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.
Delphinus, the dolphin, glides through the Milky Way on summer evenings. Tonight it rises not long after sunset and arcs high overhead. Look for it below the Summer Triangle, which is well up in the east a couple of hours after darkness falls.
Antares, one of the brightest stars in the night sky, is not far to the lower right of the almost-full Moon at nightfall. Antares is near the middle of the curved body of Scorpius, which is in the south-southeast.
The planet Saturn is low in the southeast as night falls, and looks like a bright star. Its luster is dimmed by the gibbous Moon, far to Saturn’s upper right. Even so, Saturn outshines all but a few other objects in the night sky, so it’s hard to miss.
Brilliant Jupiter stands to the lower right of the Moon as night falls. Although it looks like a bright star, it’s actually the largest planet in the solar system. It is about 11 times Earth’s diameter and more than 300 times Earth’s mass.
The Moon and two bright lights form a wide, flat triangle tonight. The bright planet Jupiter is to the lower left of the Moon at nightfall, with Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, about the same distance to the lower right of the Moon.
Today marks the summer solstice, which is the start of summer in the northern hemisphere. It also is the longest day of the year in the north — the longest gap between sunrise and sunset.
The Moon is at first quarter today. The Moon lines up at a right angle to the line between Earth and the Sun, so sunlight illuminates exactly half of the lunar hemisphere that faces Earth.
The constellation Lyra, the harp, is easy to find because it contains Vega, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Vega is well up in the east during mid-evening. The other stars of Lyra form a small diamond to the lower right of Vega.
Venus, the “evening star,” is low in the west as night falls. The Beehive star cluster is close to the upper left of Venus tonight, and even closer to the planet tomorrow night. Binoculars reveal a swarm of stars, so it’s a beautiful sight.
Polaris, the North Star, marks the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. Its stars are not as bright of those of the Big Dipper. The handle arcs in the opposite direction from the Big Dipper’s, but it still looks like a dipper.
