From the year’s second ‘Manhattanhenge’ to magical Milky Way views, here’s everything that's happening in the night sky this month
The summer Milky Way and galactic core region over the formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, July 9, 2021, on a warm moonless night. This is a blend of 4 tracked exposures (2 to 3 minutes each) at f/2.8 for the sky and 3 untracked exposures (4 to 8 minutes) at f/5.6 for the foreground. An additional tracked exposure through a Kase/Alyn Wallace Starglow filter adds some subtle glows to the bright stars. Two of the sky exposures were shot through a Kase Natural Night filter as a test, but it didn't make a big difference over the unfiltered images. All with the Canon Ra at ISO 1600 to 3200, and on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker, and with the Canon 15-35mm RF lens. No artificial lighting was employed here. Smoke from forest fires spoiled the transparency and contrast in the sky.(Image credit: Getty Images)
With little or no astronomical darkness at the start of July in northern latitudes, some astrophotographers might think this month is a write-off for creating night sky images. Not so! July is one of the best few months of the year to get the Milky Way high in the sky as seen from the northern hemisphere – and, crucially, its bright center – while July’s full ‘Super Buck Moon’ is one of the brightest yet lowest-hanging of the year.
Add plenty of conjunctions between the planets and the moon, the year’s first so-called supermoon, the peak of the Delta Aquariids meteor shower and 2023’s second ‘Manhattanhenge’ for New Yorkers and there’s plenty more to get excited about for astrophotographers in July 2023.
Everyone knows that the sun reaches its highest in the sky as late June’s solstice, but have you ever thought about the moon? Since a full moon is opposite the sun with respect to Earth it follows that the ‘Buck Moon’ will be the lowest full moon of the year. It will also be the first of four supermoons, though detecting a slightly larger (because it’s closer) full moon with your eye is almost impossible. Perhaps more importantly it will rise at its most southeasterly point of the year as seen from the northern hemisphere, which may bring some novel opportunities to catch that all-important moment as it appears on the horizon next to an interesting foreground object. Check your local moonrise time and the PhotoPills app and line up the appearance of the ‘Buck Moon’ with something interesting – a building, a mountain or a monument – for an unforgettable image. Note that although it technically turns full on July 3, it will rise closest to sunset on July 2.
‘Manhattanhenge’ occurs on four evenings per year in May and July. (Image credit: Getty Images)
For two sunsets in a row a few weeks on either side of the summer solstice the sun sets in between skyscrapers on was-west streets in Manhattan, New York City. It’s possible because the city streets on the grid are aligned with the cardinal points – and June 21’s solstice saw the sunset at its most northwesterly point before reversing. Dr. Jackie Faherty at the American Museum of Natural History calculates that on these times you can see the phenomenon, though it’s subtly different on each night:
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Sunday, July 9: Venus shines brightest
You’ll need a telescope to capture the phases of Venus (Image credit: Jamie Cooper/Getty Images)
Venus has been hanging about in the post-sunset twilight for all of 2023, but that’s about to end. It’s ironic that it looks its brightest as it retreats to a slim crescent (it’s just 25%-lit this week) – which is due to its reflective cloudy atmosphere. Catch it before it sinks into the sun’s glare later this month, preferably using a high frame rate camera on a telescope to capture it as a crescent.
Today it’s Last Quarter (or Third Quarter) Moon, which sees our satellite half-lit from our point of view and rising after midnight. That leaves the night skies free of moonlight, which is perfect for close-up astrophotography. It’s an ideal time to get out and photograph the Milky Way, though some crescent moonlight can be helpful in slightly illuminating foregrounds. Check a moon phase calculator when planning any landscape astrophotography trip – this next week will have a waning crescent moon in the southeastern sky shortly before dawn.
As well as being the date of the New Moon – the darkest night of the month – it’s also the start of the annual (and prolific) Perseid meteor shower. The peak night isn’t until August, but you may start seeing sporadic ‘shooting stars’ while out at night.
With Mars and Venus sinking out of view and Mercury rising this week brings one last good chance to capture the gorgeous sight of bright planets around a slim crescent moon right after sunset. On Wednesday the crescent moon will be just 5% illuminated and close to Venus while by Friday it will be 15% illuminated and aligned with all three planets.
July 29 and 30: Delta Aquariids meteor shower peak
About 25 meteors per hour may be possible around midnight tonight as this relatively minor meteor shower peaks, but since the moon will be very bright it’s not going to be easy. Still, it can’t hurt to leave a camera in the backyard to take a few hours' worth of long exposures – you might just catch a ‘shooting star’.
Wide-angle shot of the month: The Milky Way’s galactic core
Avoid using light painting to illuminate foregrounds in Dark Sky Parks. (Image credit: Getty Images)
The Milky Way’s bright core around the constellation Sagittarius is only visible at certain times of the year, but you also need darkness. So head out somewhere really dark – using a light pollution map or choosing a Dark Sky Park or a Dark Sky Discovery Site – bearing in mind that some major National Parks that are also Dark Sky Parks now ban the use of light painting to illuminate foregrounds and rock formations at night. Once you’re in place use PhotoPills, which has a useful Night AR feature that overlays the Milky Way onto what you can see – and also shows how it will move during the night.
Settings will depend on your lens and camera, but with a full-frame camera on a tripod wearing a wide-angle lens (14mm or so) you’ll want to begin experimenting in manual mode with about ISO800-3200 and a shutter speed of about 25 seconds. If you want to go any longer than that to get more details and color from the core of our galaxy you’ll need to enter the world of star tracker camera mounts.
Jamie has been writing about all aspects of technology for over 14 years, producing content for sites like TechRadar, T3, Forbes, Mashable, MSN, South China Morning Post, and BBC Wildlife, BBC Focus and BBC Sky At Night magazines.
As the editor for www.WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com, he has a wealth of enthusiasm and expertise for all things astrophotography, from capturing the Perseid Meteor Shower, lunar eclipses and ring of fire eclipses, photographing the moon and blood moon and more.
He also brings a great deal of knowledge on action cameras, 360 cameras, AI cameras, camera backpacks, telescopes, gimbals, tripods and all manner of photography equipment.
