Today:
Very late this evening, the waning Gibbous Moon climbs into the east-southeast, but not alone. Just a few minutes after the Moon near 1 o’clock, the ringed planet Saturn returns to the evening skies, well to the left of the Moon. By midnight tomorrow night, a slightly smaller Moon appears below Saturn.
Thursday:
Today finds the Earth at aphelion – its greatest distance from the Sun – at 94,506,364 miles. Yes, July is the hottest month of the year on average, but it is our tilted axis, angled toward the Sun in summer, and not our distance, that gives us longer days and more direct sunlight, increasing the temperatures.
Friday:
Today is the “seventh day of the seventh Moon” – moons being months – and is the traditional day for cultures in the Far East to celebrate the story of the Goddess of Weaving and the Handsome Farmer, more familiar to us as the Summer Triangle, directly overhead shortly after 1 AM EDT.