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.
Antares, the bright heart of the scorpion, perches close to the Moon at dawn tomorrow. Antares is roughly a dozen times as massive as the Sun and hundreds of times wider. Because of its great heft, it will explode as a supernova, likely within the next million years.
Canopus is the second-brightest star in the night sky. At this time of year, it’s visible from the southern third of the United States during the evening. It’s low in the south, well below Sirius, the brightest star.
The tale of Jason and the Argonauts is one of the biggest in Greek mythology. Their boat, Argo, was placed in the stars as Argo Navis. It was so huge that astronomers split it into three constellations: Carina, the keel; Vela, the sail; and Puppis, the poop deck.
Arcturus, the brightest star in Bootes, the herdsman, shows itself low in the east by about 9:30 or 10 p.m. It’s the brightest star on the eastern side of the sky. It stands at the point of a faint pattern of stars that looks like an ice cream cone.
Spica, the leading light of the constellation Virgo, is close to the lower left of the Moon as they climb into view late this evening. They will move closer together during the night. The bright star will stand above the Moon as they rise tomorrow night.
To find the Little Dipper, first find the Big Dipper, which is in the northeast around 9 p.m. The stars at the outer edge of its bowl point toward Polaris, at the tip of the Little Dipper’s handle. The dipper stretches to the lower right of Polaris.
The Moon and Sun will stage a total lunar eclipse in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, as the Moon passes through Earth’s long shadow. All or most of the eclipse will be visible across most of the United States.
The Moon tonight stalks Regulus, the heart of Leo. And seen from Hawaii, it will catch the star, passing in front of it and blocking it from view. As seen from the rest of the U.S., Regulus and the Moon will be separated by just a whisker as they set, around dawn.
Dubhe, the star at the outer corner of the bowl of the Big Dipper, looks like a single point of light, but it actually consists of at least four stars, which are divided into two pairs.
Pollux and Castor line up to the upper left of the Moon at nightfall. Pollux, the brighter of Gemini’s twin stars, is closer to the Moon. The planet Jupiter is farther to the upper right of the Moon. Jupiter outshines all the true stars in the night sky.
