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 Geminid meteor shower is expected to be at its best over the next couple of nights. And the Moon sets early enough that it will allow the meteors to shine through. The shower is spawned by an asteroid, which sheds dust grains as it orbits the Sun.
The constellation Gemini is in good view by about 8 p.m. It is best known for Castor and Pollux, the two bright stars that represent the heads of the twins. They are low in the east-northeast at that hour, with Castor above Pollux.
Eridanus, the river, meanders across the southern sky at this time of year. It is one of the largest constellations, stretching almost 60 degrees. Its northern end is northwest of Rigel, the brightest star in Orion.
The Milky Way arches high overhead on December evenings. It outlines the disk of our home galaxy. At nightfall, it passes from the Northern Cross, in the west, to W-shaped Cassiopeia high in the northeast, to near the face of Taurus, the bull, in the east.
The planet Saturn is near the Moon tonight. They are quite low in the southwest at sunset, so there’s little time to look for them. Saturn looks like a bright star close to the upper left of the Moon. It will stand to the lower right of the Moon tomorrow night.
Saturn is disappearing from view. The giant planet perches quite low in the southwest not long after sunset, so even though it is fairly bright, you need a clear horizon to spot it.
Canis Major, the big dog, will trot across the southern sky tonight. It’s marked by Sirius, the Dog Star — the brightest star in the night sky. Sirius is preceded by Procyon, the Little Dog Star, which is to the upper left of the big dog in late evening.
Bright orange Mars is in the south at nightfall. Tonight, Neptune is to its upper left by less than the width of a finger held at arm’s length. Through a telescope, it looks like a small star. The planets will move past each other over the next few nights.
Although the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, is more than two weeks away, most of the United States is seeing the earliest sunsets of the year about now. The date of earliest sunset varies with latitude, with the date getting later as you go north.
Venus lines up to the upper right of the Moon at first light tomorrow, with Spica farther along the same line. Venus is the brilliant “morning star,” so it’s impossible to miss.
