July offers much interest to stargazers as Martin Lunn explains.

THERE’S a lot going on this month.

On July 1 the planets Jupiter and Venus will be very close together in the sky; the Earth is furthest from the Sun on July 6 and we also have a Blue Moon!

The Noctilucent Cloud (NLC) observing season is still ongoing through July. Look low to the northwest about an hour and a half after sunset you may see those electric blue looking clouds.

The Plough is still very high up but is west of the overhead point. Cassiopeia is becoming higher in the east. The ‘Summer Triangle’ (Altair, Deneb and Vega) is now at its best.

Antares, in the constellation of the Scorpion, known as the Rival of Mars because of its colour, cannot be missed low in the south during July evenings.

What’s up in the solar system?

The Planets in July

On July 1, Jupiter and Venus will be next to each other in the north western horizon after sunset.

They have been getting closer together for the past few weeks and are so bright that they are difficult to miss.

Jupiter and Venus appear this close in the sky about every 13 months. They will not crash into each other, as Venus is about 25 million miles away while Jupiter is about 400 million miles away!

Saturn is best seen at about 11pm, low in the south, as a bright yellow looking ‘star’.

Mars and Mercury cannot be seen this month as they are still too close to the Sun.

Meteor Showers

There are no major meteor showers this month.

Aphelion Day

The Earth is furthest from the Sun this year on July 6th.

Blue Moon for July

There will be a Blue Moon this month. The Moon won’t actually turn blue. When there are two full moons in a calendar month, the second is known as a ‘Blue Moon’. The next Blue Moon will not occur until January 2018.

Phases of the Moon for July

Full Moon 2nd and 31st, Last Quarter 8th, New Moon 16th, First Quarter 24th.

The full moon this month is called the Thunder Moon. This is due to the number of summer storms that can occur in July.

*The next meeting of the Earby Astronomical Society will be at the village's All Saints’ Church tomorrow from 7.30pm to 9pm.

The speaker will be Martin Lunn MBE FRAS, of Earby Astronomical Society, and the title of the talk will be The Summer Sky.