Take an afternoon nap and prepare to do some serious, but comfortable, stargazing this month. It's not truly dark enough for stargazing until after 11 p.m., but a summer night under the stars is well worth missing a few winks, especially if you're away from city lights, maybe out camping somewhere. Hey, if you do fall asleep under the stars, that's ok too, although you'll miss a heck of a show.
Cut out the attached star map and take it with you, have snacks and liquid refreshments of your choice and prepare to make the stars your old friends. Having friends and family along is wonderful, but stargazing can be a wonderful soulful solitary experience, too, one that will stay with you. Just make sure you bring the bug juice. It's the summer stargazer's best friend, although most of the time, in most places, mosquitoes knock off seeking your blood about an hour after evening twilight, unless you're like my wife and they find you extra sweet.
Leo the Lion
Over in the low western sky, look for the constellation Leo the Lion, a constellation that resembles a giant backward question mark leaning over to the right. The star at the bottom of the celestial query mark is Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. Regulus marks the heart of the lion and the rest of the question mark outlines the lion's beastly head.
Not far away in the low southwestern sky are the planets Mars and Saturn. Neither planet is the best telescope target this month because they start the evening very low in the sky and set not all that long after evening twilight. Through a telescope, they'll both probably be a little fuzzy or muddy-looking because we have to look through more of our Earth's blurry atmosphere to see them. Give Saturn a look anyway to glimpse its extensive and beautiful ring system. Even if it's a less than pristine view, I think it's worth your time.
Arcturus
Another bright shiner in the western half of the sky is Arcturus, the brightest star of the summer sky. At twilight's end, Arcturus is perched high in the western sky at the tail of a giant kite. That kite is more formally known as the constellation Bootes, the hunting farmer. How the kite is supposed to be a hunting farmer is anyone's guess. Arcturus is a giant star, more than 22 million miles in diameter and more than 36 light-years distant, with one light-year equivalent to about 6 trillion miles.
In the eastern heavens, you'll see the prime stars of summer on the rise. As we move through July, they will be a little higher at the start of each night when the Earth, in its solar orbit, passes in their direction. The best way for finding your way around the summer stars is to locate the "Summer Triangle" made up of three bright stars, each star the brightest in their respective constellation. You can't miss them. They're the brightest stars in the east right now.
The highest and brightest star is Vega, the bright star in a small faint constellation called Lyra the Harp. The second brightest star on the lower right is Altair, the brightest in Aquila the Eagle. Altair is on the corner of a diamond that outlines the wingspan of the great bird.
The third brightest at the left corner of the summer triangle is Deneb, a star that is possibly more than 1,800 light-years away. It's also the bright star in the tail of Cygnus the Swan. Cygnus is also known as the "Northern Cross" because that's what it really looks like. Deneb is at the head of the Northern Cross, which is presently laying on its side while it rises in the east.
In the northern sky, look for the Big Dipper hanging from its handle in the northwest along with the fainter Little Dipper standing on its handle. The moderately bright star Polaris, otherwise known as the North Star, is at the end of the Little Dipper's handle. Every single thing in the sky, including the sun and moon, appear to revolve around Polaris every 24 hours.
In the low southern sky, there's a bright brick red star called Antares that marks the heart of Scorpio the Scorpion, one of those few constellations that actually resembles what it's supposed to be.
Enjoy the short but starry nights in July!
(Lynch is an amateur astronomer and author of the book, "Pennsylvania Starwatch.")