By Dennis Herrmann
August always brings the year’s most dependable meteor shower into our view, and so the PERSEID meteor shower will peak once again just before dawn on August 12th. The Perseids, named after the constellation from which they appear to come, PERSEUS, the hero, produce lots of meteors (up to 100 per hour under optimal conditions), and this year their peak occurs when the Moon is out of the sky. The waxing crescent Moon will set around 10:30 pm local daylight time and will not be a factor in seeing the meteors. Indeed, the direction we look is northeast, nearly opposite where the Moon set, and where Perseus will rise into the early morning sky. Both the mornings of August 12 and 13thshould reward skywatchers with plenty of meteors if we look anytime between about 1:30 to 4:30 am. (No later than one hour before sunrise).
Meanwhile the brightest planet and the prettiest planet will compete for our attention as night descends throughout August. Venus, the brightest planet appears first, above the western horizon unrivaled by any other celestial point of light at magnitude –3.9. As soon as a half hour after sunset, Venus will sparkle about 10 degrees above the western horizon all month. On August 9th, the thin crescent Moon will be just 5 degrees south (lower left) of Venus. The two will be close enough to make a really lovely sight with the naked eye or with a pair of binoculars. Both the Moon and Venus are among the stars of Virgo between August 9 and 12 with the Moon quite close to Spica, Virgo’s brightest star on August 10th. Venus will appear to trek in its orbit across Virgo for the rest of August. Venus will pass close to Spica on the 31st.
Saturn is also among the stars of Virgo this month, and can lay claim to being the “prettiest” planet. It would be hard to find many to disagree with this. Saturn is significantly “higher” above the horizon than Venus. On August 1st, it is 20 degrees above the western horizon but descends toward the Sun and the horizon so that by the 31st it will be only 10 degrees above it. On August 12th, the waxing crescent Moon will be just below Saturn and between Saturn and Spica. The three objects will make a kind of triangle of light points. The Moon will appear 35% lit, and 5 degrees below Saturn, and about 8 degrees to the upper left of Spica. (Remember 10 degrees is about the space you can cover against the sky with a clenched fist extended out at arm’s length.) Saturn does shine at magnitude 0.7 but its true glory; its rings, are only revealed in telescopes.
In the early morning sky before sun-up, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury may be found; with Jupiter the brightest and easiest to see. Jupiter is bright at –2.0 magnitude and rises higher and sooner with each passing day this month. By August 31st, it will be rising around 2 am, but not be too much above the horizon until 4 or 5 am. Mars is close to Jupiter (just below) in early August, but at +1.6, Mars is not really bright and even in a telescope it does not offer much detail now because it is far away from Earth. However, Mercury makes a nice appearance which began in very late July so that on August 1st it will be 10 degrees above the eastern horizon, 30 to 45 minutes before the sun rises. It will brighten from –0.1 to –1.0 magnitude from August 1 to 9, and if we use Jupiter as a guide to find Mercury, we just need to look below Jupiter and slightly left. On August 31st too, the waning crescent Moon will be just below Jupiter.
The Moon’s phases for August: 1st quarter on August 14th; Full Moon on August 20, and Last quarter on August 28.
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