Jupiter and Venus shine brightly within the mornings as they seem to graze one another within the sky on the eleventh and Twelfth. The Perseids are washed out by the Moon.
All Month – Planet Visibility:
- Mercury: Pops up above the horizon through the second half of August. Seems very low, under 10 levels altitude.
- Venus: Shines very brightly within the east every morning earlier than dawn, about 20 to 30 levels above the horizon.
- Mars: Will be noticed low within the west through the hour after sundown, showing about as vibrant because the brightest stars within the Large Dipper.
- Jupiter: Seems within the east every morning, along with Venus, however a lot much less vibrant.
- Saturn: Observable late evening to daybreak. Rises round 10:30 p.m. early within the month, and round 8:30 p.m. by the tip of the month. Discover it excessive within the south as dawn approaches.
Skywatching Highlights:
August 11 & 12 – Venus-Jupiter Conjunction – The 2 brightest planets have a detailed meetup over a number of days, showing closest over two days on the eleventh and Twelfth, at only a diploma aside.
August 19 & 20 – Moon with Jupiter & Venus – A slim lunar crescent joins Jupiter and Venus — nonetheless comparatively shut within the sky after their conjunction. They seem within the east within the a number of hours previous dawn.
August Twelfth-Thirteenth – Perseids Peak – The celebrated annual meteor bathe might be hampered by an 84%-full Moon on the height evening. A number of vibrant meteors should still be seen within the pre-dawn hours, however viewing situations should not splendid this 12 months.
All month – The Dumbbell Nebula (M27) – One of many best planetary nebulas to look at, M27 seems inside the Summer season Triangle star sample, excessive overhead within the first half of the evening.
What’s Up for August? Jupiter and Venus have a morning meetup, we take a look at this 12 months’s Perseid meteor bathe, and peek into the way forward for our personal Solar.
Mars is the lone planet within the early night sky this month, seen low within the west for about an hour after the sky begins to darken. It’s now solely about 60% as vibrant because it appeared again in Could.
Saturn is rising by about 10 pm, and also you’ll see it exhibiting up a bit earlier every night because the month goes on. You’ll discover it within the east after darkish with the constellations Cassiopeia and Andromeda. The Ringed Planet makes its manner over to the western a part of the sky by daybreak, the place early risers will discover it on August mornings.
The actual spotlight of August is the shut strategy of Jupiter and Venus. They shine brightly within the east earlier than dawn all through the month. The pair start the month farther aside, however shortly strategy one another within the sky. They seem at their closest on the eleventh and Twelfth — solely a couple of diploma aside. Their rendezvous occurs in opposition to a backdrop of vibrant stars together with Orion, Taurus, Gemini, and Sirius. A slim crescent Moon joins the pair of planets after they separate once more, on the mornings of the nineteenth and twentieth.
The most effective annual meteor showers, the Perseids, peaks in a single day on August Twelfth and into the Thirteenth. Sadly, this 12 months the Moon is sort of full on the height evening, and its glare will wash out all however the brightest meteors. Whereas that is not so nice for Perseid watchers, the excellent news is that one other favourite annual meteor bathe, the Geminids, is poised for Moon-free viewing in December.
August is a superb time to see one of many easiest-to-observe nebulas within the sky.
The Dumbbell Nebula, also referred to as M27, is excessive overhead on August nights. It’s a kind of nebula known as a “planetary nebula.”
A nebula is a big cloud of fuel and mud in house, and planetary nebulas are produced by stars like our Solar once they grow to be outdated and nuclear fusion ceases inside them. They blow off their outer layers, forsaking a small, sizzling remnant known as a white dwarf. The white dwarf produces plenty of vibrant ultraviolet mild that illuminates the nebula from the within, because the increasing shell of fuel absorbs the UV mild and re-radiates it as seen mild.
The Dumbbell Nebula, nicknamed for its dumbbell-like form, seems as a small, faint patch of sunshine a couple of quarter of the width of the complete moon in binoculars or a small telescope. It lies inside the Summer season Triangle, a sample of stars that is straightforward to seek out overhead within the August sky. You’ll discover the nebula a couple of third of the way in which between its vibrant stars Altair and Deneb.
Right here’s hoping you get an opportunity to look at this glimpse into the longer term that awaits our Solar about 5 billion years from now. It’s a part of a cycle that seeds the galaxy with the elements for brand new generations of stars and planets — even perhaps some not too totally different from our personal.
Listed here are the phases of the Moon for August.
You’ll be able to keep updated on all of NASA’s missions exploring the photo voltaic system and past at science.nasa.gov. I am Chelsea Gohd from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that is What’s Up for this month.