Monthly star guide - What to see in July's Night SkyWhat star gazers can see in July's Night Sky including the The Delta Aquarid meteor shower, moon phases, deep space objects and planets.
Moon Phases in July 2024
July's full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Buck Moon because the male buck deer would begin to grow their new antlers at this time of year. This moon has also been known as the Thunder Moon and the Hay Moon.
| July 2024 Moon Phases | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | |
| 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th |
| 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
| 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th |
| 28th | 29th | 30th | 31st | |||
July 2024 Meteor Showers
The Delta Aquarids is an average shower that can produce up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by debris left behind by comets Marsden and Kracht. The shower runs annually from July 12 to August 23. It peaks around July 28 and the morning of July 29. The best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Aquarius, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
The Planets in July 2024
Mercury will be at its greatest eastern elongation on July 22nd. Mercury has a maximum eastern elongation of 26.9 degrees from the Sun. Mercury will be at the highest point above the horizon in the evening sky, making it the optimum time to observe it. Just after sunset, look for the planet low in the western sky.
Mars is going to get fairly close to Uranus (0°33') in Taurus on July 15. The planets will be visible high above the eastern horizon in the morning, roughly an hour before sunrise, from the Northern Hemisphere.
July 2024 Deep Space Objects
Summer can be a wonderful time for stargazing and despite the light evenings, there's much to be seen in the night sky at this time of year.
The first stunning summer deep-sky object is the rather large summer Milky Way in Sagittarius, Scutum, Ophiuchus and Aquila. It is a particularly awe-inspiring sight, especially from dark sky sites. To get a good view of it from the UK it is best to travel to a site with a very clear southern horizon.
Nestled within the Milky Way in the constellation of Sagittarius, just above the spout of the Teapot asterism, you'll find the Lagoon Nebula (M8). It's a great object to look at with binoculars and even better in a small telescope.
About 7° to the East of the Lagoon Nebula lies the magnificent globular cluster of M22. You shouldn't have too much trouble picking it out using binoculars, but for a real WOW, try observing it with a large telescope to see it sitting against the glittering starfields of the Galaxy.
There are several other striking summer nebulae in this region of the sky. The Eagle Nebula (M16) and M17 are excellent targets for 6 to 8-inch reflectors; located in Serpens and Sagittarius respectively. Not far away in Scutum lies the Wild Duck Cluster, M11.
In this table, the observation month represents the month in which the object reaches its highest point in the sky. It can also be viewed a few months before and after depending on your location. Direction is the compass direction in which the object is located, with Z meaning Zenith or overhead.
| # | Image | Common Name | Constellation | Coords | Direction | Mag | Size (arcmin) | Type | Star Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M3 NGC 5272 |  | Canes Venatici | 13h 42.2m RA 28° 23m Dec | W | 6.20 | 18 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M4 NGC 6121 | Crab Globular Cluster | Scorpius | 16h 23.6m RA -26° 32m Dec | S | 5.90 | 26 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M5 NGC 5904 |  | Rose Cluster | Serpens | 15h 18.6m RA 02° 05m Dec | SW | 6.65 | 23 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ |
| M6 NGC 6405 | The Butterfly Cluster | Scorpius | 17h 40.1m RA -32° 13m Dec | S | 4.20 | 25 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M7 NGC 6475 | The Ptolemy Cluster | Scorpius | 17h 53.9m RA -34° 49m Dec | S | 3.30 | 80 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M8 NGC 6523 | The Lagoon Nebula | Sagittarius | 18h 03.8m RA -24° 23m Dec | S | 6.00 | 90x40 | Emission Nebula | 🔍︎ | |
