Scorpius and Sagittarius highlight July nights, scooting low across the south. Antares highlights the scorpion’s hook-shaped body, with teapot-shaped Sagittarius to its left. Under dark skies, the Milky Way rises from the teapot’s spout like steam. Meanwhile, the Big Dipper stands high in the north and northwest during the evening, with its handle to the upper left and bowl to the lower right.
The full Moon of July is known as the Hay Moon, Thunder Moon, or Apollo Moon.
Perigee July 13
Apogee July 25
Moon phases are Central Time.
Virgo is well up in the southeast at nightfall, marked by its brightest star, Spica. The constellation contains the most distant star in our own galaxy yet seen, a million light-years from Earth. It is much too faint to see without a telescope.
The constellation Hercules is in good view by the time it gets dark and soars high overhead during the night. Look for the Keystone — four stars that form a lopsided square. It’s in the northeast as darkness falls.
Mercury is putting in one of its best appearances of the entire year. The little planet is low in the west-northwest as evening twilight fades. It looks like a fairly bright star. Tonight, it’s quite close to the crescent Moon.
The Moon and Venus, which is just beginning its reign as the Evening Star, stand side by side, quite low in the western sky, shortly after sunset. Venus will remain low in the sky for months before finally pulling into better view.
The Moon is “new” today, as it crosses the imaginary line between Earth and Sun. It is lost in the Sun’s glare but will return to view as a thin crescent quite low in the west early Saturday evening.
Although it is the combined light of millions of stars, the Milky Way is so faint that almost any artificial light source blocks the view. To see the Milky Way, get away from city lights, then look low in the east after midnight.
The planet Mercury is in the early evening sky now. It looks like a bright star quite low in the west-northwest during twilight, well above brighter Venus. It will remain in view for most of the month.
Through a telescope, the galaxy known as M82, which is near the Big Dipper, looks like a lumpy caterpillar. But it is one of the most interesting galaxies because a collision with another galaxy is triggering the birth of thousands of new stars.
Cygnus, the swan, climbs into view by midnight and is high in the sky at first light. Kepler-64, near the intersection of the swan’s body and wings, consists of four stars. A planet orbits two of them. It’s the first known planet in a quadruple system.
Pisces is in the east at first light. Tomorrow, it’s above and to the left of the crescent Moon. The star K2-141 stands above the Moon, although you need a telescope to see it. It hosts a planet that’s so hot that it’s blanketed by molten rock.
