What’s Up in the Sky – July 2022
AAA Observers’ July Guide
July’s Evening Planets: Bright Jupiter will be is in Pisces the Fish as of 1 AM and rising earlier every night. Find Saturn in Capricornus the Sea-Goat as of 11 PM and rising earlier every night until 9 by the end of the month. Uranus will be in Aries the Ram as of 2 AM and rising earlier every night. Neptune in Aquarius the Water Bearer as of midnight and rising earlier every night until 10 PM by the end of July. Dwarf Pluto will be Sagittarius the Archer all night.
July’s Evening Stars: Spot the Summer Triangle of Vega in Lyra the Harp, Deneb in Cygnus the Swan, and Altair in Aquila the Eagle all night. See Spica in Virgo the Virgin, Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion, and Arcturus in Boötes the Herdsman. Also find the stars of constellations Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Pegasus, Draco, Virgo, Sagittarius, Libra, Leo, Hercules, Ophiuchus, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Big and Little Dippers).
July’s Morning Planets: Bright Venus will be up around 4 AM moving between Taurus the Bull and Gemini the Twins. Mercury will up and moving between Taurus and Gemini as of 5 AM until sunrise in the first week of the month. Find red Mars moving between Pisces and Cetus the Sea Monster as of 2 AM and rising earlier every morning until midnight by the end of July. Jupiter is in Pisces and Saturn in Capricornus lingering until sunrise. Uranus will be in Aries and Neptune in Aquarius until sunrise.
July’s Morning Stars: Find the Summer Triangle of Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus, and Altair in Aquila. Look for Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, Aldebaran in Taurus, along with the stars of constellations Lyra, Hercules, Aquarius, Capricornus, Cetus, Aries, Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Andromeda, Perseus, Draco, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Big and Little Dippers).
July Skylights
- July 4: Earth at Aphelion (94.5 million miles from Sun)
- July 6: First quarter Moon at 10:15 PM
- July 13: Moon at perigee (222,000 miles away)
- July 13: Full Moon at 2:35 PM
- July 20: Last quarter Moon at 10:20 AM
- July 24: Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn line up, Pre-dawn looking south
- July 26: Moon at apogee (252,400 miles away)
- July 28: New Moon at 1:55 PM
- July 30: Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks
Times given in EDT.