​                                                                                                                              Photo by Topher Sedlak

There’s really no better place in the summer than Montana. Warm dry breezes, never muggy. The gold sun blazes in an immense vault of blue. Zero fire ants, poison oak, or poison sumac. Minimal mosquitoes. We’re given very generous helpings of daylight, plus a sweet twilight that takes its time. And afterward... amazingly clear star-filed skies with mild temps. Southern Arizona has great night skies, but it’s 108°F in the afternoon shade and still hot at bedtime. Alaska isn’t broiling, but for months it’s not dark enough for good astronomy. Montana sprawls in between, and here Ursa Major and Minor’s bowl of planetary porridge is just right.

​What can be seen and where to see it? Let’s cover some star facts and lore in Montana, where the term The Big Sky also applies to nighttime.    

The Seventh Month

​Overall, July is one of the best months for stargazing. Most days are clear, night temps are balmy, and sunsets are a bit earlier than in June. The well-known Perseids peak in August but actually start mid-July.

Years ago, one July night between the East and West Pioneer ranges, a dozen of us witnessed a true spectacle. As the clock passed midnight and our eyes grew fully adapted to the dark, the view above transitioned from the usual many points of light on a black background... to many small areas of darkness in a vast dome of lights. The combination of elevation, clarity of air, and zero light pollution meant there seemed to be more stars than the dark gaps between them. The Milky Way was a silver river. Even the sky far from our galactic band was full of countless stars. The world reversed, like a photo negative. There was no moon; the starlight itself was bright enough to make out each blade of grass and every silhouette of pines and peaks.

​There is still decent viewing in Bozeman. Even better is heading north (especially if your targets are to the north) or south of town. Look for the Summer Triangle, an easy goal. This is formed by the brightest stars in three July constellations: Vega (in Lyra the lyre), Altair (Aquila the eagle), and Deneb (Cygnus the swan, the Northern Cross). Altair is the southern tip of the pizza slice. On the other end of Cygnus from Deneb is Albireo. What looks like one white star is really a double: an amber star next to an electric blue star, one of the most beautiful sights in an inexpensive telescope or pricey binocs.

The Northern Lights from Bozeman. Montanans often call green, white, and red displays, “watermelon shows.” Green, yellow, and red are “Rasta shows.” Green & purple make “Halloween shows.” Photo by Topher Sedlak

Awesome Auroras

​Some of the best Northern Lights viewing is also during the summer. It’s a myth that auroras occur only during winter. The sun doesn’t care what season it is here. This misunderstanding is because many aurora photos and vids show ice and snow. Alaska and Iceland experience the lights more often than lower latitudes. But, due to the “midnight sun” they see the aurora only in the fall, winter, and early spring, hence the white landscape pics. Meanwhile, the southern half of the U.S. gets the lights only during the most intense solar storms. Again, being in the middle makes Montana just right. We’re far enough north that we experience the aurora much more than California or Colorado. But, because we have some true night in the summer we have great shows all year long. 

​My first time seeing orange in an aurora happened one July. The display started with its usual  fluorescent green, with blue waves as the night progressed. At one point a green curtain turned yellow, which then became a flash of pure orange. The tangerine flame looked like it was plucked from a classic hot rod. Our last great show in Bozeman was in 2025 during a mild early November evening; this was a repeat of a stunning show 20 years earlier, almost to the day. Another great recent display was in May of 2024.

​The aurora works basically like a massive old-fashioned color TV. Solar flares shoot electrons (and protons) our way. The earth’s magnetic field focuses this energy near the poles. Then, molecules in the upper atmosphere act as the phosphors. The most common colors are from oxygen, because it takes less energy to ionize. 70 miles up, oxygen makes green light, the most common color. 150 miles up, very low pressure oxygen creates red light, the second-most common color. The less common hues are from nitrogen, which takes more energy to ionize. Nitrogen 50 miles high makes blue light. Rarefied nitrogen 120 miles up glows violet.

All other colors are due to optical mixing. High altitude red and purple overlap and look magenta. Lower altitude green and blue blend into aqua. Where green overlaps red it creates yellow; this occurs when higher red regions are further away from the viewer than lower green regions. And when red, green, and blue overlap they make white. The aurora also appears white if the light is too dim for our eyes to register color. No camera? Phones often take great aurora photos. 

