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June 27, 2020
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For sky gazers, (click here) this warm July provides plenty of planets.
As July opens its evening sky, cosmic companions Jupiter and Saturn rise in the southeast around 9:30 p.m. By midnight, the planetary chums hang out high in the south.
Jupiter is magnificent at -2.7 magnitude, while the ringed planet Saturn is substantially more dim at 0.2 magnitude, brightening only slightly, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.
The gibbous moon begins to approach the two gaseous giant planets July 3 near the star-spangled Sagittarius constellation, which you can spot above the southeastern horizon. On July 5, the moon officially becomes full at 12:44 a.m. Eastern time. (For the Central and western time zones, the moon becomes officially full July 4.)
The bright moon scoots by the teapot handle asterism in Sagittarius on the evening of July 5 to form a trio with Jupiter and Saturn. By the next night, the gibbous lunar companion moves along....
