July 7
The Dragon's Proof
Sun Position
The Sun is in Cancer at about +22.2° declination. Northern Hemisphere midsummer; Southern Hemisphere nights are long, with Draco circumpolar from northern latitudes and absent from southern viewing.
Sky Highlight
No major meteor shower or annual event peaks exactly on July 7. The broad Capricornids window is building and minor shower activity continues through the month. For observers at mid-northern latitudes, Draco is perfectly placed for evening observation, nearly overhead at dusk.
Deep Sky Object
NGC 6369, the Little Ghost Nebula, a planetary nebula in Ophiuchus roughly 2,000 light-years away. It is a nearly circular shell with a faint central star, superficially resembling a tiny version of the Ring Nebula. Accessible from both hemispheres and well-placed on July evenings.
Featured Star
Etamin (γ Dra) is an orange giant 148 light-years away in Draco, classified K5III. In 1728, James Bradley observed Etamin's apparent seasonal shift and, finding it did not match what stellar parallax would predict, discovered stellar aberration, the first observational proof that Earth is moving through space.
Around This Date
- July 7, 1995The SOHO spacecraft was approved by ESA and NASA as a joint mission to study the Sun's interior and outer atmosphere; it launched in December 1995 and has since become the most prolific discoverer of comets in history.
- July 9, 1979Voyager 2 passed Jupiter at closest approach, photographing the equatorial cloud bands in detail and confirming the ring system first glimpsed by Voyager 1 four months earlier.
Etamin did not prove Earth orbits the Sun, it proved Earth moves, which turned out to be more than enough.