Julius Caesar’s Month
This is the month the big guy had named for himself. In the skies of the present month of July, we find it starts with a bang as on the evening of the first of the month the Brilliant planet Venus passes the dimmer planet Saturn. In the animation below created with the free planetarium program Stellarium we see both planets in the western skies from June 29th through July 6th.

The funny thing, as you view thin animation is that after the 1st Saturn stays at the same altitude as Venus. Now this is an artifact of viewing these planets from 45 degrees north latitude. If you’re south of here, Saturn will sink below Venus. If north Saturn will stay higher than Venus. Now even here during the latter part of the month, when Saturn is overpowered by evening twilight, Venus will actually drop below Saturn.
Venus is a great sight in telescopes with its dazzling crescent. But it will become difficult to spot itself by month’s end.



