Of course the BIG story in August is the total solar eclipse
across a portion of the US. But there
are other interesting things going on in the sky besides that!
The Planets for August:
--------------------------------
Mercury - Mercury remains hidden by the sun for us,
in daylight skies - in LEO
Venus - our brightest planet will not be easy to
spot at any time in August, hovering nearly stationary against the eastern
morning sky, getting neither higher or lower as the month progresses, but
becoming more embedded in twilight toward late month. - in GEMINI
Mars - Now rapidly increasing its distance from
Earth, Mars continues to be hidden in solar glare and will not be viewable for
the next couple of months - in CANCER
Jupiter - Now sinking closer to the western horizon
each evening during twilight, you can cross Jupiter off of your observing lists
until Fall when it will reappear in early morning dawn skies. It is very
low in evening twilight western skies and quite close to the bright star SPICA
- in VIRGO
Saturn - Now setting right about midnight local
time, the ringed planet is still going to be an easy target and favorite for
star parties and neighborhood outings. This star party favorite will be
directly overhead just as evening dusk disappears into darkness. Note
Saturn's yellow color, and the interesting aspect of it not lurking in one of
the "Zodiacal Constellations", but far outside the original band of
the 12 original Zodiac constellations - in OPHIUCHUS
Uranus - distant planet Uranus rises about 11 p.m.
local time and is south of overhead by dawn's fist light. It shines at
magnitude 5.9, bright enough to spot in good binoculars if one knows where to
look; use a good planetarium sky program or GO TO telescope to locate this
distant world; by sunrise it is high in dark skies and will show a faint, blue
disk in large telescopes - in PISCES
Neptune - look for faint Neptune in large telescopes
at midmonth south of overhead about 3 a.m. local time.(mag. 7.6); it will be
due north (higher) that bright Fomalhaut in southern skies all month, thereby
making it a bit easier to spot this distant world. - in AQUARIUS
METEOR SHOWERS for August 2017:
Observe when the moon does not interfere and attempt to
observe AFTER midnight for most meteors to be seen! For August there
is, of course, the famous PERSEID METEOR SHOWER, some of
which provide for wonderful summer sky shows, provided that the light
of the moon does not interfere.
August 12 - This year's PERSEID meteor
shower; what to expect!
Unfortunately this year's Perseid Meteor shower will find
a rather large waxing gibbous moon in the sky pretty much all night long (the
moon is full on August 7) The radiant
for the Perseids is in the very high northeastern sky and rises well into the
night and pretty much opposite the light of the gibbous moon, so some observing
might be rewarding; the moon will rise about 11 p.m. providing darker skies and
fainter meteors to be seen ONLY in early evening skies. Nonetheless,
there are dozens of huge brilliant and spectacular fireballs that are typically
seen from the Perseids, so these can be seen in spite of any lights in the sky.
And YES....there are other meteor showers in August as
well:
July 31-Aug 1 - CAPRICORNID METEORS -
Actually a two day peak, July 31 and August 1, this is a reliable meteor shower
and with this month's NEW MOON falling only days away, this is a very favorable
year to experience any meteors from this shower. Remnants from Comet
Honda-Mrkos-Padjusakova, this is an early evening meteor shower; you should
prepare to begin observing about the time the sky is completely dark, at the
end of twilight, some 2 hours after sunset. There CAN be as many as
35 meteors per hour from this erratic meteor shower and you should plan to
watch until well after midnight.
August 6 - Southern Aquarid Meteors - the
moon will be full, so this also is a very poor meteor shower for this
month. Emanating from near the bright star Altair (see article, above!),
this is a two-part meteor shower, with this being the first, and the
"Northern Aquarid Meteors" being later in the month (August
20-22). This is a sparse meteor shower but has been known to show off a
bit during some years. Normally expect to see a scant 7-8 meteors per
hour during a dark and moonless night from this shower. The radiant will
be favorably placed south of overhead about 11 p.m. local time.
Observations of BOTH the northern and southern phases of this meteor shower are
badly needed
August 20 - Kappa Cygnid Meteors - this is
an excellent year with no moon in the sky for this seemingly growing meteor
shower; both this shower and the Andromedid meteors occur within days of
one-another, and the radiant is best placed nearly overhead for northern observers
by about 2 a.m. Although there can be many Kappa Cygnid meteors flying
about, they are many times confused with the Perseids which typically have
ended by August 15. The moon is nearly full for this meteor shower this
year and will be in the sky all night, positioned unfortunately very near the
radiants of both these showers.
August 31 - Andromedid Meteors - In 1885
observers recorded up to 13,000 Andromedid meteors from this radiant in a one
hour period (!). This quite unpredictable meteor shower originates from
debris of Biela's Comet and there are years when the Earth appears to pass
directly through dense portions of the old comet cloud and some years where no
meteors will be seen. This year, the moon a bit greater than quarter and
will set after midnight so observations should take place early, concentrating
overhead, but with feet toward the north east horizon.
