The brightest planets in July's night sky: How to see them (and when)

During July we have two planets readily evident in the predawn morning sky, two more in the evening . . . though extracting them from the bright glow of evening twilight will be somewhat challenging, and a fifth planet that will transition from being solely an after-midnight object to the late evening skies by later in the month. 

The two morning planets are Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter is very obvious, chiefly because of its great brilliance; a few hours before sunrise, it seems to call attention to itself as a non-twinkling, silvery "star" in the east-northeast sky. Mars is quite a bit fainter, but each morning it appears to draw a little closer to Jupiter. Mars also shines with a distinct orange-yellow glow. 

At midmonth, Mars will allow you to make a sighting of the distant gas giant planet, Uranus as it will pass relatively near to it. Uranus, which shines with a greenish-blue tinge, is right on the verge of naked-eye visibility in a dark, non-light-polluted sky, but with Mars nearby it should be easy to pick up with either good binoculars or a small telescope.  

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In the evening sky, speedy little Mercury does its best to make itself evident against the bright background glow of evening twilight during the first half of the month (try for it on the night of July 7 when a slender sliver of a crescent moon will be nearby). It then will gradually fade during the later part of July. Meanwhile, the brilliant planet of all, Venus, begins a very slow emergence back into view during the latter part of the month, basically taking baby steps to free itself from the bright sunset glow, very low in the west-northwest sky right after sundown. 

Finally, there is Saturn, which starts July coming up in the east-southeast around midnight, but by the end of the month, it is rising right around the time that the last vestige of evening twilight disappears. 

In our schedule, remember that when measuring the angular separation between two celestial objects, your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees. Here, we present a schedule below which provides some of the best planet viewing times as well as directing you as to where to look to see them.

In our schedule, remember that when measuring the angular separation between two celestial objects, your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees.  Here, we present a schedule below which provides some of the best planet viewing times as well directing you as to where to look to see them.

Be sure to check out our best telescopes for viewing planets guide and our more general guides for the best binoculars and the best telescopes. If you're interested in taking your own impressive skywatching images, we have recommendations for the best cameras for astrophotography and the best lenses for astrophotography.  

Mercury

Mercury is 27 degrees east of the sun on the evening of July 22, the maximum for this year. Yet for observers near latitude 40 degrees north this is not a particularly favorable apparition. About a half hour after sunset on July 7, using binoculars, scan low near the west-northwest horizon to sight a narrow waxing crescent moon and situated about 2½ degrees directly below it will be the planet Mercury, shining at magnitude -0.1. 

At its best around July 10, Mercury will set less than 1½ hours after the sun. It should be a naked-eye object during the first half of July. But as the month progresses, Mercury's visibility will diminish for three reasons: 

It shines at magnitude -0.3 on July 5, but +0.7 on July 25. After that, the planet rapidly fades away and drops from view. On July 25 however, binoculars may show the bluish 1.4-magnitude star Regulus hovering about 2 degrees above Mercury. Look early.  

Venus

Venus reached superior conjunction behind the sun on June 4. At the beginning of July, it sets only about half an hour after the sun for viewers around 40 degrees north. First binocular or telescopic visibility of Venus may be possible around midmonth, when it sets about 45 minutes after sunset. Look very low in the west-northwest soon after the sun disappears. 

Earth

Earth is at aphelion on July 4, 1:06 a.m. EDT (0506 GMT), 94,510,539 miles from the sun or 3.3 percent farther than when it was at perihelion on January 2. 

Mars

Mars moving steadily eastward against the background stars, shifts from Aries the Ram into the boundaries of Taurus the Bull on July 12. The red planet rises about 3 hours before the sun on July 1, increasing to 4½ hours by month's end. It also slightly increases in brightness during July from magnitude +1.0 to +0.9. Also, on the morning of July 1, Mars can be found about 5 degrees to the lower left of a waning crescent moon. 

Early on the morning of July 15, if you train a pair of binoculars on Mars, you may notice a dim greenish-blue "star" located about 0.5 degrees to its upper left. That will be the planet Uranus, which is 1.87 billion miles from Earth. 

Lastly, on the morning of July 30, Mars will form a broad right triangle with a waning crescent moon to its upper left and Jupiter, well to its lower left.

Jupiter

At the start of July, Jupiter rises a little over two hours before sunrise and is evident very low near the east-northeast horizon in the brightening dawn glow. With each passing morning, thereafter, it rises about four minutes earlier and by month's end, it's coming up more than four hours before sunup and is very prominent, shining one-third of the way up in the eastern sky as dawn breaks. 

The big planet, glowing brilliantly at magnitude -2.1, is positioned in the middle of Taurus the Bull. On the morning of July 3, a slender sliver of a waning crescent moon will pass about 5 degrees to the upper left of Jupiter. On July 9, Jupiter passes 4.8 degrees to the upper left of the orange 1st-magnitude star, Aldebaran; the "angry eye of the Bull." 

Finally, on July 30, Jupiter teams with Mars and a slender crescent moon to form an attractive triangle.

Saturn

Saturn in eastern Aquarius rises in the east-southeast as late as midnight daylight saving time at the start of July, but by the end of the month, it's coming up near the end of evening twilight. 

The ring system of golden Saturn is starting to widen its tilt to us for the late summer and early fall; 1.9 degrees on July 1 to 2.3 degrees by month's end. At around 11 p.m. on July 24, look low to the east-southeast horizon for the rising waning gibbous moon and you'll see Saturn about 5 degrees to the moon's upper right. 

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers' Almanac and other publications.

Editor's Note: If you get a great photo of any of the planets and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.