Poster’s Note: The text for this month’s installment from Dee Sharples, “The Sky In July 2025,” is provided below. Those wishing to listen to the article can click on the audio link below.
July is a great month for observing with most of the best sights seen in the overnight and early morning hours.
The ringed planet Saturn rises in the east around midnight along with Neptune, the most distant planet in our solar system. Saturn is easy to spot an hour later shining at magnitude 0.9. Neptune is dim at magnitude 7.7, but if you have binoculars or a small telescope, look for it just north of Saturn. Two hours before the Sun rises, the pair can be found fairly high in the southeastern sky. On Wednesday, July 16th, the Moon lies above Saturn with Neptune between them. Neptune looks like a dim star with a bluish hue compared to Saturn looking like a yellowish star.
The planet Venus shines at a brilliant magnitude -4.1 rising in the east at 3:00 a.m. in July. Venus will help you locate the distant, much dimmer planet Uranus the first few days in July. Use binoculars to spot bluish-green Uranus 2.4° due north of Venus.
Jupiter, shining at magnitude -1.9, returns to the morning sky at the end of July. On Wednesday, July 23rd, a crescent Moon lies to the the left of Jupiter as it rises in the east shortly after 4:00 a.m.
The Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower peaks on Thursday, July 31st an hour before sunrise in the southwestern sky. If it’s clear, you may see about 12 meteors an hour originating from a point one-third of the way up from the horizon. Viewing from a dark sky site away from light pollution with a flat horizon free of buildings and trees offers the best observing conditions.
Earth will be at its farthest point from the Sun, 94,502,939 miles, on July 3rd this year. It seems contradictory that when we experience summer here in the northern hemisphere, we’re actually farther away from the Sun. That’s because our orbit around the Sun isn’t a perfect circle, but elliptical. The Earth’s axis is tipped 23.5°. Summer in our hemisphere occurs when the North Pole tilts toward the sun. This is called aphelion. Conversely, when Earth will be closest to the Sun on January 3, 2026, we will be in the grip of winter. This is called perihelion, and Earth will be only 91,405,993 miles from the Sun, but the North Pole will now be tipped away from the Sun and we’ll receive fewer hours of sunshine from a lower angle.
