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     Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and the Eta Aquarid Meteor shower shine during May 2025.

I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  

We’ll start by talking about this month’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

EVENTS

5th – ETA AQUARID METEOR SHOWER

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset 

Jupiter - About 30˚ up the sky in the W after sunset, above Taurus’ head, in between its horns, setting around 11pm.  Later in the month, Jupiter is lower in the sky and sets around sunset.

Mars - Almost straight above us after sunset, but toward the SW, between Gemini and Leo (in Cancer), setting by 2am. Throughout the month, Mars will move away from Cancer and toward Leo, a little lower in the sky, setting around 1am.

Morning

Venus, Saturn – A GREAT little challenge for the month!  In the beginning of May, get out up to an hour before sunrise, and look over a clear horizon to the East.  The easiest one to find will be Venus, hovering 10-15˚ above the horizon, and very bright.  It’ll be the last “star” to fade from view.  Saturn will be just 4˚ down and to the left of Venus.  Throughout the month, you’ll have to get out earlier and earlier since the Sun will rise earlier and earlier each day.  Venus will slowly get a little higher each day.  Saturn will also get higher, in fact higher than Venus, and further to the right, but will remain dimmer.

LUNAR CYCLE

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 4th 

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 12th

Waning Gibbous 

Last Quarter Moon – 20th 

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 26th 

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

3rd - Find the Waxing Crescent Moon just 1.5˚ above Mars and the M44 star cluster, which can be seen with binoculars, setting around 2:30am.

21st - 25th - Get out before between 4:30am and sunrise and look East over a fairly clear horizon.  Venus and Saturn will be hanging out directly East, less than 15˚ above the horizon.  The Moon will be a nice crescent on the 21st, off in the SE, 15˚ to the right of Saturn, which is 15˚ to the right of bright Venus.  On the 22nd, the Moon will be just 4˚ to the right of Saturn. On the 23rd, the Moon will move between the two planets, a little closer to Venus on the left than Saturn on the right. On the 24th, a VERY thin crescent Moon is just as high off the horizon as Venus is just 7˚ to the right. Lastly, on the 25th, find Venus, and the Moon will be as far to the left of Venus as Saturn is to the right of Venus.

28th - Coming back around again, the VERY thin crescent Moon is just 7˚ above Jupiter, setting around 11pm.

31st - A second May encounter for Mars, being 5˚ up and to the left of the Moon.

And that’s the sky for this month!  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

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     April of 2025 brings us the annual Lyrid meteor shower, all the naked-eye planets, and plenty of lunar close encounters.

I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  

We’ll start by talking about this month’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

EVENTS

22nd – LYRID METEOR SHOWER – Around 10-20 meteors per hour, the Lyrids are a minor shower, but a meteor shower indeed.  And this year, the Moon will rise very early in the morning, meaning we have clear skies until that point, and even then, it’s not so bright. The shower is greatest on the 22nd, but you might see some on the 21st and 23rd as well.  Just remember each meteor is a piece of debris left over from a comet, and we’re crashing into it at over 100,000 miles per hour, which crushes the atmosphere it hits, heating it up and causing the bright flash.  There is no real best time to see these this year, but the later, the better.  You never know when you’ll see something awesome. 

Some advice for watching: 

Find a dark location and lie down in a reclining chair or something that insulates you from the ground.

Check the weather to see if the skies will be clear 

Adapt your eyes to the dark by staying away from light sources or using a red light if you need to look at a star chart or not trip over something.  

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset 

Jupiter - Halfway up the sky in the W after sunset

Mars - Almost straight above us after sunset=

Morning

Venus, Saturn, Mercury – A GREAT little challenge for the month!  

LUNAR CYCLE

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 4th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 12th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 20th (Visible midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 27th (darkest skies)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times. 

2nd - Find the Waxing Crescent Moon just 5˚ above bright Jupiter, setting around midnight.