Orion and two of its neighbors (left) and a close-up of the Pleiades (right). For the Salish, Orion is a canoe and the Pleiades are several children. The Pleiades in Japanese are Subaru, hence the star emblem on the company’s vehicles. Photos courtesy NASA (left) and MLC director Ryan Hannahoe (right)

Star Nations

​Many people are familiar with at least a few constellations. The Big Dipper points to the North Star on the tail of the Little Dipper. Orion is a hunter standing near his dog, Canis Major —the constellation with Sirius, the “dog star.” Constellations along the ecliptic, the sun’s apparent path in the sky, are the Greco-Roman zodiac signs. Currently, Capricorn, Sagittarius, and Scorpio are south of Bozeman 10PM to 2AM. Look for a teapot-shaped pattern over Hyalite or the Spanish Peaks. The galactic core, the heart of our Milky Way, is along that part of Sagittarius.

​There are other constellations in other cosmologies, a fact which should be taught more in schools. Montana’s diverse Native peoples have their own sky patterns and sky wisdom. For example, ‘star’ in Crow is ikhé. Remarkably, this word is usually part of the phrase ihké aléwahkuua, ‘the stars we know,’ as opposed to the many more we can’t see. (!)

In Blackfoot, ‘star’ is kakató’siwa. This is an animate noun, the kind used to refer to people and animals. Stars are more than bright lights, they’re conscious beings. Each fusion furnace has a soul, like a person. (Think Wrinkle in Time.) As with the Maya, the planet Venus —the “morning star” for part of the year— is important to the Blackfoot people, which they call Iipisówaahs. The Cheyenne likewise revere Venus; in Cheyenne the planet is Vóóhéhéve and ‘star’ is hotohke.    

​Venus is also sacred to the Lakota and Nakoda, who call it Angpo Wičhánkhpi and the night sky Wičhánkhpi Oyate —the star nation. Their largest constellation is Tayamni, ‘the bison.’ The Pleiades are at the head; Betelgeuse and Rigel in Orion are at the ribs and its belt stars are the backbone; Sirius is at the tail. Another constellation is Mato Tipila, the ‘bear lodge.’ This is rectangular Gemini,  representing Devil’s Tower just over the MT-WY border. The seven stars of the Big Dipper are Wicakiyuhapi, the ‘stretcher/bier’ —four people carrying a soul to heaven, followed by three mourners. In Arabic lore the three stars in the handle (Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid) also represent mourners following a four-star funeral procession.

​Northern Shoshone tatsinomp(i) means ‘star.’ Shoshone is a cousin of Nahuatl (Aztec), whose ‘star’ is the related citlalli(n). Finally, ‘star’ in Montana Salish is kk”úsə’m....“kw-kw-oos-uh’m” where the apostrophe is a glottal stop —the catches in your throat when you say “uh-oh.” For the Salish, Orion is a large canoe (same with the Maori) and the Pleiades are a group of children. Fittingly, this is a cluster of young stars. 

Beyond the Big Sky

​Montana has two full-size planetariums, the Taylor Planetarium at Bozeman’s Museum of the Rockies (MOTR) and the University of Montana Planetarium in Missoula. Taylor Planetarium, providing seasonal, high-def shows, features a 40’-high dome and over 100 reclining seats. These focus on sky orientation —finding stars/constellations and planets— and space exploration. The U of M Planetarium is at the Payne Family Native American Center. It offers public viewings Friday evenings as well as private and school shows. The Montana Learning Center (MLC) near Helena has a traveling planetarium. This operates around the state, providing live, interactive programs for students.

Montana has several quality observatories. For example, Glacier National Park’s St. Mary Visitor Center Observatory offers in-person stargazing. There’s U of M’s Blue Mountain Observatory, providing amazing night sky views. The MLC has three high-tech observatories on Canyon Ferry Lake. These feature the largest publicly-accessible telescopes in the state, offering some of the best viewing in the Northwest. The observatories are open to the public during the Beyond the Big Sky series, and private group events can be booked in advance. Info on each feature is under https://montanalearning.org/astronomy/. Into DYI? Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Home Depot and the MOTR store carry telescopes. Order online if items aren’t in stock. And enjoy the sights!