The summer sky becomes crowded – Twin Cities

Relax in the afternoons so that you can be nice and cool to admire the divine stars of the summer this month. It's not really dark enough before 10:30 pm, but it's wonderful when the night finally falls.

There are many planets in the sky tonight. From the last stages of evening twilight until midnight, you will see the five planets visible to the naked eye. Two of them also have close encounters with the Earth this month.

Venus is by far the brightest of the planets and the brightest object in the night sky. Before evening dusk, it appears in the low sky of the west as bright as possible. Right now, it is about 96 million miles from Earth, and during the month, it will draw about 20 million miles closer to Earth as it continues to revolve around the sun. Venus is so bright not only because it is so close to the Earth this month, but also because the heavy cloud cover reflects a lot of sunlight. The clouds make Venus a less attractive target for your telescope, but what's cool is that Venus is going through phases like our moon. This is because its orbit is in the orbit of the Earth in our solar system, and the angle between the Sun, the Earth and Venus is always changing. Currently, Venus looks like an oval gibbous moon. Later this month, it will shrink into a crescent shape.

As you look at Venus in early July, see if you can spot Mercury a little lower right of Venus and closer to the horizon. It will not be so brilliant. Like Venus, Mercury will be more or less a half moon shape through a telescope. It also goes through phases. On July 14, the new crescent moon will be stationed just above Mercury, and on July 15, the moon will have a dramatic heavenly embrace with Venus. Do not miss this.

Meanwhile, the second brightest "star" in the evening sky is Jupiter, emerging from the evening twilight high above the southern horizon. Through a small telescope, you can easily see up to four of Jupiter's largest moons and perhaps some of Jupiter's brightest cloudbands

In the southeast sky this month The planet Saturn is rising. and Sagittarius. Saturn has reached its closest approach to Earth last week, and it is wonderful to watch the planet and its ring system through a telescope. I will have a lot more on Saturn next week.

If you are really a night owl, look for Mars rising in the east-southeast low sky around midnight. It is really bright and really red, and by the end of this month it will reach its closest approach to Earth in 15 years. This is the biggest night sky story of 2018, as far as I'm concerned. If you have ever needed an excuse to buy a telescope, it's time to do it. Mars will present a show throughout September. Stay tuned for a lot more about Mars!

The brightest star in the sky this month is Arcturus, the brightest star of the summer sky. At dusk, Arcturus is perched in the western sky at the tail of a giant kite. This kite is more formally known as the constellation of Bootes, the hunting farmer. Arcturus is a giant star, more than 22 million miles in diameter and more than 36 light-years apart, with a light-year equivalent to about 6 trillion miles.

In the eastern skies you will see the main stars of the summer on the rise. As we go through the month of July, they will be a bit higher at the beginning of each night as the Earth passes in their direction orbiting the sun. The best way to find your way around the summer stars is to locate the "summer triangle" composed of three bright, brightest stars in each of their respective constellations. You can not miss them. They are the brightest stars in the East right now.