July is a superb month for astrophotographers. The clear summer time skies and heat nights assist, however what’s going to excite evening sky-watchers are its three meteor showers, hanging lunar conjunctions and the arrival of the Milky Manner’s core for Northern Hemisphere observers.
Whether or not you’re chasing moonrises, probing the deep sky or capturing starscapes above seasonal landmarks, right here’s every thing you want to know for astrophotography in July 2025…
Thursday, July 10: Full ‘Buck Moon’ Rising
The spotlight of the month for moon-watchers might be July’s full moon — referred to as the Buck Moon — rising within the east at nightfall on Thursday, 10 July. As at all times, it’s the second of moonrise that delivers the most effective photographic alternative; you will discover the precise time on your location by utilizing a moon calculator. The low-hanging orb will glow orange because it climbs, because of atmospheric refraction, and stay low all evening (as a result of the moon at all times mirrors the solar’s place within the sky).
Composition is every thing; use apps like PhotoPills and Photograph Emphemeris to time the rise beside a foreground object, comparable to a constructing or mountain.
Learn: The way to {photograph} the complete moon
Saturday, June 28: Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Deep-sky photographers have a whole lot of targets in July, with the Milky Manner’s core rising within the south among the many constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius, albeit solely comparatively briefly. Nonetheless, don’t overlook the NGC 6633 and IC 4756 star clusters within the constellations Serpens and Ophiuchus, that are collectively referred to as the Tweedledum and Tweedledee clusters.
Learn: Greatest equatorial mounts
Sunday, July 13 – Thursday, July 17: Three meteor showers start
The Delta Aquarids and Alpha Capricornids kick off on 13 July. Though they received’t peak till 29-30 July, the lengthy buildup permits time to scout darkish places and check gear settings. Early evenings are nonetheless moonlit, however the nights progressively darken. Come 17 July, the well-known Perseid meteor bathe will get underway. This yr’s peak in August coincides with a full moon, so your greatest photographs could come from this early stretch when the moon is absent.
A simple technique to take pictures of meteors is the “fortunate imaging” method; put a digicam with a wide-angle lens on a sturdy tripod, goal it excessive above the northeast horizon after midnight, and experiment with settings to get a pleasant, clear evening sky picture (start with ISO 1600-3200, f/2.8, 15-20secs publicity), then use an intervalometer to have the digicam take picture after picture for just a few hours. You would possibly catch one!
Learn: The perfect cameras for astrophotography
Sunday, July 20 – Wednesday, July 23: Crescent moon and ‘Earthshine’
These 4 mornings are a present for astro-landscape photographers. From a crescent moon contained in the Pleiades on 20 July to hanging conjunctions with Venus (July 21), Venus and Jupiter (July 22), and Jupiter alone (July 23), every presents pre-dawn probabilities to seize Earthshine. Use a telephoto (100–300mm) and bracket for close-ups, or go broad for scenic compositions (wide-angle lenses usually do an important job with Earthshine).
Learn: When to {photograph} the moon
Friday, July 18 -Sunday, July 27: Darkish sky window
The final quarter moon on July 18 rises at midnight, triggering 10 nights of moonless night skies. On condition that the solstice was final month, astronomical darkness might be in brief provide above mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, but it surely’s the most effective window of the month for each deep-sky astrophotography and for the Milky Manner, whose shiny core is now rising to prominence by midnight.
For wide-angle pictures of the Milky Manner stretching by way of Cygnus and into Scorpius, goal for post-midnight hours from dark-sky places. The brand new moon falls on Thursday, July 24, with a crescent moon seen within the 4 evenings afterward.
Learn: The perfect star tracker digicam mounts
Tuesday, July 29 – Wednesday, July 30: Two meteor showers peak
Anticipate 20+ meteors per hour from the Southern Delta Aquariids, together with one other 5–10 from the Alpha Capricornids. As luck would have it, the waxing moon units early sufficient to protect some dark-sky hours post-midnight. That stated, these within the Southern Hemisphere — and equatorial areas — will possible see extra exercise, purely as a result of the radiant constellations, Aquarius and Capricorn, by no means get excessive within the sky as seen from the Northern Hemisphere.
Learn: Greatest deep-space telescopes
Astrophotography Shot of the Month: ISS and satellites
Each picture ought to inform a narrative, and one of many largest ones round for astrophotographers is the large improve in low-Earth orbiting satellites because of broadband web constellations. The principle perpetrator is, in fact, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which started launching Starlink broadband web satellites into low-Earth orbit in 2019 and continues to take action. There at the moment are about 7,500 up there, as deep-sky astrophotographers all know.
If there’s been a launch just lately — which you will discover out about on Spaceflight Now’s Launch Schedule — you might catch Starlinks transferring throughout the sky in a menacing-looking line as they step by step unfold out. Or you can eschew the evil Starlink satellites altogether and deal with the Worldwide Area Station. NASA’s Spot The Station service has a reside monitoring map and an alert system. Both means, as a result of the solar isn’t notably low beneath the horizon at any time in July from the Northern Hemisphere, satellites glint brighter for longer each after sundown and earlier than dawn, and may be seen all evening.
Learn extra:
• Greatest deep-space telescopes
• The perfect mild air pollution filters
• The perfect CCD cameras for astrophotography