What's in the Sky Tonight?

JULY 2026

July 7-8: Conjunction of Moon and Saturn in the eastern pre-dawn sky.

July 11: Conjunction of Crescent Moon, Mars, and the Pleiades in the eastern sky about 2 hours before sunrise.

July 14: New Moon.

July 17: Conjunction of Moon and Venus in the western sky soon after sunset.

July 28-29: Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The Delta Aquarids is an average shower that can produce up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It appears every year from July 12 to August 23, and peaks this year on the night of July 28 and morning of July 29. Unfortunately the full moon will obscure most of the meteors this year.

July 29: Full Moon.

What are the 2026 best viewing nights when the Moon is least bright?

2026 best viewing nights

ASTRONOMY BINOCULARS
A mini telescope you can take anywhere

If you love sky gazing, you have to have a pair of astronomy binoculars! Binoculars are a fantastic alternative to telescopes—inexpensive, lightweight, and portable. For city dwellers where there is a lot of light pollution, binoculars are essential if you want to see much of anything.

Binoculars enlarge and brighten the beauty and immensity of the night sky. You can see the detail of the moon's craters, the phases of Venus, the moons and stripes of Jupiter, the awesome jewels that dot the Milky Way, nebulae, star clusters, and comets when they're passing near.

Our favorite astonomy binoculars is the Celestron SkGiyMaster Giant 15x70 Binoculars. These are excellent as well:

ANOTHER GREAT ASTRONOMICAL TOOL:

THE PLANISPHERE
A year-round, real-time sky map

A planisphere is a rotating star chart that allows you to dial in the entire visible sky for any day and time of the year and with great precision. It has been called an analog star computer and was considered magical in ancient times.

Planispheres show the brightest stars, constellations, notable galaxies and nebulae, as well as the path of the Milky Way. The plane of the ecliptic is also shown, which reveals the pathway of the planets as they appear to move across the night sky.

Purchase a planisphere for $7.95