It’s the second half of 2022! July night skies starts off quietly, but it gets active at the latter part of the month, with a bright #FullMoon to jumpstart a series of Moon-planet pairings that will now be visible just a bit earlier into the night. There’s also a small meteor shower you would not want to miss!
Observing planets and deep-sky objects on clear, dark nights will be more effective using a telescope or binoculars—like the smart telescope Stellina, an easy-to-use observation station that can be operated using smartphones and tablets. Al Sadeem Astronomy is the only distributor of this smart telescope here in the Middle East. You can place an order or inquiry here.
Check out the sky events for July 2022 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to help you plan your stargazing experience this month. All dates and times are in UAE Local Time (UTC+4).
July 16 – Appulse of the Moon and Saturn
A few days after reaching its Full phase, the Moon will be accompanied by planet Saturn in the night sky. From Abu Dhabi, the pair will be visible as early as 9:40 P.M. of July 15, but the best view will be at 2:33 A.M. of July 16, when the Moon-planet pairing will be at their highest point in the sky. The duo sets at around 5:25 A.M. at the south-western horizon.
July 19 – Moon-Jupiter Conjunction
Another gas giant will rendezvous with the Moon on July 19–planet Jupiter. The pair, which will be far away from each other to fit in the field-of-view of a telescope, reaches its highest point in the sky by 5:07 A.M. and will fade at sunrise. Don’t worry, as bright as they are, seeing them will be easy to the naked eye, and even better with binoculars.
July 22 – Moon-Mars Appulse
By July 22, the Moon at magnitude -11.5 will pair up with Mars at magnitude 0.3, rising at 12:35 A.M. until fading from view as dawn breaks at 5:27 A.M. Both objects will be found in the constellation Aries.
July 30 – Southern δ-Aquariid meteor shower 2022
A meteor shower will grace the UAE night skies and will peak just before July ends. It’s called the Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower–a light shower active from July 12 to August 23 that will produce its peak rate of 19 meteors per hour on July 30.
The Southern Delta Aquariids are likely to give their best display at three in the morning on July 30 under a completely dark, clear, and moonless night sky. It’s not a major shower, but with the Moon just coming out of its New phase, the sky conditions appear favorable to watch it.
What’s the space rock responsible for the birth of the Southern Delta Aquariids? It’s the comet 96P/Machholz. The debris from its path is what interacts with the Earth’s atmosphere, creating bright streaks of light in the sky.
Take note that July’s Delta Aquariids favor the Southern Hemisphere. But who knows, we might catch a meteor or two or even more on July 30!
SUNRISE AND SUNSET TIMES
July 1 05:37 ↑ 19:15 ↓
July 31 05:50 ↑ 19:07 ↓
MOON CALENDAR
July 7 – 1st quarter
July 13 – Full Moon
July 20 – Last Quarter
July 28 – New Moon
REFERENCES
- Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events 2022. (n.d.). Retrieved from Sea and Sky: org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2022.html
- Calendar of Astronomical Events. (n.d.). Retrieved from In-The-Sky.org: https://in-the-sky.org/newscal.php?month=7&year=2022&maxdiff=4#datesel
- Sunrise and sunset times in Abu Dhabi, July 2022. (n.d.). Retrieved from timeanddate.com: https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/united-arab-emirates/abu-dhabi?month=7&year=2022
- 2022 Delta Aquariid meteor shower: All you need to know. Retrieved from EarthSky https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-delta-aquarid-meteor-shower/