In this guide we'll reveal what you can see in the night sky tonight, and throughout the month.
Those of us who enjoy stargazing and observing the night sky can't always plan when and where we're going to get the chance to gaze upwards.
Busy schedules, light pollution, the weather: sometimes finding even just 30 minutes to stand and stare up at a clear, dark night sky and take in the planets, stars and constellations can be a feat in itself.
So when you do find the time, you'll need to know what's visible in the night sky tonight, and the best things to look out for when stargazing.
Complete newcomer? Read our guides to the best telescopes for beginners and astronomy for beginners.
Here's our stargazing guide to what you can see in the night sky tonight.
Our guide is centred around what's visible from the UK, but all northern hemisphere observers should be able to use it, with the odd adjustment to stated times.
In our guide, we use Universal Time (UT) and British Summer Time (BST). UT is the standard time used by astronomers around the world. BST is one hour ahead of UT
We also use RA (Right ascension)and dec. (declination).
These coordinates are the night sky’s equivalent of longitude and latitude, describing where an object is on the celestial ‘globe’.
For help with these, read our guide to celestial coordinates.
For more advice, read our guide on how to stargaze or sign up to receive the BBC Sky at Night Magazine e-newsletter for weekly tips delivered directly to your email inbox.
If you're south of the equator, find out what you can see in the Southern Hemisphere night sky tonight.
What's in the night sky tonight?
July astronomy highlights
- All month: Possible noctilucent cloud displays
- 2 July: Lunar X & V clair-obscur effects visible on the Moon (around 23:40 BST (22:40 UT))
- 4 July: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation (evening twilight)
- 16 July: Saturn and Neptune less than a degree apart (01:40 BST (00:40 UT))
- 29/30 July: Peak of the Delta Aquariid meteor shower
Milky Way
From the UK, July’s skies should be similarly compromised to those of June, being so close to the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice.
However, starting the month just over a week from the solstice means that the end of July does return to an albeit brief level of darkness.
Toby Sinkinson
This is an ideal time to start trying to spot the brightest part of the Milky Way, as it snakes its way down from the overhead point towards the southwest horizon.
As it goes, it flows along the eastern edge of the giant Summer Triangle asterism, a large down-pointing triangle formed from the three bright stars Deneb in Cygnus, Vega in Lyra and Altair in Aquila, all being the principal alpha (α) stars of their respective constellations.
As the Milky Way passes Deneb it appears to split in two, a dark rift dividing the two resulting sections. Just south of Deneb the split is fairly wide leading to a region known as the Northern Coalsack.
The main split passing down through Cygnus is known as the Cygnus Rift.
Cygnus
Cygnus is a large constellation representing a swan.
As we see it from the UK, the bird is flying down the sky, Deneb marking the tail and the beautiful telescopic double star Albireo (Beta (β) Cygni) representing the head, or rather beak.
With the Milky Way present in this region there are lots of deep sky objects on show, but strangely among the many clusters and patches of nebulosity, there are only two Messier objects; M29 and M39.
The core shape of Cygnus is that of a large cross, the pattern identified by the asterism known as the Northern Cross.
Lyra
Vega’s host is Lyra, the Lyre, a harp-like musical instrument with a stringed section represented by a squashed diamond pattern of stars southeast of Vega.
The beautiful Ring Nebula M57 sits a fraction south of the mid-point of the line between the lower two stars in this pattern, slightly offset towards Sheliak (Beta (β) Lyrae) to the west.
Vega forms a small equilateral triangle with Zeta (ζ) and Epsilon (ε) Lyrae.
Take a close look at Epsilon to the north and, assuming you have good eyesight, you should be able to split it in two.
Point a telescope at the pair and with good conditions and a decent magnification you’ll see they each split into two again, Epsilon Lyrae being unsurprisingly known as the Double-Double.
Aquila
The third and southernmost star in the Summer Triangle is bright Altair, easily identified by the two dimmer stars that flank it; Tarazed (Gamma (γ) Aquliae) to the north-northwest and Alshain (Beta (β) Aquilae) to the south-southeast.
Aquila is often described as having a cross like shape but, unlike the distinctive and readily identifiable cruciform pattern of the Northern Cross, Aquila is more like an irregular X.
