July ’25 – Rick’s Picks

Transient Events That Can Give Us a Good Enough Reason to Get Outside and Do a Little Observing

All month: the evening sky belongs almost exclusively to Mars again this month, with Mercury playing a supporting role after sunset until mid-July, about the same time that Jupiter emerges into the pre-dawn sky. Meanwhile, Saturn and Neptune move into the late night time slot, where Uranus will follow next month, and Venus remains on display only for early risers and confirmed night owls. As July begins, Mars sets just before 11:30 pm, with a 5” disk glowing at mag +1.5; when July ends, it sets shortly after 10 pm at mag +1.6 and a 4½” disk. Mercury tries to help out, setting at 10 pm on July 1 at mag +0.2 with a 46% lit, 7½” disk, but it disappears into the solar glare soon after mid-month as a progressively narrowing and fading crescent. Saturn and Neptune rise shortly before 12:30 am on the 1st, and before 10:30 pm on the 31st. Saturn begins the month with an 18” disk at mag +1.0, gaining a little size and a little brightness to end the month an arcsecond larger at mag +0.8, while Neptune spends July at mag 7.9 with a 2¼” disk. Venus and Uranus also rise in tandem at the beginning of July, around 2:45 am, but by month’s end Uranus arrives shortly before midnight while Venus rises between 2:39 and 2:45 am the entire month. Uranus spends July at mag 5.8 with a 3½” disk, while Venus opens the month at mag -4.2 with a disk 18” wide and 64% lit, and ends at mag -4.0 with a 14½” disk 75% illuminated. Completing the major planets roster, Jupiter becomes visible in the morning sky around midmonth, rising before 4:30 am (an hour before the Sun) by July 13 with a 32” disk shining at mag -1.9. Among the asteroids, 4 Vesta continues to be a bright target in Virgo and Libra, ranging from mag 7.0-7.5 during July, although it starts to get a little low in the sky towards month’s end. July’s charts will show you where to find it.
July 1: we have another rare opportunity to watch Titan and its shadow transit Saturn late tonight, beginning at 2:40 am CDT. Aperture is your friend in this pursuit, and you’ll need at least a 6“ scope to watch the show – but this is one of those times when bigger is better, so use the largest aperture you have available, and don’t hold back on the power: you’ll need at least 150x to see Titan’s shadow, and 200x to see Titan itself passing north of the planet’s disk. The shadow will be just under halfway across the disk when the Sun rises at 5:18 am, but you’ll have your best opportunity to see the show before nautical twilight begins at 4:00 am.
July 2: around 9:15 pm CDT (45 minutes after sunset), look for mag +0.3 Mercury 7° above the WNW horizon and 13° left of the spot where the Sun went down – then see if you can spot the stars of the Beehive Cluster (M44) 1° directly above the little planet. The cluster will remain invisible to the naked eye, and no more than an unresolved fog in binoculars, although a telescope might give a more detailed view.
July 3: a day after first quarter, the Moon chases mag 1.0 Spica (Alpha [] Virginis) across tonight’s evening sky, trailing by 2½° in the twilight and falling a little farther behind before midnight.
July 4: night owls and early risers get an easy view of pale blue Uranus rising into the eastern sky from 3:30 am CDT until twilight arrives an hour later. Look for it in binoculars 2.4° to the upper left of bright Venus (mag -4.1),
then scan 4° farther to the upper left to spot the Pleiades (M45). Along the way, notice the color contrast between Uranus and a pair of mag 6 field stars, light orange and blue-white, 1½°-2° to the planet’s upper right.
July 6: at 11:40 pm CDT, mag 2.9 star Pi () Scorpii slips behind the dark edge of the 87% lit Moon. At 26° south of the celestial equator, Pi Sco is farther south than the Moon usually ventures: it’s there now only because we are in a major lunar standstill as the Moon passes through the most southerly part of its 18.6 year orbital cycle.
July 10: at 8:58 pm CDT (a half hour after sunset), a fat crescent Mercury, glowing at mag +0.9, sits 5° above the west horizon and 15° left of the spot where the Sun went down, pursued by mag 1.4 Regulus (Alpha [] Leonis) 16° to its upper left, and by tiny mag +1.5 Mars 15° upper left of Regulus.
July 14: mag 4.2 star Phi () Aquarii emerges from the dark edge of the gibbous Moon at 1:54 am CDT tonight.
July 15: late tonight, Saturn crosses the sky 3° below the gibbous Moon, with little blue Neptune riding between them, 1° above left of the planet and 2° below left of the Moon. The group rise together at 11:30 pm CDT.
July 18: it’s another Titan transit late tonight. The big moon begins its trek across the disk of Saturn at 2:00 am CDT and reaches the half-way point at 4:44 am, just 13 minutes before the onset of civil twilight.
July 20: the Moon occludes five stars of the Pleiades (M45) shortly before dawn today. The stars disappear behind the Moon’s narrow bright edge along its lower left limb, and reappear against its dark upper right edge. 17 Tau is out of sight from 3:32 to 4:31, 16 Tau from 3:48 to 4:26, 20 Tau from 4:11 to 4:57, 23 Tau from 4:12 to 4:41, and Eta () Tau from 4:41 to 5:22 (just 10 minutes before sunrise).
July 22: look low in the NE as morning twilight begins at 4:20 am CDT to spot a delicate, 7% lit crescent Moon rising midway between bright mag -4.0 Venus to its upper right, and mighty mag -1.9 Jupiter to its lower left.
July 25: Pluto reaches opposition tonight, somewhere between mag 14.4 and 15.1, depending on who you ask – but anywhere within that range, you’ll need the biggest aperture you can muster, and a good detailed finding chart like the one at page 49 of this month’s Sky & Telescope, to figure out which one of those faint dots is Pluto.
July 25-26: new Moon arrived yesterday at 2:11 pm CDT, so at 8:47 pm CDT tonight (a half hour after sunset), it will be 1.3 days old, 2% illuminated, 3½° above the horizon, and 8° left of the spot where the Sun went down. If you miss it tonight, try again tomorrow: at 9:01 pm (45 minutes after sunset), the Moon will be 2.3 days old, 6% illuminated, 5½° above the horizon, and 17° left of the sunset point.
July 26: early bird astrophotographers will have a chance to catch supernova remnant M1 a half-degree above left of Venus this morning, with mag 3.0 Zeta () Tauri 44 arcminutes below the planet. The group rises a few minutes before 3 am CDT and can be seen until morning twilight wipes the slate clean between 4 and 4:30 am.
July 29: it’s a meteor shower two-fer tonight as the South Delta Aquarids and Alpha Capricornids peak together in the early morning hours. The Moon will get out of the way for a change, setting at 10:30 pm. Aquarids are faint but moderately fast at 43 km/sec, while Capricornids are much showier, only half as fast but exhibiting frequent fireballs. Neither shower is prolific: expect only 10 Aquarids per hour at a dark site, and 3-5 per hour in the suburbs; the Capricornids deliver 5-8 per hour no matter where you watch. With a few sporadics and early Perseids, it might be a good evening – and some of those slow Capricornid fireballs may be memorable!

Rick Gering / July 2025