July 2026 Skywatching: Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Comet 10P/Tempel 2 returns

An early morning hangout with the Moon and planets, a comet swings by, prime time for the Milky Way, and Saturn's rings shine at a new angle. That's what's up for July. Before sunrise on July 11th and 12th, look toward the eastern sky for a lineup of the Moon and planets. On these mornings, the waning crescent Moon helps point the way to Mars, with Saturn shining nearby in the morning sky. Uranus is in the same general part of the sky too, but it is much fainter, so you will need binoculars or a telescope to see it. Mars will look like a small reddish point of light, Saturn is brighter and easier to spot, and the Moon makes the whole scene easy to locate. Around the new Moon on July 14th, comet 10P Tempel 2 swings by. This is a short-period comet, meaning it returns to the inner solar system on a regular orbit. In this case, it comes back about every five and a half years. It's not a dramatic comet that you see just by looking up at the sky, though. Through binoculars or a telescope, find the constellation Capricornus and look for a small fuzzy glow nearby, possibly with a brighter central knot and a short, broad, fan-shaped tail. For the best chance to view the comet, head somewhere dark, away from city lights. Start looking once the sky is fully dark, ideally about 45 to 60 minutes after sunset. Those same dark nights around the July 14th new Moon are also the best time this month to look for the Milky Way. From a dark location, away from city lights, the Milky Way appears as a pale, cloudy band across the summer sky. The bright, cloudy region of the Milky Way marks the direction of the galactic center. It looks so dense because we're looking toward one of the most crowded parts of our galaxy, where countless stars glow behind dark clouds of cosmic dust. Late in the evening, look low in the southern sky for a group of stars shaped like a big hook or scorpion tail. That's Scorpius. The bright, cloudy part of the Milky Way is nearby, close to another group of stars called Sagittarius. For the best chance to see the Milky Way, go somewhere dark, give your eyes time to adjust, and try not to look at your phone. Later in July, Saturn is a rewarding target for telescope users. Saturn's rings are still tilted at a very shallow angle from our point of view, making them look unusually thin. The rings aren't disappearing, but how they appear from Earth is changing. It's a great reminder that our view of the solar system is always in motion. Here are the phases of the moon for July. You can stay up to date on all of NASA's missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov. I'm Raquel Villanueva from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that's What's Up this month.