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 full Moon is passing through Aquarius tonight. The constellation is home to a planetary system, known as Trappist-1, which contains at least seven planets. All of them are about as big as Earth, and three are in the star’s “habitable zone.”
Mercury, the Sun’s closest planet, is putting on a good show in the morning sky. It is north of due east at dawn and quite low, so you will need a clear horizon to spot it. It’s bright, though, and it will get brighter over the next two weeks.
Look for Mars close to the lower right of the Moon this evening, and staying close to the Moon throughout the night. It looks like a bright orange star. Although Mars has faded over the past month, it’s still one of the brightest lights in the night sky.
Mars looks like a bright orange star low in the southeast at nightfall. It is close to the lower left of the Moon tonight, and a similar distance to the lower right of the Moon tomorrow night.
Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is low in the east-southeast before sunrise. Also known as the Dog Star for its location in Canis Major, the big dog, it will climb into better view as the month progresses.
The Moon slides past Saturn the next couple of nights. The giant planet looks like a bright star. It’s close to the lower left of the Moon tonight, and farther to the right of the Moon tomorrow night.
Most of the action in the evening sky right now is in the south. The four brightest lights in the entire night sky are there — the Moon and the planets Venus, Jupiter, and Mars. So are the planet Saturn, and the bright stars Antares and Spica.
Look for bright orange Antares, the star at the heart of Scorpius, to the lower left of the Moon as darkness falls tonight. It will be to the lower right of the Moon tomorrow night.
The bright star-like point of light to the lower right of the Moon tonight is Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet. It is about 11 times Earth’s diameter, and more massive than all the other planets, moons, asteroids, and comets combined.
Jupiter appears near the Moon tonight. The giant planet looks like a brilliant star to the lower left of the Moon. Zubenelgenubi, one of the brightest stars of Libra, is just a fraction of a degree below Jupiter.
