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 Moon snuggles close to the bright star Spica late tonight. They climb into good view by about midnight, and are high in the sky at dawn. At their closest, they will be separated by just a couple of degrees, which is the width of your finger held at arm’s length.
M79 is a ball-shaped cluster of about 150,000 ancient stars. It is losing some of those stars, however, creating a long tail. It is in Lepus, the hare, in the south-southeast at nightfall. M79 is below the outline of the hare, but you need binoculars to pick it out.
R Leporis is one of the reddest stars in the galaxy. It’s also known as Hind’s Crimson Star in honor of the astronomer who first described it. Lepus is in the southeastern sky in early evening, to the lower right of Orion. You need a telescope to see R Leporis.
Arneb is the leading light of Lepus, the hare. It’s in the southeast at nightfall, to the lower right of brilliant Orion. The star’s name is Arabic for hare. The name also represented the whole constellation. Arneb is much bigger and brighter than the Sun.
For skywatchers in the eastern United States, the Moon will pass directly between Earth and Regulus tonight, blocking the bright star from view. For the rest of the country, the Moon will just miss the star, providing an amazingly close encounter between them.
The Moon is full today at 4:09 p.m. CST as it lines up opposite the Sun in our sky. The full Moon of February is known as the Wolf Moon, Snow Moon, or Hunger Moon.
At nightfall, the twin stars of Gemini, Pollux and Castor, line up to the upper left of the Moon. The brilliant planet Jupiter is farther to the upper right of the Moon. Procyon, the Little Dog Star, is farther to the Moon’s right.
The twins of Gemini appear near the Moon tonight. Castor, the fainter twin, is to the left of the Moon at nightfall, with brighter Pollux to the lower left. The planet Jupiter is passing through Gemini, and looks like an especially brilliant star.
The Northern Cross is low in the northwest at nightfall. A star system near its center is home to the hottest planet yet discovered. Dayside temperatures on KELT-9b soar to 8,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hotter than most stars.
The gibbous Moon is passing through the constellation Taurus tonight. Aldebaran, the bull’s eye, is well to the right of the Moon at nightfall. Elnath, at the tip of one of the bull’s horns, is closer to the lower left of the Moon.