5th - The just-past-first-quarter Moon will be just 3˚ above Mars, setting around 3:30am.

22nd - 26th - Get out before 6am and look East over a fairly clear horizon.  Venus, Saturn, and Mercury will be hanging out directly East, less than 15˚ above the horizon. 

30th - Coming back around again, the VERY thin crescent Moon is just 6˚ above Jupiter, setting around midnight.

And that’s the sky for this month!  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

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     March 2025 says goodbye to Saturn, welcomes a total lunar eclipse, and continues hanging out with the rest of the planets

Hi everybody, I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  

We’ll start by talking about this month’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

BIG EVENTS

14th - Total Lunar Eclipse -

1:09am EST – Partial Eclipse Begins 

2:26am EST – Totality Begins with maximum eclipse right before 3am.

3:32am EST – Totality ends, Partiality begins again

4:48am EST – Partial Eclipse Ends

Other things to look for

• As the Moon gets darker, more and more stars will be visible
• The Moon is right between Leo and Virgo - Virgo is usually tough to find, so take advantage of the darkened Moon.

20th – Spring Equinox - Astronomically the first day of Spring, even though meteorologically Spring starts in the beginning of March.  Here’s some more info. 

29th - Partial Solar Eclipse - Technically, this is happening, but it’ll be very hard to see even if you are in the NE US.  Northern Europe has the best views.

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset - Venus (first 2 weeks), Mercury (first 2 weeks), Jupiter, Mars 

Middle of the night - Jupiter, Mars 

Morning - Maybe Venus (last week) 

LUNAR CYCLE

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 6th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 14th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 22nd (Visible midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 29th (darkest skies)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times. 

1st - 2nd - Mercury & Venus 

5th - 6th - Find the Waxing Crescent Moon right nearby Jupiter. To the right of Jupiter on the 5th, to the left and up on the 6th. 

8th - The Moon will start out the night just 2˚ from Mars, moving further away throughout the night, setting around 5am.

26th - Get out between 6:30am and 6:50am and see if you can see Venus coming out on the other side of the Sun.  Look East.  Venus will be super bright, but only a few degrees above the horizon.  The Moon will be similarly high, but about 45˚ to the right in the ESE.

And that’s the sky for this month!  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

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February 2025 is a phenomenal continuation of January’s planetary-ness! You’ll get chances to see all the planets before going to bed and a conjunction of Mercury & Saturn.

FULL TEXT WITH PICTURES HERE

Hi everybody, I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  

We’ll start by talking about this month’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

BIG EVENTS

24th - CONJUNCTION of Mercury & Saturn 

25th - 28th - Mercury, Saturn, Venus 

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset - Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury (last week)

Middle of the night - Jupiter, Mars 

Morning - Mars 

LUNAR CYCLE

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 5th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 12th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 20th (Visible midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 27th (darkest skies)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times. 

1st - 2nd - Saturn has dipped below Venus in the sunset sky by about 12°, and a very thin crescent Moon joins in on the 1st, within 3° of Venus. Then, on Feb 2nd, the Moon, Venus, and Saturn make a string of objects just after sunset in the SW.

6th - Find the Waxing Gibbous Moon just about 5° above bright Jupiter moving West throughout the night, setting just before 3:30am.

9th - The Moon will start out the night just 2˚ from Mars, moving further away throughout the night, setting around 6am.

And that’s the sky for this month!  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

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January 2025 is a PLANETARY month! Mars gets big, Mars gets occulted, Mars gets outshined by Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter, then Venus and Saturn pass right by each other, and a brief but intense meteor shower shows up. 

Hi everybody, I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  

We’ll start by talking about January’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

BIG EVENTS

2nd - 3rd – Quadrantid Meteor Shower

13th - Occultation of Mars

15th - Opposition of Mars 

17th - 18th - CONJUNCTION of Venus & Saturn 

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset - Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars

Middle of the night - Jupiter, Mars

Morning - Mars, Mercury

LUNAR CYCLE

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 6th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 13th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 21st (Visible midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 29th (darkest skies)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times. 

