Observe the sky: Summer 2025
In this article you can find a quick overview of the main astronomical events of this summer of 2025, as well as the typical tables and maps that we have been generating throughout this course. But before beginning, I would like to dedicate this humble article to our departed colleague, sadly deceased, Jorge Jiménez, who left us paradoxically last summer solstice. Jorge was one of the people with the greatest astronomical (and not just astronomical) knowledge I have met, as well as one of the people who most supported this adventure. Wherever you are, this little article (without artificial intelligence assistance, only in the translation) is for you, I hope you don’t find too many errors in it.
Summer is synonymous with short and pleasant nights. It is synonymous with the galactic center, the Milky Way, Sagittarius, Scorpio, the Summer Triangle. In summer we will have the Perseids, one of the most followed meteor showers of the whole year. It is synonymous with calm nights, turbulent atmosphere, the song of owls and nightjars in the distance. For me, without a doubt, summer is synonymous with Astronomy. Let’s begin!
| Month/Day | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 07/02 | 21:34 | First Quarter |
| 07/04 | 06:20 | Mercury greatest eastern elongation ( 25.93°) |
| 07/04 | 15:10 | Venus in conjunction with Uranus 2.35° S of Uranus |
| 07/05 | 05:08 | Moon at apogee (404575 km) |
| 07/05 | 05:09 | Earth at aphelion (1.017 AU) |
| 07/10 | 22:39 | Full Moon |
| 07/16 | 09:52 | Moon in conjunction with Saturn 3.38° N of Saturn |
| 07/18 | 02:40 | Last Quarter |
| 07/20 | 16:21 | Moon at perigee ( 367998 km) |
| 07/21 | 20:25 | Moon in conjunction with Venus 7.10° N of Venus |
| 07/23 | 06:58 | Moon in conjunction with Jupiter 4.89° N of Jupiter |
| 07/24 | 21:13 | New Moon |
| 07/25 | 16:59 | Moon in conjunction with Mercury 7.63° N of Mercury |
| 07/28 | 20:46 | Moon in conjunction with Mars 1.13° S of Mars |
| 07/31 | night | Delta aquarids meteor shower |
| 08/01 | 01:34 | Mercury at inferior conjunction |
| 08/01 | 14:43 | First Quarter |
| 08/01 | 22:41 | Moon at apogee ( 404093 km) |
| 08/09 | 09:55 | Full Moon |
| 08/12 | 07:38 | Venus in conjunction with Jupiter 0.86° S of Jupiter |
| 08/12 | 14:32 | Moon in conjunction with Saturn 3.56° N of Saturn |
| 08/13 | night | Perseids meteor shower |
| 08/14 | 19:35 | Moon at perigee ( 369273 km) |
| 08/16 | 07:15 | Last Quarter |
| 08/19 | 11:44 | Mercury greatest western elongation ( 18.58°) |
| 08/20 | 00:04 | Moon in conjunction with Jupiter 4.72° N of Jupiter |
| 08/20 | 14:28 | Moon in conjunction with Venus 4.76° N of Venus |
| 08/21 | 20:14 | Moon in conjunction with Mercury 3.48° N of Mercury |
| 08/23 | 08:07 | New Moon |
| 08/24 | 09:47 | Uranus at quadrature |
| 08/26 | 16:29 | Moon in conjunction with Mars 2.47° S of Mars |
| 08/29 | 17:08 | Moon at apogee ( 404511 km) |
| 08/31 | 08:26 | First Quarter |
After the summer solstice, which occurred last June 21st, the Sun begins its apparent “descent” in the sky, getting closer to its minimum height (something that will happen at the winter solstice). In early July the change will be very gradual (losing 5° of maximum altitude), however, the Sun speeds up its pace in August (dropping 10° that month). Regarding the Moon, both months begin with a waxing crescent Moon, with the first quarter occurring in early July and August. However, August has the peculiarity of presenting two first quarter Moons (the first and last day of the month), as well as two apogees with a difference of 420 km between them, highlighting the “irregularities” of the Moon’s orbit.
The summer planetary situation leaves us with nights almost bare of planets in the early hours. Especially in July, you’ll have to wait until 2 am to start seeing anything more than Mars or Mercury in the sky. However, August shows us a very different face. In August, planets like Saturn (with its rings almost edge-on) will already be observable for almost the entire night, and planets like Jupiter will return from their “close” journey to the Sun (in perspective, of course). In fact, in mid-August, six planets (Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn) will align in the sky just before dawn. Four of these planets (Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn) will be visible to the naked eye. You will need a medium-powered telescope or binoculars to see Neptune and Uranus.
So it won’t be until August that we can start enjoying Jupiter again. But as we intend to show you the most complete guide possible, here is a table (Jupiter table) with the main events featuring Jupiter’s moons. Although it will still be a few months before we can fully enjoy Jupiter in all its splendor.
If we now look beyond the Solar System, the summer sky is very rewarding. Dominated by the Summer Triangle (Vega, Altair and Deneb), a beautiful Milky Way traversing the sky from North to South, and the galactic center to the South, the summer sky will not leave anyone indifferent. Simple binoculars will already allow us to observe, from dark skies, star clusters, nebulae, even galaxies (if we point to Andromeda at the end of August). It is highly recommended to get lost with said binoculars in the summer Milky Way, as well as the constellations of Sagittarius and Scorpio. In many cases we will not know what we are observing, but without a doubt the show will be worth it.
In addition to the fixed stars, there is another type of “star” that is very important in summer, the “shooting stars”. Shooting stars that, fortunately, have nothing to do with stars, but are simply microscopic particles that are incinerated upon contact with the atmosphere at high speed. In particular, there are specific times when observing shooting stars is more common. They are called “meteor showers”. At times when the Earth’s orbit intersects the orbit of a comet, it collides with the remnants of material deposited by the comet on its journey around the Sun, giving rise to these striking astronomical phenomena.
This summer we will have two of these showers. The Delta Aquariids can be appreciated starting from the constellation of Aquarius (radiant) during the last night of July with the Moon illuminated at 46%. Much more spectacular will be the Perseids (towards the constellation of Perseus, northeast), during the night of August 12-13. During that night up to 100 meteors (as these shooting stars are also called) per hour are expected. However, a Moon illuminated at 83% will mean we miss many of these meteors.
Another phenomenon, although this one is not natural, that we can enjoy during these summer months is the International Space Station. In the following link you can find a table (ISS table) with the main passes of the ISS visible from Granada during this summer.
And so we reach the end of this summer guide, I really hope that this summer allows you to fully recharge your batteries, do lots of astronomical observations, and we look forward to seeing you again in September with much more and surely also better content.Before saying goodbye, remember that we are open to suggestions on our Telegram channel, where you can also stay up to date on activities, as well as receive timely alerts of easily observable astronomical events. Here is the link! We hope to see you soon at our activities. Have a nice summer, may the exams be a complete success, and see you in September.
Clear Skies!
