The Sky At A Glance

Earth reaches aphelion - its farthest distance from the Sun - at 10:00 pm on July 3, when the planet is 152,091,000 km (94,505,000 mi) from the Sun. The Earth's seasons, incidentally, are caused by the planet's tilt on its axis rather than its distance from the Sun, which varies only slightly.

There is a penumbral lunar eclipse visible from most of the U.S. on July 7, but it will be so minor that it is completely undetectable to the naked eye.

There is a total solar eclipse on July 22. The path of totality starts in India, moves over Bhutan and Tibet, crosses China, and sweeps across the eastern Pacific Ocean. This will be the longest total solar eclipse of the century! For more, see our "What's New" section.

Evening Planets (after sunset)

• Saturn, W

Visible at Midnight

• Jupiter, SE
• Neptune, SE
• Uranus, E

Morning Planets (before sunrise)

• Jupiter, SW
• Neptune, SW
• Uranus, S
• Venus, E
• Mars, E
• Mercury, E (first week only)

There are no comets brighter than magnitude 9 observable from Northern Hemisphere sites.

The South Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks on July 27-28. Typical rate is about 10 meteors per hour.