3rd - Thin Waxing Crescent left of Venus by 3°, SW sky after sunset, starting 30° above the horizon, sets around 8:30pm.  Saturn is also nearby, just 10° up and to the left.

4th -  Slightly thicker crescent Moon about 3° up and to the left of Saturn, in the SSW after sunset, setting in the West before 10pm.  

10th - Find the almost Full Moon just about 5° above bright Jupiter moving West throughout the night, setting just before 5am.

13th - MORE than a close encounter, Mars will be right next to the Moon all night, except for about an hour when the Moon occults Mars.  Around Philadelphia, the occultation starts at 9:17pm, when the Moon passes right in front of Mars.  This lasts until about 10:32pm, when Mars pops back out on the other side of the Moon.

31st - Feb 2nd - Moon, Saturn, Venus

And that’s the sky for this month!  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

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     Get out under the stars in December of 2024 to see ALL THE PLANETS!  Especially on Christmas night.  Plus a bunch of close encounters between the Moon and those planets, and the annual Geminid meteor shower.

I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  And joining me today is my son, Soccorso.

We’ll start by talking about this month’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

BIG EVENTS

7th - Opposition of Jupiter

13th – 14th – Geminid Meteor Shower

21st - Winter Solstice - Longest night of the year, shortest day of the year.  

25th - Christmas - FOUR PLANETS, and MORE!  Check them all out in your new telescope!

Venus will still be up until about 8:30pm, in the SW. (In the scope - it’s in its half phase)

Saturn is only 15° up and to the left of Venus, setting before 10:30pm. (In the scope - slightly tilted rings, and a couple of moons like Titan and Dione nearby)

Jupiter. Look in the other direction (SE-ish), right above Taurus’ head for super bright  (In the scope - check for all four Galilean Moons after 8:30pm, and the great red spot later after midnight)

After 7pm, Mars will be rising in the ENE between Gemini and Cancer. (In the scope - pretty small, probably just a red smudge)

For an extra challenge, see if you can get Uranus and Neptune in your scope early in the night (sorry, scopes only), and then get Mercury rising low in the SE right before sunrise

LUNAR CYCLE

New Moon – 1st (darkest skies)

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 8th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 15th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 22nd (Visible midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

4th - VERY thin Waxing Crescent, below Venus by 3°, SW sky after sunset, less than 15° above the horizon, sets around 7:30pm

7th - 8th -  First quarter Moon about 6° to the right of Saturn, in the S after sunset, setting in the West around 11pm.  On the 8th, the Moon moves to the other side of Saturn, by about 7°  

14th - Find the basically Full Moon just about 5° to the left of Jupiter moving West throughout the night, setting just before sunrise.

17th - Rising in the ENE after 7:30pm, the Gibbous Moon will start the night about 4˚ above Mars.  It’ll move higher into the South and toward the West as the night goes on, but the best part is at 4:45am, when Mars and the Moon are separated by only ½°.

And that’s the sky for this month!  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

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     What is gracing the November 2024 skies?  A couple occultations, a meteor shower, and a veritable parade of planets, especially on Thanksgiving. 

We’ll start by talking about November’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

BIG EVENTS

5th - Daylight Saving Time Ends

10th - Occultation of Saturn?

17th - 18th – Leonid Meteor Shower

27th - Occultation of Spica 

28th - Thanksgiving (US) - With sunset at 4:40pm, Thanksgiving provides us a cornucopia of opportunities to show our families how awesome astronomy is. 

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset  - Venus, Saturn

Middle of the night - Saturn, Jupiter, Mars 

Morning - Jupiter, Mars 

LUNAR CYCLE

New Moon – 1st (darkest skies)

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 9th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 15th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 22nd (Visible midnight into the morning)

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times. 

