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 Pleiades star cluster stands high in the east in mid-evening and almost directly overhead around midnight. It looks like a tiny dipper of six moderately bright stars. To the people of Mesoamerica, the Pleiades represented the rattles of a rattlesnake.
Mars will be stationary tomorrow, as it appears to stand still against the background of stars. The planet will resume its normal motion across the sky soon after that, but it will be slow at first, so it will take a day or two to notice any difference.
The Milky Way forms a glowing arch on November evenings. It stretches from Aquila and Cygnus in the west, through W-shaped Cassiopeia high in the northeast, and down near the bright stars Aldebaran and Capella.
A beautiful quartet greets early risers tomorrow: the Moon, two planets, and a star. The planet Mercury will stand directly below the Moon. The star Spica will stand to the right of the Moon and Venus, the “morning star,” will perch above the others.
Venus is shining as the brilliant “morning star.” Tomorrow, it will stand directly below the crescent Moon at first light. The planet Mercury and Spica, the brightest star of the constellation Virgo, will pose below them.
Capella, the brightest star of Auriga, the charioteer, is one of the half-dozen brightest star systems in the night sky. The yellow-orange star is low in the northeast at nightfall and stands high in the west-northwest at first light.
Mercury is putting in a pretty good appearance in the dawn sky. The planet is low in the east-southeast in the early twilight and looks like a bright star. The true star Spica is close to its upper right, with brilliant Venus, the “morning star,” above them.
Regulus, the heart of Leo, the lion, is to the lower right of the Moon at first light tomorrow. The surface of Regulus is thousands of degrees hotter than the Sun, so the star shines pure white compared to the Sun’s yellowish tint.
A couple of bright stars arc to the right of the Moon at midnight and stairstep to the lower right of the Moon at first light. Procyon is closer to the Moon, while Sirius is the brightest star in the entire night sky.
M31, the Andromeda galaxy, is our closest big galactic neighbor, at a distance of 2.5 million light-years. It stands high in the east in early evening, and looks like a small, faint, hazy patch of light.
