July Planet Parade: Celestial Highlights Of This Weeks Night Sky

THIS WEEK IN OUR NIGHTTIME SKY

I find our nighttime sky fascinating and wanted to share with you some things you can be looking for, mostly a bit after midnight up in the sky for July. You will need good binoculars to see this amazing celestial activity.

JULY 3RD - WATCH BEFORE DAWN FOR JUPITER AND ITS FOUR MOONS

Four moons! According to Space.com, we just might see another planet's four moons. (How neat would it be to see four moons on our planet Earth). If you are an early riser and have a dark sky to view in the early morning hours, you may be able to see Jupiter on Wednesday morning, along with its four bright moons.

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JULY 4TH 'MY SATURN HAS RETURNED' SINGS KACEY MUSGRAVES

Saturn is now visible in the sky during the dawn hours, but you'll be able to see it this week around midnight, and it will be joined soon by Neptune. Uranus is going to be visible soon as well, but not until mid-August. Planets Mars and Jupiter will also be visible around midnight.

JULY 4TH WE ARE FAR FAR AWAY

Although I've never heard the word 'Aphelion' used before, I studied an article today, and found out that it means that Earth is going to be its greatest distance away from the sun for the whole year of 2024 on Thursday, July 4th at around midnight. The 'Perihelion' was reached on January 4th, 2024, its' closest distance to the sun. (Now you'll be the smartest one on trivia night).

JULY 5TH THE MOON WILL BE HIDDEN

Because the moon is traveling between the Earth and the Sun during this particular this week, the moon will be completely hidden from view anywhere on our planet for about a day.

SATURDAY JULY 6TH SPEEDY MERCURY

Immediately after dusk on Saturday, July 6th, you will be able to see Mercury shining in the stars known as 'The Beehive Cluster." Mercury will appear to the lower right of the cluster on Friday and then the upper left on Sunday.

If you'd like to learn more and see pictures of what the sky will look like when you are trying to locate specific planets and stars, just click here.

KIDS

There are plenty of books that you can get to understand our nighttime sky, you can check out amazing books at the Great River Regional Library, as well as a Telescope!