4th - VERY thin Waxing Crescent, below Venus 4°, SW sky after sunset, less than 15° above the horizon

10th -  Gibbous Moon about 2° to the right of Saturn, in the SE after sunset, setting in the West before 1:30am.  Closest (about 1/2°) around 10pm.  

16th - 17th - Find the just-past-full Moon just about 10° up and to the right of Jupiter on the 16th, and just about 10° to the left of Jupiter on the 17th, moving West throughout the night, looking awesome in the West around sunrise.

24th - Rising in the East after 9:30pm, the Gibbous Moon will be about 4˚ to the left of Mars, moving West until it’s almost straight above us by sunrise.

And that’s the sky for this month.  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. 

Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

And that’s the sky for this month!  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

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What is gracing the September 2024 skies?  A juuuuust barely partial lunar eclipse, the best viewing for Saturn, 5 lunar close encounters, and the transition to fall.

Hi everybody, I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  

We’ll start by talking about September’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

BIG EVENTS

7th – 8th – Opposition of Saturn 

17th - Just Barely Partial Lunar Eclipse 

• 8:41pm - Penumbral Eclipse Starts
• 10:12pm -  Partiality Starts
• 10:44pm - Maximum Eclipse (8%)
• 11:15pm - Partiality Ends
• 12:47pm - Penumbral Eclipse Ends

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset - Venus

Middle of the night - Saturn

Morning - Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Mercury 

LUNAR CYCLE

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 3rd (darkest skies)

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 11th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 17th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 24th (Visible midnight into the morning)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times. 

1st - VERY thin Waning Crescent Moon 4˚ left of Mercury, after 5:15am, low in East

5th - VERY thin Waxing Crescent just 6˚ left of Venus, after sunset & before 8:45pm, low in West

16th - Full Moon 5˚ to the right of Saturn, after 6:30pm, SE, moves West throughout the night

17th - Full Moon 10˚ to the left of Saturn, after 7:00pm, SE, moves West throughout the night

22nd - First encounter with the lineup of Mars, Jupiter, Taurus, & Pleiades.  Waning Gibbous right next to the Pleiades, after 9pm, and crosses through the Pleiades before dawn

23rd - Waning Gibbous Moon between the Pleiades and Jupiter, with Taurus just below,  after 10pm until dawn

24th - Last Quarter Moon 7˚ left of Jupiter, and 16˚ above Mars, after 10:30pm until dawn

25th - Waning Crescent Moon 5˚ above Mars, after 11:30pm until dawn, ENE

26th - Waning Crescent Moon 10˚ below and to the left of Mars,  after 12:30am until dawn, ENE

And that’s the sky for this month.  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. 

Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

And that’s the sky for this month!  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

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    What is gracing the August 2024 skies?  A rare conjunction of Jupiter & Mars, great conditions for the annual Perseid Meteor Shower, and all the naked-eye planets visible. 

BIG EVENTS

11th – 12th – Perseid Meteor Shower – EXCELLENT year for the Perseids, given the first-quarter Moon sets before midnight.  In decent skies, you could watch 60 meteors per hour. Make a game of it! Get the kids counting and do a scientific meteor count

14th - CONJUNCTION OF MARS & JUPITER - The morning of August 14th is the time to see Mars and Jupiter get as close as they’re going to get for a long while.  Less than half a degree apart! Look ENE after 1am, or directly East by sunrise, and see the brighter Jupiter juuuuust below the dimmer and redder Mars.  This is a GREAT binocular target, naked-eye target, and telescope target. 

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset 

Venus - Venus is slowly starting its evening apparition that’ll last until Mid-March, never getting more than 10° above the horizon, but be patient.  Look W and low on the horizon.   

Middle of the night 

Saturn - In the beginning of the month, Saturn rises in the East around 10:30pm, earlier every day, until it rises on the 31st just after 8pm.  The later you stay up and the later in the month it is, the higher it’ll get, up to 45°, and the further South and West it’ll go.