If you imagine Altair as the upper-left corner of this shape, the lower-right position is marked by a distinctive star curve; Althalimain (Lambda (λ) Aquilae), 12 Aquilae and Eta (η) Scuti, the latter belonging to the small diamond-shaped constellation of Scutum, the Shield.
The curve arcs into a bright knot of Milky Way, known as the Scutum Star Cloud, passing the rich Wild Duck Cluster, M11 as you go.
Through a telescope this is an unbelievably rich cluster, criss-crossed by dark dust lanes which gives the appearance that something has come along and broken it.
Night sky in July 2025, night-by-night
All month
July is a prime month for spotting noctilucent cloud (NLC) displays.
Wednesday 2 July
This evening and tomorrow night are good times to track down the sinuous rille on the Moon known as Rima Hadley. The feature will also be nicely presented on 16 and 17 July.
Thursday 3 July
Earth reaches aphelion at 20:54 BST (19:54 UT), the point in Earth’s orbit when we’re furthest from the Sun. At this time, Earth and the Sun will be 152,087,738km apart.
Friday 4 July
Mag. –4.0 Venus and mag. +5.8 Uranus will be separated by 2.4° this morning. Venus will be easy to spot low above the east-northeast horizon around 03:30 BST (02:30 UT), while Uranus will be trickly to pick out of the dawn twilight.
Monday 7 July
The red supergiant Antares (Alpha (α) Scorpii) is 2.3° northwest of this evening’s 91%-lit waxing gibbous Moon at 23:00 BST (22:00 UT), low above the southern horizon.
Thursday 10 July
The Moon is full today. Following a recent major lunar standstill, this full Moon remains very low in the sky. This is a great time to experience the Moon illusion, which makes it appear larger than it actually is.
Sunday 13 July
Early risers can glimpse Venus low above the east-northeast horizon around 03:30 BST (02:30 UT). The planet currently sits 3.2° north of Aldebaran (Alpha (α) Tauri).
Wednesday 16 July
Saturn and Neptune are 59.7 arcminutes apart in this morning’s sky. The pair are joined by a 71%-lit waning gibbous Moon 4.7° to the west. All three are visible under dark-sky conditions from around 00:40 BST (23:40 UT on 15 July).
Thursday 17 July
The large Summer Triangle asterism is high up, due south around 01:00 BST (00:00 UT). It’s easy to see as it’s formed from three bright stars: Deneb (Alpha (α) Cygni), Vega (Alpha (α) Lyrae) and Altair (Alpha (α) Aquilae).
Friday 18 July
As the Moon moves out of the way, from now until the end of the month is a great time to get out your telescope and explore some deep-sky objects.
Sunday 20 July
An early taste of the autumn sky as the 27%-lit waning crescent Moon sits just to the west of the Pleiades open cluster in Taurus this morning. Catch the pairing low above the east-northeast horizon around 02:00 BST (01:00 UT).
Wednesday 23 July
Another early alarm is required today, this time to catch mag. –1.8 Jupiter 4.2° south of a rather slender 3%-lit waning crescent Moon. Catch them both low above the northeast horizon around 04:00 BST (03:00 UT).
Friday 25 July
The brief window of darkness at night now allows a decent view of the bright Lagoon Nebula (M8) and its companion the Trifid Nebula (M20), to the north of the Teapot asterism.
Saturday 26 July
As it rises this morning, mag. –3.9 Venus will be just 0.6° south-southwest of the Crab Nebula, M1. The dawn twilight and low altitude will make this a difficult catch!
Monday 28 July
Mars hangs on in there in the evening sky and this evening will be joined by a waxing crescent Moon. Grab the pair low above the western horizon around 22:00 BST (21:00 UT).
Wednesday 30 July
At the end of July, the Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower reaches peak activity. With a maximum ZHR of around 25 meteors per hour, this is a great introduction to the summer period of meteor activity.
Thursday 31 July
Saturn rises around 23:00 BST (22:00 UT) and now reaches a decent altitude above the south-southeast horizon before the dawn takes hold. After sitting south of the celestial equator for years, the planet is now tantalisingly poised just 1.5° south of it.
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