{"id":3154,"date":"2026-07-01T23:52:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/?p=3154"},"modified":"2026-07-01T23:52:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:52:51","slug":"griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-july-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/2026\/07\/01\/griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-july-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffith Observatory Sky Report through July, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/strong><\/a>LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/JUL_2026_Sky_Report.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between July 1 and July 31, 2026. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California.<\/p>\n

All times are in Pacific Daylight Time, PDT.<\/p>\n

SUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the 1st<\/sup>, the sun rises in the east-northeast at 5:45 a.m., and sets in the west-northwest at 8:09 p.m. On the 31st<\/sup>, the sun rises in the east-northeast at 6:04 a.m., and sets in the west-northwest at 7:55 p.m.<\/p>\n

PLANETS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mercury<\/strong> is close to the sun and is not safe to observe. On the 24th<\/sup>, Mercury rises in the east-northeast at 4:58 a.m., and the sun rises at 5:59 a.m., one hour one minute later. The planet is 13-percent illuminated and 9.8 arcseconds wide. On the 31st<\/sup>, Mercury rises in the east-northeast at 4:39 a.m., and the sun rises at 6:04 a.m. The planet is 31-percent illuminated and 8.1 arcseconds wide. Do not observe any planet when it comes close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.<\/p>\n

Venus<\/strong> sets in the west-northwest at 10:38 p.m., on the 1st<\/sup>, and the sun sets at 8:09 p.m. Venus is 69-percent illuminated and 16 arcseconds wide. On the 31st<\/sup>, the sun sets at 7:55 p.m., and Venus sets in the west at 10:02 p.m., with a disk that is 56-percent illuminated and 20 arcseconds wide.<\/p>\n

Mars<\/strong> is in Taurus the Bull. On the 1st<\/sup>, the planet rises in the east-northeast at 3:14 a.m. On the 31st<\/sup>, Mars rises at 2:34 a.m. The planet is 94-percent illuminated and 4.5 arcseconds wide. A magnification of 200x or more is needed to see the planet\u2019s disk.<\/p>\n

Jupiter<\/strong> is in Cancer the Crab. On the 1st<\/sup>, Jupiter sets in the west-northwest at 9:25 p.m. On the 9th<\/sup>, the sun sets at 8:07 p.m., and Jupiter sets at 9:00 p.m., 53 minutes later.\u00a0 After the 9th<\/sup>, Jupiter is close to the sun and is not safe to observe for the rest of July. Do not observe any planet when it is close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great. A telescope capable of magnification 50x will show the Red Spot, and the four bright Galilean moons can be seen moving back and forth, across and behind Jupiter.<\/p>\n

Saturn<\/strong> is in Pisces the Fishes. On the 1st<\/sup>, Saturn rises in the east at 1:00 a.m. On the 31st<\/sup>, the planet rises at 11:00 p.m. Saturn is 18 arcseconds wide. The rings and Saturn\u2019s largest moon, Titan, can be seen with a telescope capable of magnification 50x.<\/p>\n

Uranus<\/strong> is in Taurus the Bull. On the 1st<\/sup>, Uranus rises in the east-northeast at 3:20 a.m. On the 31st<\/sup>, Uranus rises at 1:27 a.m. On the 15th<\/sup>, Uranus is at Right Ascension 4h<\/sup> 9m<\/sup> 40s<\/sup> and declination of +20\u00b0 51\u02b9 40\u02ba. A magnification of 200x or more is needed to see the planet\u2019s 3.5-arcsecond disk.<\/p>\n

Neptune<\/strong> is in Pisces the Fishes. On the 1st<\/sup>, Neptune rises in the east at 12:30 a.m. On the 31st<\/sup>, Neptune rises at 10:28 p.m. On the 15th<\/sup>, Neptune is at Right Ascension 0h<\/sup> 18m<\/sup> 21s<\/sup> and declination of +0\u00b0 29\u02b9 3\u02ba. A magnification of 200x or more is needed to see the planet\u2019s 2.3-arcsecond disk.<\/p>\n

The moon<\/strong> is at last quarter on the 7th<\/sup>, new on the 14th<\/sup>, first quarter on the 21st<\/sup>, and full on the 29th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL EVENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Southern delta Aquariid<\/strong> meteor shower occurs from July 3 to August 15. The meteors will peak from the night of the 30th<\/sup> through to the morning of the 31st<\/sup>. The nearly full moon will interfere with observations. The shower is best seen from the southern hemisphere. From northern latitudes the radiant is located lower in the southern sky, and therefore rates are lower. These meteors produce good rates for a week centered on the night of maximum. These are usually faint meteors that lack both persistent trains and fireballs. The parent object might be the sun-grazing comet.<\/p>\n

The alpha Capricornid meteor shower<\/strong> occurs from July 7 to August 13 with a “plateau-like” maximum centered on the 31st<\/sup>. The peak will occur from the night of the 30th<\/sup> through to the morning of the 31st<\/sup>. Again, the full moon will interfere with observations. This shower is not very strong and rarely produces more than five shower members per hour. The shower is notable, however, for the number of bright fireballs produced during its activity period. This shower is seen equally well on either side of the equator. The parent object is the comet 169P\/NEAT.<\/p>\n

Griffith Observatory normally provides free public sky observing day and night \u2014 weath\u00ader permitting \u2014 through a variety of telescopes. Currently, the Observatory is open Tuesday through Sunday. To plan a visit to the Observatory, please see our website (https:\/\/griffithobservatory.lacity.gov\/<\/a>) for the latest information. The Sky Report, also available on the website, pro\u00advides monthly observing information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/JUL_2026_Sky_Report.mp3 This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between July 1 and July 31, 2026. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California. All times are in Pacific … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-skyreport"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3154"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3157,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3154\/revisions\/3157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}