Astroblog: Thursday July 23 to Thursday July 30

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Thursday July 23 to Thursday July 30

The Full Moon is Thursday July 30. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a long line. Saturn is rising just around 11 pm local time. Mars is below the red star Aldebaran. In the evening, Venus is visible well after the sky is fully dark and draws away from the bright star Regulus. The Southern Delta-Aquarids meteor shower peaks on Sunday July the 30th but moonlight washes it out.

The Full Moon is Thursday July 30. The Moon is at apogee when it is furthest from Earth, on the 26th.

North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Saturday, July 25 as seen from Adelaide at 5:47 ACST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Saturn is high above the northern horizon with Mars low in the east. Saturn is rising before midnight, but is still best for telescopic observation in the morning, and its rings are widening.

Mars is below the bright red star Aldebaran.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise).

Western sky on the evening of Saturday, July 25 as seen from Adelaide at 18:58 ACST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is well above the horizon when the sky is fully dark. The inset is the telescopic view of Venus at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

Evening sky looking North from Adelaide at 3:00 am local time on July 30th in South Australia. The starburst marks the radiant (the point where the meteors appear to originate from) of the Southern Delta Aquariids. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

The Southern Delta-Aquarids meteor shower peaks on Sunday July the 30th. The number of meteors you will see depends on how high the radiant is above the horizon, and how dark your sky is. The ZHR for Southern Delta Aquariids is 25 meteors per hour.

Sadly, this year the full Moon is on the 30th, so there will be lots of moonlight interference. so you will be flat out seeing any meteors. This shower is best seen from best seen from midnight to 3 am.

Whole sky on Saturday, July 25 as seen from Adelaide at 18:58 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Venus is prominent in the north-west.

Bright Canopus and Sirius are sinking into the west. Scorpius, is readily seen above the south-eastern horizon nearing the zenith.

The Southern Cross is at its zenith in the Southern sky. The Moon is waxing and the fainter clusters and nebula are harder to see to see.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus climbs higher in the evening twilight and is now visible when the sky is fully dark.

Mars is climbing in the twilight. Mars is below the red star Aldebaran.

Jupiter is lost in the twilight. It is now rsing beore midnight, but is best seen in the morning

Saturn is climbing higher in the morning sky above Mars.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACST, Western sky at 10 pm ACST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky