You can see these planets, constellations, and more today

July has a lot to offer in the starry sky – the Milky Way, globular constellations, constellations, many planets and even shooting stars can be seen. Overview.

Frankfurt – As in June, the nights in August are short and bright – but you can still spot a lot in the night sky. In dark regions, the Milky Way’s bar can be seen stretching across the sky. The constellation is best seen in August when the nights are not quite as bright. July is the best month to see the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpio. While it can only be seen very low in the sky in our latitudes, you can see it best further south – perhaps on a summer vacation in the Mediterranean.

The center of the Milky Way is located in the constellation Sagittarius. There are also many celestial bodies in the constellation that are a worthwhile target for binoculars: galactic nebulae, open star clusters, and globular star clusters can be found there. Also visible in July is the brightest globular cluster in the Northern Hemisphere sky: M13, also known as the Hercules Cluster, in the constellation of Hercules, about 23,000 light-years from Earth. The globular cluster, which contains at least 500,000 stars, was discovered in 1714 by the English astronomer Sir Edmund Halley. To the southeast, you can see the Summer Triangle, made up of the stars Deneb, Altair, and Vega, high in the sky.

Starry sky in July: Venus becomes bright and disappears

You can also see the planets in the night sky in July – a lot has changed here this month compared to June. Venus, the brightest planet in the sky over the past few months, will reach its brightest on July 7. It is still in the west in the evening and can be seen early at dusk due to its brightness. But in July, Venus will no longer be visible: at the end of the month, the planet next to Earth will set at about 8 pm. Before you say goodbye to Venus, you can once again admire the shape of its crescent moon with a telescope – because the planet has phases, just like the moon. At the beginning of the month, the crescent of Venus is thick, but at the end of its period it is very narrow.

Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, approaches its maximum distance from Earth in July – it moves as much as 198 million km. However, it cannot be seen this month. Mars can only be found in the sky for a short time: it can still be seen until around July 10, when the planet bids a temporary goodbye. Around the same time, on July 13, summer begins in the northern hemisphere of the Red Planet, which lasts until the beginning of autumn on January 12, 2024.

Jupiter and Saturn back prominently in the night sky

As Mars and Venus disappear from the night sky, two other bright planets return in more prominent form: Jupiter, as the second brightest planet in the sky, dominates the second half of the night. At the end of July, it starts rising around midnight. The largest planet in our solar system also provides highlights for the month. Sven Melchert from the Society of Friends of the Stars (VdS) has the opposite the father from IPPEN. MEDIA A tip that should concern only early risers or night owls: “Anyone looking east in the early morning of July 12th will see the narrow crescent of the waning moon there. Right next to it is a bright ‘star’ – that’s Jupiter.”