by Duncan Lunan.

Meanwhile it passes Saturn on the 7^th and 8^th, Mars and the Pleiades on the 11^th, still near Mars on the 12^th, and after New Moon it is near Venus and Regulus on the 17^th, before passing Jupiter on the 22^nd.  The waning Moon passes below Antares in Scorpius on the 24^th. 

The planet Mercury is not visible from here in July, though further south it will reappear in the morning sky later in the month.

Venus remains brilliant in the evening sky, passing less than a degree above Regulus in Taurus on the 9^th, setting at 11 p.m. high above Jupiter to the left in early July and passed by the Moon on the 17^th.

The Earth is at aphelion, furthest from the Sun, on July 6^th. 

Mars remains in Taurus, but during July it moves from near the Pleiades, past Uranus at 0.1 of a degree on July 4^th, past Aldebaran on the 13^th, and by the end of the month it is between the horns of the Bull, about to leave the constellation. 

Jupiter in Cancer now sets below and right of Venus, as above, setting around 10.30 p.m., 8 p.m. by mid-month, and disappears as the month goes on.  

Saturn in Pisces rises just after midnight, passed by the Moon on July 7^th and 8^th.     

Uranus, in Taurus, rises at 1.30 a.m. and is passed by much brighter Mars at only 9 arcminutes on the 4^th.  To quote Nigel Henbest in Stargazing 2026, “It’s your opportunity to view the reddest and the greenest planets of the Solar System in the same binocular or telescope field of view”.

Neptune lies 10 degrees to the right of Saturn in Pisces, rising half an hour before it.

The delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks on the 28^th to 29^th, and the Alpha Capricornid meteors on the 30^th, but as they’re a day before and after Full Moon not much is to be expected.

Duncan Lunan’s recent books are available from booksellers;  details are on Duncan’s website, www.duncanlunan.com.