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.
Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet, rises to the upper right of the Moon late this evening. It looks like a brilliant star. The second-ranked planet, Saturn, follows them in the wee hours of the morning, well to the lower left of the Moon.
Jupiter is easy to find now because it is quite near the Moon. The planet looks like a brilliant star, to the lower left of the Moon as they climb into view late this evening, and about the same distance to the upper right of the Moon tomorrow night.
The Moon is full today. It reaches “full” when it lines up opposite the Sun, so sunlight fully illuminates the lunar hemisphere that faces our way. The full Moon of May is known as the Milk Moon, Flower Moon, or Corn Moon.
The eyes of the dragon shine a third of the way up the northeastern sky at nightfall. Eltanin is the brightest star of Draco, with third-ranked Rastaban above it. They circle high across the north during the night and are in the northwest at first light.
Spica, the leading light of the constellation Virgo, will stand to the upper right of the Moon as night falls this evening. Spica consists of at least two stars, the larger of which is likely to explode as a supernova.
The gibbous Moon stages an encounter with one of the brightest stars in northern skies tonight: Spica, the leading light of Virgo. Spica is below the Moon as night falls and will be even closer to the Moon as they set in the wee hours of the morning.
Pollux and Castor, the “twins” of Gemini, are high in the west as night falls, with Pollux to the left and Castor to the right. Castor is a system of at least six stars, divided into three close pairs.
Pollux, one of the “twins” of Gemini, is half-way up the western sky at nightfall, to the left of the other twin, Castor. Pollux is the brighter of the two and shines with an orange color. The color means its surface is much cooler than the Sun’s.
The Little Dipper climbs high across the north on spring nights. It’s anchored Polaris, the North Star, at the tip of the dipper’s handle. The dipper’s second–brightest star, Kochab, is at the top right corner of the dipper’s bowl.
The first-quarter Moon tonight huddles close to Regulus, the heart of the lion. Regulus is to the left of the Moon at nightfall, and closer to the Moon at first light tomorrow. It will stand to the lower right of the Moon tomorrow night.
