This July Mars appears low in our western sky for an hour or two after sunset. Spotting it will be made easier if binoculars are used. Mars’ orbital motion against out skies is taking it across southern Leo and towards Virgo.
On July 1st Mars is just right(west) of Regulus, brightest star in Leo, while a nice waxing crescent Moon is just below and left of the red planet. Later, on July 27th, a slender crescent Moon will be seen to the right (west) of Mars. By then, Mars will have moved into Virgo. On July 28th the Moon will be left and below Mars. Look for them one hour after sunset in the west because they will be quite low to the horizon.
Little detail of Mars’ surface will be visible even through telescopes this month because Mars is quite far away from Earth just now.
Binoculars will, however, allow us to find very distant Neptune because it appears rather close to Saturn all month. Neptune will appear as a bluish dot of light just above (1 degree) Saturn. And on July 16th the waning crescent Moon is just above Saturn with Neptune in between the two planets. Look for all these in the early morning eastern sky, well placed above the horizon 2 hours before sunrise.
At its peak of July 31st, the southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower should produce 15 to 20 meteors per hour. Look for them in the southwestern sky 1 hour before sunrise. We can look forward to next month’s Perseid meteor shower, always one of the year’s best , when it will peak.
Venus remains very bright and easy to spot in the eastern sky before dawn. Its brightness will give us a chance to see another of the outer most planets of our solar system with binoculars. Uranus will be close to Venus on the morning of July 4th. Imagine a clock face with Venus at the center and look toward 10 o’clock with binoculars. the Pleiades star cluster will be there, and Uranus may be seen between it and Venus.
Just knowing we can see Uranus and the already mentioned Neptune; both so very distant from us is thrilling, even though we won’t be able to see any surface details.
Watch Venus throughout the month: on July 14th it will be very close to Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus; a crescent Moon will be just above it on the 21st; and on the 28th Venus will be up near one of Taurus; “horn” stars.
Finally, Jupiter begins to move into our eastern morning sky but remains fairly low. Watch near the eastern horizon on July 23rd when it appears with a nice crescent Moon to its left.
July’s Full Moon is on the 10th.
Dennis Herrmann developed a life-long interest in astronomy at an early age and got his first telescope at the age of 12. Through his 43 years of teaching at Kent County High School he taught Astronomy and Earth/Space Science and coached track and field and cross country. He led and participated in numerous workshops on astronomy at the Air and Space Museum (DC), the Maryland Science Center, and the Mid-Atlantic Planetarium Society. He loves sharing and explaining the night sky to increase understanding and enjoyment of it to folks of all ages.
