July 17
The Herdsman Himself
Sun Position
The Sun is in Cancer at about +21.0° declination. Northern Hemisphere summer; Southern Hemisphere midwinter nights are long, clear, and cold.
Sky Highlight
No major annual event peaks on July 17. Boötes is in the western evening sky and will set increasingly early as July progresses. For Northern Hemisphere observers, this week is the last comfortable window to observe the constellation's fainter members before twilight cuts them off until next spring.
Deep Sky Object
NGC 5676, a spiral galaxy in Boötes roughly 130 million light-years away. It is an edge-on to slightly inclined spiral with a bright core, visible as a small elliptical smudge in medium amateur telescopes under dark skies. Best from the Northern Hemisphere.
Featured Star
Nekkar (β Boo) is a yellow giant about 219 light-years away in Boötes, classified G8III. Its Arabic name, al-Naqqa, means 'the herdsman', the same meaning as the constellation name itself, making this one of the few stars named for the same figure as its parent constellation. It is a gentle, aging star nearing the end of its hydrogen-burning phase.
Around This Date
- July 17, 1975An American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft docked in orbit, completing the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first international crewed spaceflight and a rare moment of cooperation during the Space Race era.
- July 16, 1969Apollo 11 launched from Kennedy Space Center on its mission to the Moon, carrying the three-member crew that would make the first crewed lunar landing four days later.
Nekkar carries the same name as the man who carries the serpent, in Boötes, even the supporting cast gets to be the lead.