What’s Up in the Night Sky – July 2026
from In-The-Sky.org
Moon Phases
Last Quarter – July 7
New Moon – July 14
First Quarter – July 21
Full – July 29 – The Buck Moon
Close Encounters
July 1 – The globular cluster M22 in Sagittarius is at opposition tonight.
July 4 (early AM) – Mars and Uranus are in close proximity in Taurus, passing within 10 arcminutes of each other. Mars is magnitude 1.3 and Uranus is magnitude 5.8 in the early morning sky. They will be visible together in a telescope eyepiece.
July 6 – The Earth reaches aphelion today at 1.0166 AU from the Sun.
July 7 (early AM) – The Moon and Saturn are in conjunction this morning. The last-quarter Moon shines at magnitude -11.9 and Saturn at magnitude 0.5 in Pisces.
July 11 (early AM) – The thin crescent Moon and Mars are in conjunction in Taurus. The Moon is 3 days from new at magnitude -10.4 and Mars at magnitude 1.3.
July 12 – Mercury is at inferior solar conjunction, signaling the end to the recent evening apparition and the beginning of its upcoming morning apparition.
July 16 – The thin crescent Moon is near Regulus in the evening sky.
July 17 – The 3-day-old Moon and Venus are in conjunction in the evening sky, with the Moon passing about 2 degrees to the south of Venus. Don’t miss this one!
July 24 – The Moon and Antares in Scorpius are in conjunction in the evening sky.
July 26 – Asteroid 3 Juno is at opposition in Aquila, reaching magnitude 9.1.
July 27 – Pluto is at opposition in Capricornus. Patience, a good star chart, and viewing several weeks apart will help parse out the magnitude 14.9 ember from all the other pinpricks of light.
July 29 – Jupiter is at superior conjunction with the Sun, ending the current apparition and beginning the next apparition. Jupiter next reaches opposition on February 11, 2027 in Leo.
Major Meteor Showers – from https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/
Both the Southern delta Aquariids and the alpha Capricornids peak at the end of July. They will be mostly washed out by a 98% full Moon.
*Sneak Peak* – The Perseid meteor shower starts activity around July 17 each year and will peak the night of August 12-13. The Moon will be new on August 12 (Wednesday night) so no interference from the Moon as we look for the normal zenithal hourly rates of 30-50. Make your plans now!
Planet Watch for July 15, 2026
Mercury recently passed in front of the Sun (inferior conjunction) and is not visible.
Venus is visible in the western sky starting around 8:45pm and remains above the horizon until around 10:30pm. It shines in Leo at magnitude -4.1.
Mars rises above the eastern horizon around 2:45am. The magnitude 1.3 spark is visible until the Sun washes out the sky around 4:45am.
Jupiter will pass behind the Sun in superior conjunction on the 29th and is not visible.
Saturn rises in the east around Midnight and reaches an altitude of 50° as the Sun rises around 5am. It brightens to magnitude 0.5 in Pisces.
Uranus rises in the east around 2:20am and reaches an altitude of about 22° before the eastern horizon brightens with the arrival of dawn. Uranus shines at magnitude 5.8 in Taurus.
Neptune rises just before Midnight and reaches an altitude of 47° above the south-eastern horizon at sunrise. Neptune shines faintly a magnitude 7.9 in Pisces.