In the Sky This Month

Look for Mars in the west at nightfall, to the upper left of Venus, the Evening Star. Tonight, Mars is close to the right of the star Regulus, the heart of Leo. Mars and Regulus will be closest in a couple of nights.

Venus, the beautiful Evening Star, is at its brightest for its current evening apparition. It far outshines everything else in the night sky other than the Moon. The planet is in the west at sunset and sets a couple of hours later.

Earth is farthest from the Sun for the year today, about 1.5 million miles farther than average. The distance changes because Earth’s orbit is like a flattened circle. We’re closest to the Sun in January, and farthest in July.

The Moon climbs into view by midnight tonight. The planet Saturn looks like a bright star well to its left. They will be closer together tomorrow night, with Saturn rising above the Moon.

A star and two planets form a red-white-and-blue lineup in the west this evening. Venus, the Evening Star, is almost pure white. Mars, to its upper left, is reddish (perhaps more orange than red), while the star Regulus, to the upper left of Mars, is blue-white.

Tonight’s full Moon is known as the Hay Moon or Thunder Moon. And because July is the month in which humans first walked on the Moon, it’s also called the Apollo Moon. The Moon is especially bright because it’s about 15,000 miles closer to Earth than average.

Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is out of view now. But thousands of years ago, Sirius first poked into view in the morning sky in early July. Sirius is known as the Dog Star, so the period of the summer’s greatest heat became known as the Dog Days.

Venus, Mars, and Regulus form a bright trio in the western evening sky. Venus is the brilliant Evening Star. Mars stands to the upper left of Venus and looks like a moderately bright orange star. Regulus, the heart of the lion, is to the upper left of Mars.

Antares, the heart of the scorpion, stands quite close to the lower left of the Moon at nightfall. The Moon will slide closer to the star during the night. As seen from most of the United States, they will be at their closest about the time they set, a few hours before sunrise.

Venus blazes as the brilliant Evening Star now. It outshines everything in the night sky except the Moon. Fainter Mars is close to its upper left. The two planets will stay close for a few more nights, then start to move apart.