Summer twilight lasts for most of July although by the end of the month there are a few hours of the night that are ‘astronomically dark’.

During twilight in the late evening or early in the morning there is a chance to see noctilucent clouds (NLC).

There have already been some good displays this summer of these silvery-blue ‘spaceweather clouds’ that are made of ice crystals and which form at a height of 50 miles up in the atmosphere (see image).

For early risers, the planets Jupiter and Mars can be seen in the constellation of Taurus in pre-dawn skies in the East. They will be joined by the waning crescent moon on the 30th.

Saturn moves into the evening sky during July, and is visible at midnight in the south east by the end of the month.

Full moon is on the night of the 20th/21st, and again will be very low in the sky – attaining only 11 degrees above the horizon just after midnight.

Several meteor showers are active this month, although none are as active as the Perseids, which start to build up towards the end of July ahead of their peak in August.

On clear nights throughout the summer it is possible to see some of these meteors which originate from comets.

As comets go along their elliptical orbits around the sun, during the time they are closest to the sun, they release gas and dust to form tails, and it is that dust left behind that can be seen as meteors, when the particles enter the Earth atmosphere at very high speeds, to burn up in a streak of light.

In clear conditions and when the moon is not in the sky, July is a good month to see the Milky Way – which is part of our own galaxy.

Around midnight, looking from almost overhead in the constellation of Cygnus, and then down towards the south, faint ribbons of what looks like mist can be seen.

This is actually the light from millions of stars that are many thousands of light years away from our own solar system.