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 star at the center of Orion’s Belt, a compact line of three bright stars that rolls high across the south on winter evenings, is Alnilam. It is the brightest of the belt stars even though it’s hundreds of light-years farther than the other two.
The Moon is full at 9:54 a.m. CDT today as it lines up opposite the Sun in our sky. The full Moon of February is known as the Snow Moon, Wolf Moon, or Hunger Moon.
Regulus, the bright heart of Leo, the lion, rises below the full Moon this evening and follows the Moon across the sky later on. Although it’s one of the brighter stars in the night sky, it can be hard to see through the Moon’s glare.
Venus and Saturn will pass each other over the next three days. Venus is the “morning star.” Saturn, which is only about one percent as bright, will stand close below Venus tomorrow and beside it on Tuesday, then pull away from Venus after that.
Canis Major, the big dog, ambles across the southern sky on winter evenings. It’s easy to spot because its brightest star is the Dog Star Sirius, which is the brightest star in the entire night sky.
The Big Dipper wheels high across the north on winter nights. It is low in the northeast in early evening, standing on its handle, and high in the northwest at first light. It’s led by Dubhe, the star at the outer edge of the bowl.
The southern sky features several feeble constellations created in the 1750s by French astronomer Nicolaus de Lacaille. As night falls, Fornax, the furnace, stands due south. The chisel, the compass, and the air pump follow it during the night.
Aldebaran, the bright star that represents the “eye” of Taurus, the bull, lurks quite close to the Moon tonight. Aldebaran is a giant more than 40 times the diameter of the Sun. It’s at the end of its life, so it has puffed up like a balloon.
A wave of starbirth has rolled across a giant cloud of gas and dust in Monoceros, the unicorn. Known as NGC 2264, it is in the southeast at nightfall, between the bright stars Procyon and Betelgeuse. You need a telescope to spot this stellar nursery.
A unicorn follows Orion across the sky: Monoceros, which is to the lower left of Orion at nightfall. It’s not much to look at, though — its brightest stars are so faint that you need dark skies to pick them out.
