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.
On any clear, moonless night, head for a dark location, away from city lights. After your eyes adjust to the darkness, look up. You should see several meteors per hour blazing across the sky. A streak of light can remain visible for several seconds.
Pegasus, the flying horse, is in the east in early evening. Look for a large square of four bright stars known as the Great Square. The stars that represent the horse’s head and forelegs stretch up and to the right of the square.
Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is about to peek into the dawn twilight, quite low in the southeast as twilight brightens. If you can’t see it yet, be patient; it will climb into view for the entire country over the coming weeks.
Venus is just beginning a slow climb to prominence as the Evening Star. It’s quite low in the west at sunset and sets soon afterward, so it’s hard to spot. Tonight, it’s close to the crescent Moon, but you need a clear horizon and good timing to see either one.
Cygnus X, a big stellar nursery, is just 4,500 light-years away, but it’s hidden from view. It is in Cygnus, the swan, which is high in the east at nightfall. The complex is behind dust clouds that run from the bright star Deneb, the swan’s tail, to Sadr, which connects its body and wings.
Under a dark sky, the Milky Way forms a hazy band that outlines the disk of our home galaxy. A dark lane runs down its middle. Known as the Great Rift, it looks almost empty. Instead, it consists of giant clouds of dust that block the light of the stars beyond.
Hercules, the strong man, stands directly overhead as darkness falls tonight. It’s marked by a lopsided square of stars known as the Keystone. Despite the constellation’s fame, though, the stars of Hercules aren’t all that bright.
The hazy band of the Milky Way arches high across the sky on mid-summer evenings. At nightfall, it stretches from almost due north, high across the east, to almost due south. It stands high overhead by midnight. You need to get away from city lights to see it.
A semicircle of stars stands high in the sky at nightfall. It is Corona Borealis, the northern crown, and it stands almost directly overhead as twilight fades. Ancient skywatchers named it for the crown of Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete.
The star Elnath is quite close to the Moon early tomorrow. The star’s name means “the butting one,” which describes its position at the tip of a horn of Taurus. A second name for the star is Beta Tauri, indicating that it’s the bull’s second-brightest star.
