AND
TRI
ARI
PSC
CET
PEG
SCL
SGE
EQU
DEL
LAC
CAP
PsA
SGR
MIC
AQL
LY R
CYG
VUL
PER
TAU
FOR
ERI
AUR
ORI
CAE
LEP
COL
GEM
CNC
CMi
CMa
MON
PUP
PYX
SCO
OPH
HER
DRA
Celestial equator
Dawn Midnight
Moon phases
Venus
M
a
r
sUranus
C
o
m
e
t
C
/
2
0
1
7
K
2
Jupiter
Saturn
Neptune
Pluto callout
Juno
Vesta
S
u
n
M
e
r
c
u
r
y
Pluto appears at its best
for the year in July
2 1
29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
Mars
Mercury
Venus
Ceres
Mars
Uranus
Saturn
Neptune
Venus
Jupiter
Jupiter
Earth
Aphelion is July 3/4
Pluto
Opposition is July 19
Mercury
Superior conjunction
is July 16
Ceres
Solar conjunction
is July 21
36 ASTRONOMY • JULY 2022
THE PLANETS
IN THEIR ORBITS
Arrows show the inner
planets’ monthly motions
and dots depict the
outer planets’ positions
at midmonth from high
above their orbits.
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase
shown for the day straight up to the curved blue line.
Date
Magnitude
Angular size
Illumination
Distance (AU) from Earth
Distance (AU) from Sun
Right ascension (2000.0)
Declination (2000.0)
PLANETS
July 1
–0.7
6.0"
72%
1.123
0.335
5h24.4m
22°08'
July 15
–3.9
11.3"
89%
1.478
0.723
5h42.7m
22°34'
MERCURY VENUS
PATHS OF THE PLANETS
THE PLANETS IN THE SKY
These illustrations show the size, phase,
and orientation of each planet and the two
brightest dwarf planets at 0h UT for the dates
in the data table at bottom. South is at the top
to match the view through a telescope.