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.
Under an especially dark night sky, away from city lights, you might see a few thousand stars. All of them belong to our home galaxy, the Milky Way. It’s likely that some of them were born elsewhere, but the Milky Way swallowed their home galaxies.
Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet, is putting in a good appearance tonight. It rises below the Moon before midnight, and looks like a brilliant star.
The planets Mars and Saturn are in the south at first light, separated by the width of a finger at arm’s length. Saturn is to the upper left of slightly brighter Mars. They will be at their closest tomorrow, but will stay close together for several days.
The zodiac arcs high across the sky this evening. This band of constellations outlines the path followed by the Sun, Moon, and planets. The “twins” of Gemini, Castor and Pollux, stand almost directly overhead as night falls.
To borrow from Yogi Berra, it’s like déjà vu all over again. The Moon will be full early tomorrow. As the second full Moon of the month, it’s a Blue Moon. It is the second Blue Moon this year.
One of the most beautiful double stars is Algieba, in Leo, the lion, a constellation that is prominent during spring. Seen through a telescope, both of Algieba’s stars shine golden yellow.
M82, a galaxy that is a factory for exploding stars, loops high across the northern sky tonight. It stands to the upper left of the bowl of the Big Dipper as darkness falls. M82’s most recent supernova blasted into view four years ago.
Hercules climbs into prominence during spring. Most of its stars clear the northeastern horizon by about 11 p.m. Look for a pattern of four moderately bright stars that looks like a shield. This pattern, the Keystone, represents Hercules’ body.
The stars Procyon and Sirius arc to the lower right of the Moon as night falls and wheel down the western sky later on. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Procyon, which is much closer to the Moon, is in the top 10 as well.
A gazelle leaps past the Big Dipper. In ancient skylore it made three leaps, each marked by a pair of stars. Those that mark the first jump are Alula Borealis and Alula Australis. As night falls, they are almost due east, far to the right of the dipper.