| M9 NGC 6333 | Ophiuchus | 17h 19.2m RA -18° 31m Dec | S | 8.42 | 12 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M10 NGC 6254 | Ophiuchus | 16h 57.1m RA -04° 06m Dec | S/SW | 6.40 | 20 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M11 NGC 6705 | The Wild Duck Cluster | Scutum | 18h 51.1m RA -06° 16m Dec | S/SW | 6.30 | 14 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M12 NGC 6218 | Gumball Globular | Ophiuchus | 16h 47.2m RA -01° 57m Dec | S | 7.68 | 16 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M13 NGC 6205 |  | The Hercules Cluster | Hercules | 16h 41.7m RA 36° 28m Dec | W | 5.80 | 20 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ |
| M14 NGC 6402 | Ophiuchus | 17h 37.6m RA -03° 15m Dec | SW | 7.60 | 11 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M15 NGC 7078 | Great Pegasus Cluster | Pegasus | 21h 30.0m RA 12° 10m Dec | SE | 6.20 | 18 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M16 NGC 6611 | Eagle Nebula | Serpens | 18h 18.8m RA -13° 47m Dec | S | 6.00 | 30 | Emission nebula with open cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M17 NGC 6618 | Omega Nebula | Sagittarius | 18h 20.8m RA -16° 11m Dec | S | 6.00 | 11 | Emission nebula | 🔍︎ | |
| M18 NGC 6613 | Black Swan Cluster | Sagittarius | 18h 19.9m RA -17° 08m Dec | S | 7.50 | 9 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M19 NGC 6273 | Ophiuchus | 17h 02.6m RA -26° 16m Dec | S | 7.47 | 16 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M20 NGC 6514 | The Trifid Nebula | Sagittarius | 18h 02.6m RA -23° 02m Dec | S/SW | 6.30 | 28 | Open Cluster with Nebulosity | 🔍︎ | |
| M21 NGC 6531 | Webb's Cross | Sagittarius | 18h 04.6m RA -22° 30m Dec | S/SW | 6.50 | 13 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M22 NGC 6656 | Great Sagittarius Cluster | Sagittarius | 18h 36.4m RA -29° 54m Dec | S | 5.10 | 32 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M23 NGC 6494 | Sagittarius | 17h 56.8m RA -19° 01m Dec | S | 6.90 | 27 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M24 IC 4715 | The Sagittarius Star Cloud | Sagittarius | 18h 16.9m RA -18° 29m Dec | S | 4.60 | 90 | Milky Way star cloud | 🔍︎ | |
| M25 IC 4725 | Sagittarius | 18h 31.6m RA -19° 15m Dec | S | 4.60 | 32 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M26 NGC 6694 | Scutum | 18h 45.2m RA -09° 24m Dec | S | 8.00 | 14 | Open Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M28 NGC 6626 | Sagittarius | 18h 24.5m RA -24° 52m Dec | S | 7.66 | 11 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M54 NGC 6715 | Sagittarius | 18h 55.1m RA -30° 29m Dec | S | 8.37 | 12 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M55 NGC 6809 | Summer Rose Star | Sagittarius | 19h 40.0m RA -30° 58m Dec | S | 7.42 | 19 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M56 NGC 6779 | Lyra | 19h 16.6m RA 30° 11m Dec | SW | 8.30 | 8 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M57 NGC 6720 | The Ring Nebula | Lyra | 18h 53.6m RA 33° 02m Dec | SW | 8.80 | 3.83 | Planetary Nebula | 🔍︎ | |
| M62 NGC 6266 | Flickering Globular Cluster | Ophiuchus | 17h 01.2m RA -30° 07m Dec | S | 7.39 | 15 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | |
| M69 NGC 6637 | Sagittarius | 18h 34.4m RA -32° 21m Dec | S | 8.31 | 9.8 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M70 NGC 6681 | Sagittarius | 18h 43.2m RA -32° 18m Dec | S | 9.06 | 8 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M71 NGC 6838 |  | Angelfish Cluster (Arrowhead Cluster) | Sagitta | 19h 53.8m RA 18° 47m Dec | Z | 6.10 | 7.2 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ |
| M72 NGC 6981 | Aquarius | 20h 53.5m RA -12° 32m Dec | S | 9.35 | 6.6 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M73 NGC 6994 | Aquarius | 20h 58.9m RA -12° 38m Dec | S | 9.00 | 2.8 | Asterism | 🔍︎ | ||
| M75 NGC 6864 | Sagittarius | 20h 06.1m RA -21° 55m Dec | S | 9.18 | 6.8 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M80 NGC 6093 | Scorpius | 16h 17.0m RA -22° 59m Dec | S | 7.87 | 10 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M92 NGC 6341 | Hercules | 17h 17.1m RA 43° 08m Dec | Z | 6.30 | 14 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ | ||
| M107 NGC 6171 | The Crucifix Cluster | Ophiuchus | 16h 32.5m RA -13° 03m Dec | S | 8.85 | 13 | Globular Cluster | 🔍︎ |
