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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through the month of July 2019. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.

The largest planet, Jupiter, is also the brightest planet currently visible as it gleams from the sprawling constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer. It is eye-catching shortly after sunset, and over the course of the month the direction of its first appearance will shift from the southeast to the south. Jupiter sets in the west-southwest before dawn. The changing patterns made by Jupiter’s four largest moons, the shadows that they cast on the face of the planet, and the patterns of Jupiter’s clouds all make Jupiter a rewarding object to observe through telescopes.

Saturn, in Sagittarius the Archer, is in opposition on the night of the 9th, which means it is directly opposite to the sun in the sky. As a result, Saturn then rises at sunset on the 9th and sets at sunrise on the 10th. It is also closest to the Earth this year, 840 million miles away. The planet’s magnificent system of rings is visible through most telescopes, and they will also appear to brighten for a few days before and after Saturn’s opposition.

This month is the fiftieth anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 landing on the moon. Because the moon’s cycle of phases does not repeat year by year, if you want to see the moon as it appeared on the date of the landing, July 20, 1969, you will want to look at it on the evening of July 8. The landing took place just after sunrise on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility. On July 8th this year, the landing site again is close the dividing line between day and night on the moon, the moon’s terminator, and midway between the ends of the crescent of the moon, close to the moon’s equator. The lighting of the moonscape shortly after the lunar sunrise, with the resulting exaggerated shadows, ensured the best visibility of rocks, craters, and other potential hazards as the astronauts landed their delicate Lunar Module, Eagle.

New moon was on the 2nd, when it caused a total eclipse of the sun that was visible only across the Pacific Ocean and from land across a narrow strip of Chile and Argentina, just before sunset. The moon is first quarter on the 9th, full on the 16th, and last quarter on the 24th. The moon appears close to the planet Mercury on the 3rd and 4th, Jupiter on the 12th and 13th, and Saturn on the 16th.

Because of the orientation of the moon’s orbit and the circumstances of its alignment with Sun and Earth that causes a solar eclipse, there is always a lunar eclipse on a full moon that either precedes or follows the solar eclipse. This year, the side of the earth centered on eastern Africa will be able to see a partial lunar eclipse on July 16. At its maximum, 65 percent of the moon’s diameter will be within the dark shadow, or umbra of the Earth. None of the eclipse will be visible from North America.

The annual South Delta Aquariid meteor shower has no sharp peak, but it produces small numbers of meteors that streak through the sky from the south from late July through mid August. The absence of bright moonlight during the last few nights of July may allow about a dozen Delta Aquariid meteors to be seen during the early morning hours from dark wilderness locations, far from urban light pollution.

Free views of the Sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday, before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next free public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, July 13th between 2:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Follow The Sky Report, All Space Considered, and Griffith Observatory on Twitter for updates on astronomy and space-related events.

From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.