July Sky

.....While I work on the observing maps for some deep sky objects, I don't want to miss the forest for the trees, and so here is a sky map for July. (Constellations that have been discussed on this blog are in blue, and constellations I have not gotten too yet are in red.)

.....The Big Dipper is still in the sky, as it will always be in the sky from the northern US, but some constellations that you can find from the Big Dipper (Boötes and Virgo) are moving off to the west. In the east we can find the Summer Triangle, built using three of the brightest stars in the sky. This set of stars (despite its name) will be in the sky until early winter.

.....This map only includes stars brighter than fourth magnitude, so some stars in the constellations are "missing". If you are just learning the constellations, or if you are viewing from a light-polluted sky, I hope that this will be a better way to find the brighter stars.

.....Start making plans now for the Perseid Meteor Shower! Peaking on the nights of August 11th and 12th, this meteor shower can result in dozens of meteors an hour! This year, the Moon will be out of the sky on these nights, so the sky will be at its darkest. This will hopefully be a great year for the shower!