July SkyGuide: Moon Phases: July 3 - 1st Quarter Moon Note: July 4 - Earth is at aphelion (furthest) with respect to our sun July 5 - Moon at apogee (furthest from earth)) July 10 - Full Moon July 18 - Last Quarter Moon - Ideal Stargazing July 20 - Moon at perigee (closest to eart) July 25 - New Moon - also ideal Stargazing Evening Skies: Mercury is high in the early evening twilight July 3 - Mercury close to the Beehive cluster (in binoculars) Mars is getting lower in the North-west, and close to the crescent moon on 28 and 29 July. Morning Skies: Uranus (in binoculars) near to the Pleiades cluster Venus is falling back to the horizon, and is a distinct half-moon shape and is near Uranus 3-6 July Towards the end of the month, Venus comes close to Jupiter. Saturn is very high in the morning sky and near Neptune (in binoculars) TCoronaBorealis still hasn’t gone nova, so keep watching it, A new Nova V472 Lupi is now visible in the constellation Lupus, just above the constellation Scorpius, it’s quite obvious if you age a chart and binoculars (see Ian's ‘Astroblogger’ website for the chart) Occultation of Antares on July 8 (best seen in Perth) Southern Delta Aquariid Meteor shower peaks 3am in the NE five handspans west of Saturn on the morning of Sunday July 31st ( active 12 July - 23 August) Ian’s Tangent: Observing the Dark Emu and understanding how different cultures record ‘dark constellations’. Ian's Astrophotography Challenge: ‘Backyard Astrophysics’ Capturing Nova V472 Lupi, and recording how it fades over time.

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