Mercury - Now in evening skies throughout this month and
will remain fairly steady in terms of elevation/altitude above the western
horizon, but appearing to move southward as the month progresses - in LEO.
Venus - Our
brightest planet is not favorably placed this month and will be hidden by solar
glare throughout the early and middle days of this month; it will move from the
evening sky into the morning sky around August 20 and hence will become our
"Morning Star" for many months to come throughout the remainder of
2015 - in CANCER
Mars - Mars is now low in northeastern skies at sunrise,
rising about 5 a.m. local time in mid-month; the tiny (less than 4 arc
seconds!) orb will be difficult to spot in morning dawn twilight but will rise
earlier as the month progresses - In
GEMINI
Jupiter - Now in
conjunction with the sun and not viewable by eye nor telescope! In LEO.
Saturn - With its magnificent ring system tilted almost
their maximum for earth-viewing, Saturn is high overhead in evening dusk and is
in dark skies by 9 p.m. local time; however, by that time the planet has
progressed far into low southwest skies.
By month's end, Saturn will be very low in SW skies and more difficult
to view . - in LIBRA.
METEOR SHOWERS:
Observe when the moon does not interfere and attempt to observe AFTER
midnight for most meteors to be seen!
August offers some of the best observing conditions for meteors....the
skies are typically quite clear, the cooling night air suggests that fall
nights await and fill you with observing inspiration, and August holds five
wonderful showers, one of which is the "granddaddy" of all
predictable and dependable meteor observing outings.
The 2015 Perseids:
An excellent year for this normally reliable shower. The famous PERSEID Meteor Storm will pass
across the Earth's orbit once again this year in early August, and this year is
very favorable for meteors to be seen because there will be no moonlight
throughout the night! Some meteors may
be seen during early hours of days other than actually on the date of
peak. The sighting of fainter members of
this shower will be easy this year on peak day, but expect brighter ones to
begin to streak across our skies even in the first week of August....if you can
trace their origin back to the constellation of Perseus, then what you are
seeing are indeed Perseid meteors. As
with most meteor showers, the later you stay up (...yawn...), the more meteors
you likely will see, particularly this year with very dark skies if you can
venture away from city lights. Begin
watching the evening of August 10, and continue until the early morning hours
of August 14 for your reward. I
recommend observing WEST of overhead around midnight, although only the
brightest meteors will be seen from this
famous shower throughout the evening and morning because of the strong
moonlight.
However, do not wait for August 12-13....this is a long duration
shower and meteors will be easily seen during the first week of the month when
skies are not hampered by the moon, particularly before moonrise late in the
morning hours.
In 1992 Comet Swift-Tuttle, the parent object that spawns
the Perseid meteoroid cloud, shed a great amount of dust in its wake and now
sets the stage for intense activity as the earth passes through that debris;
this will be the second year that the Earth has passed directly through this
possible debris cloud.
Note that Comet Swift-Tuttle's (P/1862) one-revolution
trail from 1862 will pass inside the Earth’s orbit this year. At the time of
Perseids (the annual meteor shower associated with this comet (evening hours,
local time, of August 12). If there were
a closer approach of this comet to the earth, a spectacular meteor storm would
be expected...but with these conditions and no prior such close approaches to
compare to, it is uncertain what kind of a shower this will give for 2015, just
as it was for 2009 when the predictions were higher than actually were meteors
seen. Because of similar conditions, but
with the earth passing directly through the major debris pocket of the comet,
perhaps the best meteor shower of history will occur with the Perseids at some
time in the near future....but it will not be 2015.
This is a long duration shower, with many (as many as two
dozen per hour) being seen from August 9 through the 20th; during the PEAK,
expect to see at least 60 or more (perhaps double that number!) around 2 a.m.,
streaming from the constellation of Perseus, high in the northeastern sky. Best views are afforded by positioning your
feet to the EAST and facing directly overhead.
AND YES....there ARE other meteor showers in August!
August 1 - Capricornid Meteors. The moon will full in our skies on the date
of this meteor shower, so you should
expect a less-than-sensational show from this one. Wait until after twilight ends (about 1.5
hours after sunset) in the early evening to begin serious skywatching. Remains of comet Honda-Mrkos-Padusakova,
about 35 meteors per hour - MANY which are bright fireballs! - can be expected
in the morning hours; nearly due south of overhead about midnight.
.
August 6 - Southern Aquarid Meteors - look on the
meridian, southern skies about 11 p.m. local time for only a few meteors,
perhaps 7-8 per hour. This is a curious
shower, comprised of two peaks: this
one, and another on about August 21-23.
Note that meteors from this (these?) showers are not seen yearly and
observations are badly needed to fill in the missing gaps about our knowledge
of them. Some years no meteors are seen,
but since the late 1800's when this double shower was noted and later
confirmed, there have been distinct radiants (the "northern" and
"southern") seen throughout many years. Observations of this shower are badly needed
and this might be a wonderful year in terms of absence of moonlight (moon is last
quarter and will rise after midnight)
.
August 20 - Kappa Cygnid Meteors - This is a fair
year for these meteors to be seen to
their fullest. The first quarter moon,
setting about midnight., will be absent
from the sky after that time and will not interfere with sightings of these
meteors. Typically many of these meteors
are seen along with Perseid meteors, leaving very fine trains of smoke in their
wakes! The Cygnid (and the Andromedids,
below) will be nearly overhead by 2 a.m.
August 31 - Andromedid Meteors - there will be a nearly
full moon during the peak of this shower, so chances of seeing a good display
are poor. In 1885, 13,000 Andromedids were seen per hour, all fragments of a
now-disentigrated BIELA's Comet. Very
unpredictable, this meteor shower needs observations during such excellent
times as unexpectedly occured in 2005. The shower radiant will be nearly
directly overhead for mid-northern latitudes about midnight.
