#CURRENT SKY VIEW OF PLANETS HOW TO#
#CURRENT SKY VIEW OF PLANETS FULL#

To know when one of these favorable periods will occur (this monthвЂ™s apparition is far from favorable) please consult this page at the beginning of each month. The beautiful, and sometimes orange planet, can be amazingly prominent near greatest elongation at its few best apparitions of the year (there are many separate apparitions of Mercury in a year because the swift planet races back and forth between the morning and evening sides of the Sun). Mercury can never be seen more than roughly two hours before or after the Sun, so because of this it is not well known. Of the famous five naked-eye planets, Mercury can sometimes be the second brightest, outshining all stars, and can often be the planet closest to Earth вЂ“ and yet it has been seen by remarkably few people! This is because Mercury, the innermost planet of the solar system, can never depart more than 28В° from the Sun as seen from our point of view. The best chance comes around late December greatest elongation occurs on the 28th and this is when Mercury is highest in the sky. Spotting it could prove quite challenging, but if you plan ahead and observe from a location with a good horizon without obstructions (such as trees or buildings), you should be able to see it. It does manage to reach an altitude of 22 Лљ above the eastern horizon under dark-sky conditions by the monthвЂ™s end.Mercury, the innermost and smallest planet of the solar system, hugs the southwestern horizon right after sunset.

Uranus is slowly crawling away from the Sun but is not well positioned at the moment. +0.4 and by JulyвЂ™s close it increases to mag. Saturn increases in brightness by a small amount: on 1 July it shines with an off-white, straw-yellow hueДЄt mag.

#CURRENT SKY VIEW OF PLANETS FULL#

Opposition occurs on 2 August and the end of July is a time when SaturnвЂ™s rings should be starting to increase in brightness due to the opposition effect.ДЄ full Moon sits to the southeast of Saturn on the night of 24/25 July. Saturn is a morning planet, which is able to reach its highest position above the southern horizon in relative darkness in July. +1.8, Mars is outshone by Venus, which passes half-a-degree to its north on 13 July. It is struggling to keep ahead of the evening twilight and is barely visible in the west-northwest after sunset.ДЄt mag. Mars appears tiny through the eyepiece, less than 4 arcseconds across. вЂ“3.9, it sets 1.5 hours after the Sun on 1 July, a figure reducing to 70 minutes after the Sun on 31 July. Venus is an evening planet, suffering due to poor placement. вЂ“1.6 on 27 July when it rises 45 minutes before the Sun. It also brightens and this should help to keep it visible. Over the rest of the month, it heads nearer the Sun, rising 25 minutes before sunrise on 31 July. Mercury rises 80 minutes before the Sun from 8вЂ“15 July. On 8 July a 3%-lit waning crescent Moon lies 2.9 Лљ to the north of the now mag.

+1.0 and showing an 8 arcsecond disc that is 27% lit.

It ascends in the northeast, shining at mag. Mercury is a morning object, rising about an hour before the Sun on 1 July.

Altitude: 2 Лљ (very low), 5 Лљ 30 minutes before sunrise.

Best time to see: 15 July, from 1 hour prior to sunrise.

Features: Complex, banded atmosphere, moons.

#CURRENT SKY VIEW OF PLANETS HOW TO#

Credit: Pete Lawrence How to see the planets in July Jupiter Each planet is shown with south at the top, to show its orientation through a telescope. The phase and relative sizes of the planets in July 2021.

Current sky view of planets