After the very close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter we witnessed June 8-9, both of these bright planets remain visible in the western sky after sunset in July.
Venus has moved well to the left [east] of Jupiter and has even gotten brighter.
Jupiter, however, sets just an hour after sunset this month, so get out early to see it.
By July 29 Jupiter will be invisible and in conjunction with the sun.
The next time we see Jupiter will be in the eastern morning sky later this summer.
Venus is easy to spot and will be very close to Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, by July 8 one hour after sunset.
On July 16 the thin crescent moon will be below Regulus with Venus just east [left] of the moon.
Meanwhile in the eastern pre-dawn sky, Saturn is gaining altitude, rising around 1 a.m. on July 1 and by 11 p.m. on July 31. This places the ringed planet about 30 degrees above the eastern horizon by 4 a.m.
On July 7 look for Saturn just below and left of the last quarter moon.
Sky-watchers who have never seen Uranus, the very dim and very distant planet, will have a great chance to spot it on the morning of July 4 looking east before sunrise. The two planets lie close to one another among the stars of Taurus around 4:15 a.m.
Use binoculars and locate Mars first. It is the bright object just above Taurus’ brightest star, Aldebaran. Uranus requires the binoculars to be seen but will be the bluish-green object just above and right of Mars.
Do not be confused by the dim star between the two planets.
The waning crescent moon will be found just above Mars on July 11.
Mars will not offer much to sky-watchers with telescopes in July. It is too far away just now, but by September we can expect better views of surface details on Mars.
The full moon for July is on the 31st.