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 constellation Triangulum suffers from a lack of imagination. As the name suggests, it consists of three main stars that form a triangle — an accurate if dull description for one of the smallest constellations. It is well up in the east at nightfall.
Perseus, the celestial hero, stands well up in the east by mid-evening. When we gaze that way, we’re looking toward the outskirts of the Milky Way Galaxy. Perseus’s borders contain a massive galaxy cluster, about 250 million light-years away.
Perseus climbs the eastern sky on autumn nights. It consists of two ribbons of stars that join at Mirfak, its leading light. Perseus contains the most famous variable star in the sky: Algol, the Demon Star, which gets fainter every three days.
The brilliant planets Jupiter and Venus will stand below the Moon at dawn tomorrow. Venus is the brighter of the two. And the Leonid meteor shower should be at its peak the next couple of nights. The Moon won’t interfere with the show.
Look for Mars near the Moon at dawn tomorrow. The planet looks like an orange star close to the upper right of the Moon. The true star Spica stands to the lower right of the Moon.
The Great Square of Pegasus passes high across the south on November evenings. Its right side, which marks the square’s western edge, points down toward Fomalhaut, the brightest star of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish.
Grus, the crane, strolls low across the southern horizon in early evening, with its long neck extending well up into the sky. The crane is to the lower right of Fomalhaut, the brightest star in that region of the sky.
Venus and Jupiter will flip positions the next few days. They are quite low in the east at dawn, so you need a clear horizon to see them. Morning-star Venus will stand above Jupiter tomorrow. They will be side by side on Monday, with Jupiter pulling away on Tuesday.
The last-quarter Moon has a prominent companion tonight: Regulus, the brightest star of Leo. It rises to the lower left of the Moon late tonight, and stands closer to the Moon at dawn tomorrow.
The Double Cluster stands high in the north this evening, to the right of W-shaped Cassiopeia. To the unaided eye, the Double Cluster looks like twin balls of haze. Binoculars reveal two bulges of stars wrapped in a blanket of mist.
