July star map

July stargazing is certainly a late show, but it's worth losing some sleep over because it’s prime time for summer constellations. I suggest lying back on a reclining lawn chair and letting it all soak in.

The brightest actual star in the sky this month is Arcturus, perched high in the western sky as night falls. Arcturus appears to be at the tail of a giant kite, formally known as the constellation Bootes, the hunting herdsman.

Not far away, check out the great Hercules globular cluster with a telescope. (The July star map will help you.) The Hercules cluster, otherwise known as Messier object 13, is a spherical cluster of thousands and thousands of stars around 25,000 light-years away. It’s a stargazing summer classic.

In the eastern Butler heavens, you’ll see more of the prime stars of summer on the rise. The best way to find your way around that part of the sky is to locate the “Summer Triangle,” made up of three bright stars, the brightest in each of their respective constellations. You can’t miss them.

The highest and brightest star is Vega, also the brightest star in a small constellation called Lyra the Lyre. The second brightest star, on the lower right, is Altair, the brightest in Aquila the Eagle. The third brightest, at the left corner of the summer triangle, is Deneb, the brightest star in the tail of Cygnus the Swan. A large part of Cygnus is known as the “Northern Cross” because that’s what it really resembles.

In the northwest sky, look for the Big Dipper hanging from its handle. The Big Dipper isn’t an official constellation but the very bright rear end and extended tail of Ursa Major, the Big Bear. The fainter Little Dipper, also known as Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, is standing on its handle (or tail), just to the upper right of the Big Dipper. The moderately bright star, Polaris, also known as the North Star, is at the end of the Little Dipper’s handle.

In the south-southeastern evening sky this month is the classic constellation Scorpius the Scorpion, which really looks like a scorpion! In higher northern latitudes though, the beast’s tail never rises above the horizon.

Not far from Scorpius in the lower southeast sky is one of my favorite constellations, Sagittarius the Archer. It’s supposed to be a half-man, half-horse shooting an arrow, but it looks much more like a giant teapot.

As lovely as our summer evening skies are this month, we’re a bit planet challenged.

The only naked-eye planets visible before midnight are Mars and, just barely, Mercury. Mars resides this month in the low southwestern sky as evening twilight fades but slips below the horizon shortly after. Outside of its obviously ruddy tinge, it doesn’t have much to offer visibly right now. Even with a larger telescope, all you’ll see is an orange-red dot. It’s just so far away this month, over 174 million miles away.

Planet-watching is slightly better in the early morning hours, both before and during the opening of morning twilight.

Before twilight kicks in, look for a lone moderately bright “star” in the low southeast sky. That’s Saturn, nearly 900 million miles away. It would be a little brighter, but the thin and highly reflective ring system is still on edge from our vantage on Earth, but slowly, over the next several years, the angle between the ring system and the planet will open up again.

Shortly before morning twilight kicks in, the extremely bright planet Venus emerges above the eastern horizon, continuing its stint as this summer’s “morning star.” Venus is going to have some company this month.

In late July, Jupiter jumps into the predawn sky right on the heels of Venus.

The full moon this month is on July 10. It has several nicknames. It’s most commonly known as the Buck Moon, because new antlers begin to sprout from buck deer during this time of year. Summer full moons take a very low path across the celestial dome, mirroring the low path the sun takes in the winter.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is also the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at adventurepublications.net. Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.