July 23, 2026
Moon and Antares
Antares, the leading light of the scorpion, is in good view tonight, to the left of the Moon as night falls. The star is classified as a red supergiant. It is much larger, heavier, and brighter than the Sun.
July 24, 2026
Powerful Jets
Cygnus is in the eastern sky at nightfall. The first confirmed black hole, Cygnus X-1, is about half way between the swan’s bill and the intersection of its body and wings. The black hole is encircled by a bright disk of superhot gas.
July 25, 2026
M22
M22, a cluster of a half-million stars, stands above teapot-shaped Sagittarius, which wheels low across the south tonight. The cluster is well to the left of the Moon at nightfall, and is visible through binoculars. It is about 10,000 light-years away.
July 27, 2026
Vindemiatrix
Vindemiatrix, the third-brightest star of Virgo, is in the southwest at nightfall. It is far to the upper right of Spica, Virgo’s brightest star. Vindemiatrix is a bloated star that has completed the “prime” portion of its life.
July 28, 2026
Gliese 710
Gliese 710, in Serpens, the serpent, is about half way up the south-southeastern sky at nightfall. You need a telescope to see it. But it is moving toward us, and in about 1.3 million years it will be the brightest star in the night sky.
July 29, 2026
Morning Dominance
Saturn has a big region of the morning sky practically to itself. The planet climbs into good view after midnight, and is high in the south at first light. It looks like a bright golden star. You have to scan a long way to find a planet or star that rivals it.
July 30, 2026
Standard Candle
Eta Aquilae is high above the Moon in early evening, near Altair, its constellation’s brightest star. The star is the prototype of a special class that pulses like a beating heart. Astronomers use those stars to measure the scale of the entire universe.
July 31, 2026
Evening Stars
Several prominent stars highlight summer’s evening skies. Arcturus is high in the west at nightfall, with slightly fainter Vega overhead. The Big Dipper is in the northwest, and Antares, the heart of the scorpion, hunkers low in the south.
August 1, 2026
Morning Mercury
The planet Mercury is in the dawn twilight the next few mornings. Look for it quite low in the eastern sky. It will shine a little brighter each day over the next few mornings, but also drop lower in the sky, so you will need a clear horizon to spot it.
August 2, 2026
Moon and Saturn
Saturn, the solar system’s second-largest planet, looks like a bright star close to the Moon the next couple of mornings. It will stand to the left of the Moon at dawn tomorrow, and to the lower right of the Moon on Tuesday.
August 3, 2026
Morning View
The eastern dawn sky offers the same stars that will decorate the evening sky of winter, which are some of the brightest and most beautiful stars and constellations of all. It also offers two bonuses: the bright planets Mars and Mercury.
August 4, 2026
The Altar
The constellation Ara lurks below the tail of the scorpion. That puts it so low in the southern sky that it’s visible only from the southernmost United States. It represents the altar at which the gods of Olympus gave thanks for their defeat of the Titans.
August 5, 2026
NGC 6397
The Moon is at last quarter tonight, which means it is three-fourths of the way through its monthly cycle of phases. At the moment of last quarter, the Sun illuminates exactly half of the lunar hemisphere that faces Earth.
August 6, 2026
Dog Days
The Dog Star, Sirius, is emerging from the Sun’s glare in the dawn sky. By tradition, that means we’re entering the Dog Days of summer. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. From the southern U.S., it is quite low in the east-southeast shortly before sunrise.
August 7, 2026
Moon and Taurus
This Moon is passing through Taurus early tomorrow. Aldebaran, the bull’s bright eye, is to the right of the Moon. Elnath, the tip of one of its horns, is closer to the lower left of the Moon. Mars is below them, and the Moon will pass close to it on Sunday.
August 8, 2026
Moon and Mars
Mars and the Moon hang out in tomorrow’s early-morning sky. Mars looks like a bright star close to the right of the Moon at first light. Mars is climbing higher into the morning sky day by day.
August 9, 2026
Moon and Gemini
At dawn tomorrow, the Moon forms a nice triangle with the twins of Gemini — the stars Castor and Pollux. Castor is to the left of the Moon, with brighter Pollux about the same distance to the lower left.
August 10, 2026
Total Eclipse
A total solar eclipse is coming up on Wednesday. The Moon will cover the Sun, turning day to night across a narrow slice of the globe. Parts of Alaska and the northeastern United States will see a partial eclipse.
August 11, 2026
More Total Eclipse
The top of the world will see a total solar eclipse tomorrow. Alaska and parts of the northeastern United States will see a partial eclipse. The eclipse will peak in the early morning for Alaskans, and the early afternoon from the northeast.
August 12, 2026
Perseid Meteors
The Perseid meteor shower is expected to be at its peak tonight. And since the Moon is new, it won’t be around to interfere with the sparklers. To view the Perseids, find a safe, dark observing site away from the pesky glare of city lights.
August 13, 2026
The Neighborhood
A few of our stellar neighbors are hard to miss. Vega, which passes high overhead on August evenings, is just 25 light-years away. And Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is 8.6 light-years away. It’s just climbing into view in the dawn sky.
August 14, 2026
Evening Venus
The planet Venus, which is shining as the brilliant Evening Star, stands farthest from the Sun in our sky tonight. After tonight, it will begin to drop back toward the Sun, so it will be a little lower in the sky each evening.
August 15, 2026
Moon and Venus
The crescent Moon is quite low in the sky as twilight fades the next couple of nights, with Venus, the Evening Star, near by. The two are especially close tonight, with Venus just to the upper left of the Moon.
August 16, 2026
More Moon and Venus
The crescent Moon is low in the west in early evening. The planet Venus, the Evening Star, is close to its right. And the star Spica, which isn’t nearly as bright as Venus, is even closer above the Moon.
August 17, 2026
Scooping Dipper
The Big Dipper plunges toward the northern horizon on August evenings. It is in the northwest as darkness falls, with its scoop below the handle, as though it’s preparing to dip into a celestial well.
August 18, 2026
Sagittarius
Sagittarius stands low in the south as night falls, and sets in the wee hours of the morning. It represents a centaur, although modern skywatchers are more likely to see a teapot formed by eight bright stars. The handle is on the left, with the spout on the right.
August 19, 2026
First-Quarter Moon
The Moon reaches first quarter tonight, indicating that it has completed one-fourth of its month-long cycle of phases. It will “wax” toward full, which it will achieve next week during a near-total lunar eclipse.
August 20, 2026
Moon and Antares
The supergiant star Antares, which represents the heart of the scorpion, is quite near the Moon this evening. The star’s surface is thousands of degrees cooler than the surface of the Sun, so Antares looks reddish orange.
August 21, 2026
Distant Moon
The Moon is farthest from Earth tonight for its current orbit, at a distance of about 251,000 miles. That’s thousands of miles farther than average, so it looks a little smaller than average.
August 22, 2026
Changing Signs
The Sun narrowly skirts by the heart of the lion today and tomorrow — the star Regulus. At their closest, they will be just a fraction of a degree apart. After that, the Sun will slide across Leo for almost four weeks before moving into Virgo.