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.
Five stars in a dark region of the sky were all named Minazal, which means “belonging to the uninhabited spot.” At the time they were named, they didn’t belong to any constellation. On modern charts, they form the head of Hydra, the water snake.
Two faint cats pad across the eastern evening sky: Lynx and Leo Minor, the little lion. Leo Minor abuts Leo, the big lion, with Lynx above Leo Minor. Lynx was named not for its resemblance to the cat, but because you need the eyes of a lynx to see its stars.
The star Navi forms the middle point of W-shaped Cassiopeia, which is in the northwest this evening. The name comes from Ivan “Gus” Grissom. He and his Apollo 1 crewmates named stars for themselves as a joke. When they died in a fire, the names stuck.
Two variable stars are in view in winter’s evening sky. Algol, which consists of two stars that stage mutual eclipses, is in the west, in Perseus. Polaris, the North Star, pulses in and out like a beating heart. It stands where it always is, due north.
The planet Saturn is quite low in the southeast at first light and looks like a bright star. Tomorrow it will stand near the crescent Moon. The planets Jupiter and Mars will line up to their upper right.
The crescent Moon takes aim at the planet Jupiter, the giant of the solar system, early tomorrow. They will be low in the southeast at first light. Jupiter looks like a brilliant star.
Mars will briefly disappear early tomorrow, hidden behind the Moon. The view will be best from the Mountain Time zone, where the Moon will cover Mars by around 4:45 a.m. The east will miss out because the Sun will be rising by the time Mars vanishes.
A feature of the constellation Puppis is giving astronomers a chance to watch the final years of a dying star. The star is at the center of a cloud of gas and dust. It contains a lot of sulfur, so it’s known as the Rotten Egg Nebula.
The constellation Argo Navis represented the ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts on their quest to capture the golden fleece. In 1752, though, it was split into three constellations: Vela, the sails; Carina, the keel; and Puppis, the poop deck.
One of the reddest stars in the galaxy bounds across the south on February evenings. It’s in Lepus, the hare. The star’s main name is R Leporis. But it’s better known as Hind’s Crimson Star, after the astronomer who discovered it, in the 19th century.
