What's up in the night Sky

John and Peggy Hurley | Jul 04, 2025

During the month of July, the Earth is physically further away from the Sun than it is at any other time of the year. It is because the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun that we are experiencing the Sun higher in the sky, longer hours of sunlight and more warming effects. Mars also experiences seasonal changes in its climate. It gets dust storms in its summer and ice caps in the winter. Mar’s polar caps are made of water ice and carbon dioxide (dry ice).
Mercury will be low in the west/north-west in the evening twilight. It will be lost after the middle of the month. Venus will be in the morning twilight, east north east, all month. Mars will be low in the west and setting before midnight. Jupiter will rise after 4 a.m. in the east/north-east.  It will be in the East at dawn. Saturn will rise in the East before 1 a.m. and will be high in the South by dawn.
All of the planets in our solar system orbit the Sun at different angles, distances and speeds. Sometimes the planets look like they are standing still, compared to Earth, or backing up. This is like how a car on the highway appears from your car when you pass them. The planets appear to make a bend in the sky as we appear catch up (stationary) and pass them (retrograde). They then continue on their way. Two planets will appear stationary this month. Details of some planets can be seen with binoculars, such as the rings of Saturn which are almost edge on, and the four large moons of Jupiter.
July 2nd will be the First Quarter Moon and on the 3rd, the bright bluish white star, Spica will be close to the Moon in the North. On the 4th, Mercury will be as far from the Sun as it gets (26 degrees). July 7 will see the red star, Antares (the heart of Scorpius) just north of the Moon. The Full Moon, called ‘Bird Shedding Feathers’ will happen on the 10th. The 14th has Saturn stationary and near the Moon in the morning sky of the 16th. The 17th is Last Quarter Moon and Mercury will appear stationary.  Arcturus, a reddish orange star, found by following the arc of the Big Dipper, may be visible before sunset for about a week. On the 22nd, Jupiter, Venus and the Moon will form a triangle in the morning sky. The next day, Jupiter will appear just South of the. Moon. New Moon starts at 15:11 in the West on the 24th.  Those up before dawn might see the old crescent in the east first. Mars will be just north of the Moon on the 28th. The South Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower is best in the predawn of the 29-30. It will appear from below the square of Pegasus. And on July 31 Mercury will pass between the Earth and the Sun at 19:36 EDT. 
Summer is a great time to go outside and look around. It’s not too cold but bugs might put in an appearance. Be prepared. If you can, keep your eyes away from bright lights before you head outside. That will help your eyes adjust faster. If you take a flashlight with you, keep the light aimed at the ground. Never shine it in someone’s face! The white light is bad for your night vision. If you are going to a Dark Sky site, cover your lights with red plastic. Our eyes don’t see red in the same way as white so a red light will let you read some things without making your pupils smaller. Once your pupils have opened, look up. One of the first things you will see is the summer Milky Way. This is a different part of the galaxy than in the winter. Looking through that mass of stars you could see another galaxy, globular clusters, and other nebulae. Check a star map for locations.
If you look straight up, you will see the Summer Triangle. This is an Asterism (a pattern made by stars) but is not an official Constellation (88 internationally accepted designations for patterns of stars) The Summer Triangle is made the brightest stars in three Constellations, Lyra (the Harp), Cygnus (the Swan or Northern Cross), and Aquila (the Eagle). There are many interesting things to see in all of these, both Nebulae (the Phantom Streak) and double stars (Albireo) that might just be visible. The Ring Nebula in Lyra looks like a powdered doughnut! And if you can see South well, you have the teapot of Sagittarius’s sprout pointing to the Centre of our Galaxy!