At the start of July it’s still doesn’t get dark until late in the UK, which is why our map is for 11 pm. At this time of year things are in transition between the rather plain skies of spring to the fiery ones of summer, when the Milky Way takes centre stage.
The spring constellations such as Boötes and Corona Borealis are still well on view on the right-hand side of the map, and sink over to the west during the night. Centre stage is taken up by the rather faint constellations of Ophiuchus and Hercules, which nevertheless contain some classic deep-sky objects. The Milky Way runs down the left-hand side of this map, from Cygnus down to Sagittarius, and will be in prime position in August and September. There are dozens of interesting objects be be found along it.
The bright star Vega in the small constellation of Lyra is very high up at the moment, and is a good guide to finding your way as it’s a long way from the ecliptic, where the planets are to be found, which runs closer to the horizon through Libra, Scorpius and Sagittarius. Lyra is a neat little constellation, consisting mostly of the little parallelogram shown on the map, but also an interesting double star, Epsilon Lyrae, which is the faint star shown just to the upper left of Vega. Some people can see it as a double star with the naked eye, but binoculars show it well. And a telescope larger than about 75 mm aperture reveals that each of the two stars is itself a double, so this is known as the “Double Double”.
Below Lyra lies the small but beautifully marked constellation of Sagitta, the Arrow, and for once you can see why it got its name. We have a Young Stargazers’ guide to Sagitta and its neighbouring constellations, Vulpecula and Delphinus.
And below that region is Sagittarius, the most southerly constellation in the zodiac. It’s full of interesting objects, which require a good, dark and clear night to see them at their best, as our guide to the southern Milky Way will tell you.
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