A pre-dawn encounter between the Moon and the planets, the return of a comet, a great opportunity to see the Milky Way and Saturn’s rings from a new angle.

• July 7: last quarter moon
• July 11 + 12: Dawn alignment of the Moon, Mars, Saturn and Uranus
• July 14: New moon; The best dark sky window for comet 10P/Tempel 2 and the Milky Way
• Later in July: Saturn’s unusually thin rings are a rewarding telescope target
• July 21: First quarter moon
• July 29: Full moon

A morning meeting with the Moon and the planets, a comet passes by, prime time for the Milky Way, and Saturn’s rings shine at a new angle. That’s what’s in store for July.

Before dawn on July 11 and 12, look to the eastern sky to see an alignment of the Moon and planets. On these mornings, the waning Moon helps point the way to Mars, with Saturn shining nearby in the morning sky.

Uranus is also in the same part of the sky, but it is much fainter, so you will need binoculars or a telescope to see it.

Mars will look like a small reddish point of light, Saturn is brighter and easier to spot, and the Moon makes the entire scene easy to locate.

Around the New Moon on July 14, comet 10P/Tempel 2 passes by.

It is a short period comet, meaning it returns to the interior of the solar system in a regular orbit. In this case, it returns approximately every five and a half years. However, it is not a spectacular comet that can be seen just by looking at the sky.

Using binoculars or a telescope, look for the constellation Capricorn and look for a small hazy glow nearby, possibly with a brighter central node and a short, wide, fan-shaped tail.

For the best chance of seeing the comet, go somewhere dark, away from city lights. Start watching once the sky is completely dark, ideally 45 to 60 minutes after sunset.

Those same dark nights around the New Moon on July 14 are also the best time this month to look for the Milky Way.

From a dark location, far from city lights, the Milky Way appears as a pale, cloudy band in the summer sky. The bright, cloudy region of the Milky Way marks the direction of the galactic center. It seems so dense because we’re looking toward one of the most populated parts of our galaxy, where countless stars shine behind dark clouds of cosmic dust.

In the late afternoon, look to the southern sky to see a group of stars shaped like a large hook or scorpion tail. That’s Scorpio. The bright, cloudy part of the Milky Way is nearby, near another group of stars called Sagittarius.

For the best chance of seeing the Milky Way, go somewhere dark, give your eyes time to adjust, and try not to look at your phone.

Later in July, Saturn will be a rewarding target for telescope users.

Saturn’s rings are still tilted at a very shallow angle from our point of view, making them appear unusually thin. The rings are not disappearing, but their appearance from Earth is changing. It’s a great reminder that our view of the solar system is always in motion.

Here are the phases of the Moon for July.

You can stay up to date on all NASA missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov. I’m Raquel Villanueva from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s what’s happening this month.