ... very cool to see.

A beautiful view of the waning crescent moon, Pleiades star cluster and bright star Aldebaran in the dark eastern skies before dawn on July 9 and 10.

The next couple of weeks are grand for viewing Mercury below Venus in the Northern Hemisphere. For our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, July 2018 will feature the best evening apparition of Mercury for this year.

Watch for Mars near the moon on June 29 and 30 and on July 1, 2018. And notice Mars' dramatic brightness now! Mars will get even brighter before its opposition in late July, best since 2003.

The date of June's full moon depends on your location. For U.S. time zones, full moon comes June 27. For much of the rest of the world, full moon comes June 28. For all of us, Saturn is nearby.

To catch all 5 bright planets in late June and July 2018, you first of all need to spot Mercury beneath Venus at dusk or early evening. Try your luck tonight and for several weeks to come!

The nights of June 22, 23 and 24 are a great time to make a sure identification of Jupiter on our sky's dome.

Spot the moon, 4 bright planets and 3 bright stars. Then use your mind's eye to imagine the ecliptic, or sun's path, crossing your night sky.