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Download This Month's Star Chart! 11:00 pm on July 1 N 10:00 pm on July 15 9:00 pm on August 1 To use this chart: hold the chart in CASSIOPEIA front of you and turn it so the direction you are facing is at the bottom of the 2021 chart. Bright Stars Polaris MAJOR URSA Medium Bright Stars CEPHEUS ULY Faint Stars DIPPER J LITTLE Scan dark skies Deneb with binoculars: M-6: Buttery Cluster DRACO PEGASUS CYGNUS BIG M-7: Open star cluster DIPPER Vega M-8: Lagoon Nebula Keystone M-13: Globular star cluster TRIANGLE SUMMER M-13 M-15: Globular star cluster M-15 TES E LYRA M-22: Globular star cluster COMA BOÖ W M-27: Dumbell Nebula Jupiter BERENICES Altair HERCULES Summer is here! It might M-27 not feel like it yet, but the CORONA BOREALIS days are now getting Arcturus AQUILA shorter and the nights Saturn longer. This will continue SERPENS VIRGO until the rst day of winter CAPUT SERPENS on December 21. CAUDA From Nashville: M-22 Full Moon OPHIUCHUS July 23 Sunrise Sunset Spica July 1 5:34 AM 8:08 PM M-8 LIBRA July 15 5:41 AM 8:05 PM SAGITTARIUS M-6 Aug 1 5:54 AM 7:53 PM Antares Last Quarter July 1, 31 SCORPIUS M-7 New Moon S July 9 Download monthly star charts and learn First Quarter more about our shows at adventuresci.org July 17 Hercules form a trapezoid shape called the Keystone, July 2021 after the top stone in an arch. This time of year the Keystone can appear directly overhead, from our part After Sunset telescope reveals that there are really two stars there, appearing of the world. Imagine the Keystone holding up the arch very close to each other. Not only that, but the two stars are of the sky! In the early summer, the Big Dipper is easy to find, different colors, one blue and one yellow! Recent analysis of the high in the northwest after sunset. Connect the dots to two stars’ motion suggests that unlike many double stars, these Look near the Keystone for the globular cluster known imagine a big spoon or ladle high above. two stars are not in orbit around each other. They just happen as the Hercules Cluster, or M-13. Using binoculars, you may be able to spot a round-shaped glow. If that The Big Dipper is not officially a constellation; it’s to appear extremely close to each other from our vantage point blurry glow doesn’t seem impressive, just remember what astronomers sometimes call an asterism. It’s a on Earth. that it’s a collection of around 300,000 stars, at a familiar name for this pattern of stars, especially used Low in the south is the hook-shaped constellation Scorpius the distance of over 22,000 light years, at an age of over by observers in the United States, but it’s not one Scorpion low in the south. The red star Antares marks the 11 billion years old. of the 88 constellations recognized by astronomers heart of the scorpion. worldwide. Ursa Major the Great Bear is the official Some challenging constellations become much easier constellation here, but you’ll need dark skies to see its Just to the east of Scorpius is Sagittarius the Archer. To ancient to spot under truly dark skies. Can you find Corona fainter stars. civilizations it may have looked like a mythical centaur holding Borealis the Northern Crown or Ophiuchus the a bow and arrow, but to modern stargazers it looks a lot more Serpent Bearer? Use the two stars at the end of the Dipper’s bowl to lead like a teapot. you to Polaris, also known as the North Star. Polaris is not a particularly bright star, but it does remain fixed Stay out past midnight early in July, or 10 pm towards the end Early Morning in the sky throughout the night and throughout the of the month and look to the east to find Jupiter and Saturn. As the Earth orbits the Sun throughout the year, the year. When you face the North Star, you’re facing due Jupiter is the brighter of the two planets. If you have steady constellations rise and set just a little bit earlier every north. Polaris is at the end of the handle of the Little binoculars, you will be able to see up to four of Jupiter’s largest day. You won’t see much difference from night to Dipper. This group of stars is also officially known as moons. Observe over several nights to watch them orbit around night, but you will over the course of weeks or months. Ursa Minor the Little Bear. their parent planet. A small telescope not only shows the moons What we see in today’s pre-dawn sky is a preview of of Jupiter, but also its cloud bands. Jupiter has stripes! Follow the curved handle of the Big Dipper to trace an the early evening sky in later months. Go out before dawn this month for a look ahead at the late autumn ‘arc’ to Arcturus, the orange colored star in Boötes Saturn’s most famous feature is a little harder to see. Most night sky. the Herdsman. Then speed on to Spica, the single binoculars aren’t powerful enough to clearly resolve the rings. bright star in Virgo the Maiden. Neither of these Instead, Saturn may look a little oval in shape. A small telescope In the hours before dawn, the Summer Triangle is constellations has any other bright stars. Even under provides a beautiful view of the rings and even the large moon high in the west. Sagittarius has already set. Autumn dark skies away from city lights, it’s hard to imagine Titan. The Moon will be between Jupiter and Saturn on the constellations such as Pegasus the Flying Horse and these mythological figures just by connecting the dots. evening of July 24th and close to Jupiter on the 25th. Andromeda the Princess are high overhead. Saturn Look for a nearly first quarter Moon not far from Spica and Jupiter are high in the southwest. on July 16. From Dark Skies Desktop planetarium software like the free, open- Look to the east for the three bright stars that make Bright outdoor lighting can make it hard to see all but the source Stellarium (stellarium.org) can show you more up the Summer Triangle. Viewers with darker skies brightest stars. On a clear night, find a dark spot far away from precisely where night sky objects will be on any date might find the fainter stars that make up the three city lights, give your eyes time to adjust to the dark, and look and time, and help you plan your observing. constellations of the Triangle: Cygnus the Swan, for even more celestial sights. Aquila the Eagle, and Lyra the Harp. Evenings in the early summer are great for spotting the Milky Look closely for the fairly unremarkable white colored Way coursing from Sagittarius and Scorpius, through the Summer This Month in the Sudekum Planetarium star Albireo that marks the head of Cygnus. A small Triangle and on towards Cassiopeia the Queen in the northeast. This hazy band of light is the bulk of our disc-shaped galaxy, as we see it from within. As you look towards Scorpius and Sagittarius, you are looking in the direction of the dense center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Scan with binoculars or a telescope in this area to find many faint star clusters and nebulae throughout this part of the sky. Look high overhead for the constellation Hercules. Four stars in DREAM TO FLY.
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