This July, Mars appears low in our western sky for an hour or two after sunset.
Spotting it will be made easier if binoculars are used.
Mars’ orbital motion is taking it across southern Leo and toward Virgo.
On July 1, Mars is just right (west) of Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, while a nice waxing crescent moon is just below and left of the red planet.
Later in the month, on July 27, a slender crescent moon will be seen to the right (west) of Mars. By then, Mars will have moved into Virgo.
On July 28, the moon will be left and below Mars. Look for them one hour after sunset in the west because they will be quite low to the horizon.
Little detail of Mars’ surface will be visible even through telescopes this month because Mars is quite far away from Earth just now.
Binoculars will, however, allow us to find very distant Neptune because it appears rather close to Saturn all month. Neptune will appear as a bluish dot of light just above (1 degree) Saturn.
On July 16, the waning crescent moon is just above Saturn with Neptune in between the two planets. Look for all these in the early morning eastern sky, well placed above the horizon two hours before sunrise.
At its peak of July 31, the southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower should produce 15 to 20 meteors per hour. Look for them in the southwestern sky one hour before sunrise.
We can look forward to next month’s Perseid meteor shower — always one of the year’s best — when it will peak.
Just knowing we can see Uranus and the already mentioned Neptune, both so very distant from us, is thrilling — even though we won’t be able to see any surface details.
Watch Venus throughout the month: on July 14, it will be very close to Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus; a crescent moon will be just above it on the 21st; and on the 28th, Venus will be up near one of Taurus’ “horn” stars.
Finally, Jupiter begins to move into our eastern morning sky but remains fairly low. Watch near the eastern horizon on July 23 when it appears with a nice crescent moon to its left.
July’s full moon is on the 10th.