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.
The star cluster Messier 48 is halfway up the sky in the south-southeast as night falls, well below the bright star Procyon. Under dark skies, it’s visible to the unaided eye as a small, hazy patch of light, and it’s an easy target for binoculars.
One of the stars whose size has been measured directly is Arcturus, in Boötes the herdsman. It climbs into view in the east by 9 or 10 p.m. It’s one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Careful measurements show that it’s about 25 times the diameter of the Sun.
One of the oldest constellations soars high across the sky on March nights. Boötes the herdsman rises in the east and northeast by 9 or 10 p.m. Its stars form an outline that resembles an ice cream cone. The brightest star, Arcturus, is at the bottom of the cone.
A pair of glowing orange “eyes” stares down from the western sky this evening: the planet Mars and the star Aldebaran, which marks the eye of Taurus, the bull. They are high in the sky at nightfall, with Mars to the right of slightly brighter Aldebaran.
Three planets congregate near the Moon in the dawn twilight tomorrow. The brightest is Jupiter, to the upper left of the Moon. Next-brightest is Mercury, to the left of the Moon. And the faintest planet is Saturn, to the upper right of the Moon.
Saturn is close to the Moon at dawn tomorrow. The giant planet looks like a star to the left of the Moon. The planets Jupiter, which is much brighter than Saturn, and Mercury stand to the lower left.
Denebola, the star that marks the lion’s tail, is bigger, brighter, and much younger than the Sun. It perches low in the east as darkness falls and climbs high across the sky during the night. It will rise a little earlier each evening as we head into spring.
Vulpecula, the fox, is near the middle of the Summer Triangle, which is high in the eastern sky at dawn. One of its treasures is CK Vulpecula, a star that flared up 350 years ago. The outburst probably was caused by the collision and merger of two stars.
The Moon reaches last quarter at 7:30 p.m. CST, so sunlight will illuminate half of the visible lunar hemisphere. The illuminated fraction will shrink over the coming week as the Moon moves toward “new,” which will begin a new cycle of phases.
The planets Mercury and Jupiter will stand side by side at dawn tomorrow. Jupiter is the brighter of the two worlds. They will be slightly easier to see from more southerly latitudes. Saturn stands to their upper right.