Morning

Jupiter, Mars, Saturn – Starting out the month, at sunrise, Jupiter and Mars are about 45° above the ESE horizon. Saturn is just about directly SW, 30° up the sky.  By the end of August, Mars and Jupiter switch positions (conjunction on the 14th). Oh, and let’s add Mercury to the list here, but only the last 2 days of the month, where it’s 14° above the Eastern horizon at sunrise.  Go out around 5:30am, look East, and see if you can find the dim planet, below the waning crescent Moon.

LUNAR CYCLE

Morning Crescents 

New Moon – 4th 

Evening Crescents 

First Quarter Moon – 12th 

Evening Gibbous 

Full Moon – 19th 

Waning Gibbous

Last Quarter Moon – 26th

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

5th - VERY thin Waxing Crescent just above Venus, Mercury down to the left, NNW just after sunset, less than 10° above the horizon

6th - Still thin Waxing Crescent up and to the left of Venus, West, about 10° above the horizon

20th - Less than a degree below Saturn, after 9pm

25th - First encounter with the lineup of Mars, Jupiter, Taurus, & Pleiades.  Waning Gibbous up and to right of these, after midnight and into the morning

26th - Last Quarter Moon just below the Pleiades, well above Jupiter, after midnight and into the morning

27th - Moon 6° above Jupiter, after 1am and into the morning, Mars down and left of Jupiter

28th - Moon 6° directly left of Mars, after 1am and into the morning

And that’s the sky for this month!  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

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July’s fireworks include Saturn coming back around closer to being an evening planet, Mercury and Venus dancing low in the evenings, and some magic between the Moon and Spica.

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset 

Mercury, Venus - Finally a little excitement in the evenings.  Mercury will be around 10-15° above the W horizon all month right at sunset, challenging you to find it in the glare of the setting Sun.  If you don’t find it this month, you’ll have to wait until some mornings in August.  Venus, on the other hand starts its evening apparition that’ll last until Mid-March.  It won’t get any higher than 10° at sunset this month, so it’ll be challenging you as well, but should be a little easier than Mercury, given its brightness.  Again, look W, but about 10° to the right of Mercury.  Use these next 9 months and your telescope to watch Venus go through its phases.  It’s almost full right now, will then go half, crescent, and then pass between the Sun and Earth in March. 

Middle of the night 

Saturn - You’ll still have to stay up late this month to catch it, but we’re getting closer to the ringed planet being visible all night.  In the beginning of the month, Saturn rises in the East around 12:30am, earlier every day, until it rises on the 31st just after 10pm.  The later you stay up and the later in the month it is, the higher it’ll get up to 45°, and the further South and West it’ll go, but always gorgeous through the scope with its rings just about edge-on.

Morning

Jupiter, Mars, Saturn – Jupiter and Mars get closer together, as Saturn moves far away from the both of them. 

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

1st - Waning Crescent Moon is just above Mars in the AM

3rd - Up and to the left of Jupiter in the AM

6th - Above Venus, to the left of Mercury, NNW just after sunset

7th - Above Mercury, NNW just after sunset

24th - To the right of Saturn, after 11pm, waning gibbous

25th - To the left of Saturn, after 11pm, waning gibbous

30th - Above Mars and Jupiter, ENE after 2am, waning crescent

31st - Left of Jupiter, ENE after 2am, waning crescent

13th – Lunar Occultation of Spica – Not so common to be able to see a star stop shining and then start back up again…sort of. Check https://is.gd/july2024spica for timings for your area, but the gist is that North and Central America, particularly on the Eastern side, will be able to watch Spica wink out as the dark side of the Moon crosses in front of it.  As an example, if you live near Harrisburg, PA, look WSW for the Moon after 11pm.  Right around 11:24pm Spica will disappear.  Unfortunately, this happens only about 10° above the horizon, leaving the reappearance invisible to us.  Reappearance will be visible before the Moon hits the horizon if you live approximately west of the Mississippi.

And that’s the sky for this month!  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission.