July 2025 Skywatching Tips

July 3, 2025

July 2025 offers an array of celestial events for skywatchers, with planets, constellations, and meteor showers lighting up the night. Mars continues to shine in the western sky after sunset, visible for an hour or two before dipping below the horizon. On July 28, it will appear especially striking as it aligns closely with a crescent moon. Mercury also makes a brief appearance during the first week of July, low in the western sky about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset. It sets quickly, so a clear view of the horizon is essential.

Venus dominates the morning sky throughout the month, rising in the east a couple of hours before sunrise. It’s joined by Jupiter after mid-July, with both planets climbing higher each morning. On July 21 and 22, early risers can catch a beautiful scene as the crescent moon joins Venus and Jupiter in the eastern sky. Saturn becomes a late-night fixture, rising around midnight at the beginning of the month and earlier each night thereafter. By dawn, it’s high in the southern sky, offering a great opportunity for telescope viewing.

July is also a great time to observe the constellation Aquila, the eagle. Its brightest star, Altair, forms the southern point of the Summer Triangle, a prominent asterism in the Northern Hemisphere’s summer sky. Aquila soars high during the first half of the night, and its full shape becomes easier to trace in darker skies away from city lights. For those interested in lunar phases, the full Buck Moon peaks on July 10, while the new moon arrives on July 24, offering ideal conditions for deep-sky observation in the days that follow. Learn more at NASA.

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