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 Serpens consists of two disconnected parts, a head and a tail. They wrap behind Ophiuchus the serpent bearer. Serpens is in view in the east and southeast by early evening. The half that represents the head is highest, above Ophiuchus.
Venus and Jupiter are staging one of the top skywatching events of the year-an especially close encounter of the two brightest points of light in the night sky. It plays out in the west over the next few evenings.
The Omega Centauri star cluster puts in a late-evening appearance. It stands highest above the southern horizon around 10 p.m. and looks like a faint smudge of light. It is about 17,000 light-years away, and contains a million stars or more.
Hercules and Ophiuchus stand almost head to head in the east and southeast this evening. Each has a star with an Arabic name that means “the head.” In Hercules, it’s Ras Algethi (head of the kneeler); in Ophiuchus, Rasalhague (head of the serpent bearer).
From the southern latitudes of the United States, the upper half of Centaurus the centaur stands in the southern sky at nightfall. The brightest star in that part of the constellation is Menkent, the centaur’s shoulder.
Pollux and Castor, the twins of Gemini, have a front-row seat for a planetary waltz this month. Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury are fairly close to the twins now, and will bunch up even closer during June. The group is in the west as evening twilight fades.
Four stars in the constellation Corvus, the crow, form a small lopsided box that resembles a sail. It’s in the south at nightfall. The star at the top left corner of the sail is Delta Corvi. Clockwise from there, the others are Gamma, Epsilon, and Beta Corvi.
The Moon is full tonight. As the second full Moon of the calendar month, it’s known as a Blue Moon. After major volcanic eruptions or big forest fires, the Moon can actually look blue. Such appearances are quite rare, however.
For most American skywatchers, the star Capella is just peeking into view in the morning twilight. It’s bright, but it’s quite low as the sky brightens. You need precise timing and a clear north-northeastern horizon to spot it.
Cygnus, the swan, is a signpost for charting Earth’s path through the galaxy. As you face Cygnus as it rises in the northeast, you’re looking forward in our orbit around the Milky Way. The center of the galaxy is to the right, in Sagittarius.
