The Night Sky in July 2024
Midsummer solstice has passed and now gradually the days will get shorter and the nights longer as the Sun starts moving south in the skies. While not making non astronomers happy it makes those that love their night skies look forward to the opportunities to observe longer.
Noctilucent clouds will still be visible for the first 2 weeks around 1.5 to 2 hrs after sunset.
On our journey around the Sun we reach aphelion, the furthest distance from the Sun on July 5th at 05:06 GMT. That puts us at a distance of 152,099,894.38 Km, 94,510,492.71 miles or 1.016725489 AU.
Meteors
There is an excellent chance of observing the Southern Delta Aquarids this month. The Moon will be absent but the sky will still have a blue tinge as we still do not get full astronomical darkness at this time of the year.
They begin on 12th July and peaks on 30th July, best observed from midnight onwards as our part of the globe points towards our direction of travel around the Sun. No equipment other than a decent recliner is needed. Look to the south of the sky and up at about 60°. Though the peak is at the end of the month they can be observed from 12th July to 23rd August. The meteors are thought to be the remains of a comet 69P Machholz. See Southern Delta Aquariids – Wikipedia for more information.
Another good meteor shower the Perseids begins on 17th July, just as the Moon is starting to reach its gibbous phase, the maximum will be next month around 12-13th August. Perseids – Wikipedia
The Moon
The Moon starts its new phase on 5th July and reached its full phase on 21st July.
In England there are references of this Moon being called the Thunder, Wort or Hay Moon. Indeed we see hay being cut in the countryside around us here in our part of Norfolk.
In North America among the 1st Nation People this Moon is sometimes known as the Buck Moon, at this time of the year the buck deer start to get new antler growth. Among the plains Indians it was ‘The Moon when the Buffalo bellow’.
The Planets
Mercury: For those of you with good views to the NW Mercury will be about 10° above the horizon on 1st to 11th July around 30 minutes after sunset.
Venus: is a mag -3.9 and best observed after sunset…but again you will need a clear horizon as it is very low in the sky.
Mars: Can be seen in the eastern skies 3 hours before sunrise and best seen on the 31st July when if will be around 17° above the horizon.
Jupiter: Is also a morning planet, rising around 03:00 BST towards the NE horizon making it a bit of a challenge at the start of the month, however as July progresses by the end of the month it will be mag -2.0 (nice and bright) and just over 20° above the horizon and the waning crescent Moon will be 5° north of Jupiter around 01:30 BST
Saturn: This month Saturn is not best placed for observing in the Northern hemisphere, morning planet low in the sky. But by the end of the month it will be 30° above the NE horizon.
Uranus: Like Saturn a morning planet and not well placed to observe, however at the end of the month it will be within 40 arc minutes of +0.9 mag Mars.
Neptune: Because our Earth lies well inside the orbit of Neptune and is faster in its rotation around the Sun (365.25 days) compared to Neptune (164.8 Earth years) this month we will have caught up with it and passed it. As a result it appears to travel backwards across the night sky, this is called retrograde motion. By the end of the month it will be 30° altitude and so observable in the UK.
The Stars
At this time of the year the Milky was appears to run vertically across the night sky from North to South.
One of the brightest stars in the night sky at this time of year is Vega in the constellation of Lyra, The Lyre. To see it just look directly overhead.
The Summer Triangle of Vega (in Lyra), Deben (Cygnus) and Altair (Aquila) form the asterism.
Nearby will be the constellation of Hercules, easily picked out by the central body of it, a keystone shape of four stars. If you face south, look up and between the two stars that mark the right side of the keystone using binoculars you will be able to pick out a fuzzy blob M13. See Hercules Constellation: Stars, Myth, Facts, Location… – Constellation Guide (constellation-guide.com)
If you are lucky enough to have open views to the south then look for the bright star Antares. It should have an orange tint. It lies in the constellation of Scorpius the Scorpion. Here in the Northern hemisphere it is low down and we can only pick out the section from the head to the central body. It is a beautiful constellation and one I loved gazing at when I lived in Australia where it was always high in the sky. Scorpius – Wikipedia
Antares is a super red giant, if it were to be our Sun it would reach out to the orbit of Jupiter…12 times the size of our Sun. Antares – Wikipedia
Close to Scorpius to the east is Sagittarius, the Archer, again part of the 12 zodiac constellations. Looking towards this you are looking towards the centre of our galaxy. If we were further south the Milky Way is incredibly bright in this area. Sagittarius (constellation) – Wikipedia
The Pleiades start to make their morning appearance and in New Zealand the first sighting of the rising above the Pacific is the start of the Māori New Year, Matariki day.
Draco is high in the night sky and hosts a large number of grey fuzzies, for those with imaging set ups there are 10 NGC objects around it including the Cat’s Eye nebula NGC 6543.
Draco (constellation) – Wikipedia
Clear Skies!
Frank Dutton FRAS
Kings Lynn & District Astronomical Society