More Lahaina Noons are due in July. On July 15 at 12:37 p.m. in Honolulu, the sun will pass exactly overhead and upright objects such as flagpoles will cast no shadow.

The "overhead sun" date varies depending on how far north or south you are in the tropics. Thus, for Lihue, this occurs on July 11, at 12:42 p.m. Further south, on Hawaii island, the overhead sun date occurs on July 24 (12:26 p.m. for Hilo; 12:30 p.m. for Kailua-Kona.)

The Hawaiian term for this phenomenon, "kau ka la i ka lolo," roughly translates to "the sun rests on the brains." It was believed that the moment in which the sun passed over the zenith causing a person’s shadow to disappear was a time of great personal power. Lahaina Noon, a handy moniker but not at all a traditional term, was created in a contest held by Bishop Museum in 1990.

Here are the 2013 overhead sun times and dates for other Hawaii locations: Kaneohe, July 15 at 12:37 p.m.; Kaunakakai, July 16, 12:34 p.m.; Lanai City, July 18, 12:33 p.m.; Lahaina, July 18, 12:32 p.m.; and Kahului, July 18, 12:32 p.m.

July planets

Venus in July is alone as a blazing light in the west. Given the alignment of the Earth, sun and Venus in July, Venus will appear about the same throughout the month. It will emerge in the west as it gets dark around 7:45 p.m., about 15 degrees above the western horizon (a little more than the width of your fist at arm’s length). It sets by 9 p.m. On July 10 and 11, look for the crescent moon to the left of Venus.

With Venus gone by 9 p.m., Saturn is the only planet in the middle part of the evening. Saturn is almost exactly due south at dusk (8 p.m.) in early July, about two-thirds of the way up from the south horizon. Here in early July, Saturn works its way down the western sky in the early hours of the evening and sets at 1:45 a.m. By the end of July the ringed planet is about halfway up in the southwest at dusk, and sets at midnight.

Saturn continues to make a nice triangle with the bright stars Arcturus and Spica this year. Spica, a bluish star, is a little dimmer than Saturn. Arcturus, a yellow star, is brighter than both Saturn and Spica. On the night of July 15, look for the first-quarter moon between Spica and Saturn. On the following night, the moon will be just to the left of Saturn.

Look east in the pre-dawn sky for this month’s planetary gathering.

» July 1-8: Mars is the only planet visible in the dawn sky in early July, rising in the east at 4:40 a.m., close to Elnath (one of the two horn stars of Taurus the Bull). It will be hard to spot Mars, though, in early July; it is faint and will be lost in the breaking dawn by 5 a.m. Your best chance to spot the red planet early in the month may be early-morning July 6, when Mars will be just above a slender waning crescent moon.

» July 9-20: The prospects for finding Mars improve by July 9, when blazing Jupiter rises below Mars, in the east, at 5 a.m. Find Jupiter first, then look for Mars about 5 degrees (a little more than two fingers at arm’s length) above Jupiter. Also helpful is that, by mid-July, the constellation of Orion the Hunter pops back in to the predawn sky. Find Orion and then look to the left of the constellation to find the planets. Looking east around 5 a.m., Jupiter will appear a little closer to Mars every morning. By July 20, the two planets rise at 4:20 a.m., about an hour before daylight.

» July 21-22: Look for Jupiter and Mars side by side. On the morning of July 22, the two planets will be separated by less than one degree, with Jupiter on the right and many times brighter than Mars.

» July 23-31: Looking west around 4:45 a.m. to dawn, look for brilliant Jupiter to appear higher and higher above Mars every night. By the end of July, Jupiter will be 4 degrees above the red planet.

Meanwhile, from July 23 on, look for Mercury joining the gathering, low on the east horizon.

July Sky Map

In the south, look for Scorpius rising high. To its left, Sagittarius the Archer has returned to our sky.

In the middle of the sky we have two triangles, one permanent and one temporary. The permanent one is called the Summer Triangle, and is made of one bright star pulled from each of three constellations: Vega from Lyra the Harp, Deneb from Cygnus the Swan, and Altair from Aquila the Eagle. This year only, there is also a nice triangle made of the stars Spica and Arcturus, and the planet Saturn.

In the north, look for the Big and Little Dippers, with Draco winding its away between the two dippers. This is one of those rare times when both the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia can be seen in the islands at the same time. The two constellations are on opposite sides of the North Star, and usually one constellation is up and the other is down.