July 2013 guide to the five visible planets

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EarthSky.org, 7/1/13, and

Saturn and rings

Two planets appear in the July evening sky all month long: Venus and Saturn. Venus beams in the west at dusk, and sets roughly one and one-half hours after sunset all month long at mid-northern latitudes. Saturn shines moderately high in the south to southwest at nightfall and stays out all evening long. While these two worlds should be pretty easy to spot in the evening sky all throughout July 2013, the morning planets won’t really become very noticeable until the second half of the month.

The waxing crescent moon the the dazzling planet Venus adorn the evening twilight on July 10.

Mars and Jupiter sit low in the glow of morning twilight at the beginning of July, but climb upward and away from the glare of sunrise throughout the month. These two worlds will probably be visible to the unaided eye around the end of the first week of July, though Jupiter and Mars will be much easier to view when they exhibit their stunning conjunction in the predawn sky on and around July 22. By late July, you can use Jupiter and Mars to locate Mercury at early dawn (about 80 minutes before sunrise).

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