Don’t Miss These Astrophotography Opportunities in July 2025
Jun 29, 2025
Soumyadeep Mukherjee
Soumyadeep Mukherjee is an award-winning astrophotographer from India. He has a doctorate degree in Linguistics. His work extends to the sub-genres of nightscape, deep sky, solar, lunar and optical phenomenon photography. He is also a photography educator and has conducted numerous workshops. His works have appeared in over 40 books & magazines including Astronomy, BBC Sky at Night, Sky & Telescope among others, and in various websites including National Geographic, NASA, Forbes. He was the first Indian to win “Astronomy Photographer of the Year” award in a major category.
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Every month brings some unique astronomical events that you can see with the naked eye and photograph them. In this article, let us take a look at the astrophotography opportunities in July 2025.
Table of contents
July 4: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation
Mercury, the innermost planet, will be 25.9 degrees from the Sun at its greatest eastern elongation on July 4. Mercury will be at its maximum point above the horizon in the evening sky at this hour, making it the ideal time to see it. Just after sunset, look for the planet low in the eastern sky. It will be a great opportunity to not only see the planet but also photograph it with a wide-angle or medium telephoto lens (e.g., 135 mm).
July 7: Lunar occultation of Antares
On the night of 7th July, the bright star Antares will disappear behind the moon, of course, from our perspective. This occultation, however, won’t be visible from all locations in the world. For some locations, it will only appear as a close approach or a conjunction between the Moon and Antares. We recommend checking Stellarium to see if it is visible from your location.
July 10: Full buck moon
The seventh full moon of 2025 will appear on the 10th of July. The July full moon is also known as the buck moon. Full moons are always a great opportunity to photograph them with a telephoto lens. It will also allow you to capture the moonrise in the evening and the moonset in the early morning.
July 24: New moon
The new moon week is the best time to plan your dark sky trips. Capture the minute details of constellations, nebulae, and galaxies without any interference from moonlight. Whether you are a wide-field astrophotographer or a deep sky photographer, the nights around the new moon will offer you the best conditions for astrophotography.
Other opportunities throughout the month
Along with the celestial events mentioned above, the sky will present more opportunities to catch a few more objects. And some will be better than before.
The “Milky Way season” is at full swing
The Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way, one of the most beautiful and popular regions to photograph, now rises early in the night sky, visible right after sunset. The Milky Way arch will be visible by 9 PM. This will be a great opportunity to photograph the Milky Way arch along with other nightscape and deepscape images.
Moon meets the planets
The moon will be positioned with different planets throughout the month. The month begins with a conjunction between the Moon and Saturn on 16th July. On 22nd July, the Moon will come close to Venus. On the early morning of 23rd July, the Moon will meet Jupiter in the eastern sky. Finally, on 29th July, the Moon will meet the red planet, Mars.
Sunspots
The sun is undergoing what is called the “solar maximum”. During this period, the activity on the solar surface remains high. This would be a great opportunity to photograph the sunspots with a white-light filter attached to your telephoto lens.
[It is mandatory to follow precautions during solar photography. Make sure the filter is tightly and correctly attached to the lens. Do not look at the sun with your naked eyes or through the viewfinder of your camera.]
Hope you have a great month with lots of astrophotography opportunities ahead.
Clear skies!
Soumyadeep Mukherjee
Soumyadeep Mukherjee is an award-winning astrophotographer from India. He has a doctorate degree in Linguistics. His work extends to the sub-genres of nightscape, deep sky, solar, lunar and optical phenomenon photography. He is also a photography educator and has conducted numerous workshops. His works have appeared in over 40 books & magazines including Astronomy, BBC Sky at Night, Sky & Telescope among others, and in various websites including National Geographic, NASA, Forbes. He was the first Indian to win “Astronomy Photographer of the Year” award in a major category.
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One response to “Don’t Miss These Astrophotography Opportunities in July 2025”
Wow, July 2025 sounds like an incredible month for sky lovers and photographers alike! I’m especially excited about the Full Buck Moon and the Milky Way season being at its peak. It’s always a magical experience capturing those cosmic moments. If you’re into astrophotography or just love stargazing, you should definitely check out this article. I found it lists all the major events happening this month: Astrophotography Events in July 2025. Worth a read!