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 Perseid meteor shower will be at its best the next few nights. At its peak, which is expected early Wednesday, it might produce several dozen meteors per hour. Unfortunately, the Moon will be in the sky then, overpowering all but the brightest meteors.
Mars teams up with the Moon tonight. The planet is quite close to the Moon as they climb into good view, around midnight, and just as close at first light. Mars looks like a bright orange star.
All of the stars visible to our eyes belong to the Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way forms a disk that spans 100,000 light-years. We are inside the disk, so we see it as a band of light — the combined glow of millions of stars — ringing the entire sky.
A strong heart needs strong arteries, and Scorpius has both. The scorpion’s heart is the star Antares, an orange supergiant. It’s flanked by bright stars representing the arteries — one to the upper right of Antares at nightfall, the other to the lower left.
U Scorpii is a binary star that stages big outbursts every decade or so. The last eruption took place in 2010, so the next one could happen at any time. The system stands above Antares, the scorpion’s bright orange heart, which is in the south as night falls.
Scorpius, the scorpion, stands low in the south as night falls. Its “heart” is the bright orange star Antares. A short line of three stars to the upper right of Antares forms the scorpion’s head. Its body, tail, and stinger curl to the lower left of Antares.
Mars snuggles closest to the Sun today for the year, about 27 million miles closer than at its farthest. The planet looks like a bright orange star. It rises due east near midnight and stands high in the south at first light.
The planet Saturn looks like a bright star to the upper right of the Moon as night falls and leading the Moon across the sky later on. The even brighter planet Jupiter is to the upper right of Saturn.
A brilliant triangle slides across the south tonight: the Moon and the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter looks like a brilliant star above the Moon at nightfall. Fainter Saturn stands to the left of the Moon.
Summer is an enjoyable time to look at the Big Dipper. Around 10 p.m., it stands high in the northwest. Its bowl looks like it is pouring its contents onto the ground below. The bowl’s outer stars point toward Polaris, the North Star.
