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.
Aldebaran, the bright star that marks the eye of Taurus, the bull, appears near the Moon late tonight. A couple of years ago, astronomers discovered that Aldebaran is only about two-thirds as massive as thought, or less than 1.2 times the mass of the Sun.
A small galaxy in Sagittarius is creating ripples in our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Sagittarius is due south at nightfall, and marks the center of the Milky Way. The dwarf galaxy is on the far side of the center, hidden behind clouds of gas and dust.
Two planets line up near the Moon tonight. Brilliant Mars is to the upper right of the Moon as they climb into view in late evening. Uranus is closer to the upper left of the Moon. It’s much fainter than Mars, though, so you need binoculars to pick it out.
The Moon has a close encounter with the planet Mars tonight. They climb into good view by 10:30 or 11 p.m. Mars looks like a bright orange star. At its closest it will be less than one degree from the Moon, roughly the width of a pencil held at arm’s length.
The planet Mars trails the Moon across the sky tonight. They climb into good view by 10:30 or 11 p.m., with Mars to the lower left of the Moon. It looks like a bright orange star.
Tau Ceti, a star in the constellation Cetus, rises by midnight, well to the lower left of the Moon. Tau Ceti is a bit smaller, lighter, and cooler than the Sun, but overall, it’s quite similar. The biggest difference is that it may be twice as old as the Sun.
Mars climbs into good view in the east by 10:30 or 11 p.m. and looks like a brilliant orange star. Winter arrives in the planet’s northern hemisphere today. It is the planet’s shortest season, lasting just 158 Earth days, versus 183 days for northern summer.
The Moon is full at 12:22 a.m. CDT tomorrow. The full Moon of September is known as the Fruit Moon or Corn Moon. Most years it’s also the Harvest Moon, but this year that title leapfrogs September and applies to October’s full Moon.
A couple of ancient star patterns wheel low across the south on summer nights. The teapot of Sagittarius is due south at nightfall, with the wide triangle of Capricornus in the southeast, to the upper right of the Moon this evening.
The swan soars high overhead on late-summer nights. It’s high in the east at nightfall, with its body roughly parallel to the horizon and its graceful wings extending above and below. Its brightest star, Deneb, marks the swan’s tail.
