August Night Sky
Sky events for this month & objects for observation and can be found here.
Click to enlarge. A larger printable version of this chart can also be found here.
Perseid Meteors
The famous Perseid meteors make their appearance this month, having started in mid July and peaking the evening of August 12th and 13th. The Perseid meteors - leftover debris from an extinct comet - get their name from the constellation of Perseus - the direction from which they all seem to "radiate" from.
The famous Perseid meteors make their appearance this month, having started in mid July and peaking the evening of August 12th and 13th. The Perseid meteors - leftover debris from an extinct comet - get their name from the constellation of Perseus - the direction from which they all seem to "radiate" from.
The warmer summer evenings and the generally good weather and brightness of the meteor shower make it a perennial favorite. Unfortunately this year the moon will be near full phase and quite bright, interfering with being able to see the fainter meteors that come with a meteor shower. Watching for Perseids on the mornings of August 9th through August 11th will be more ideal for viewing the greatest numbers of meteors. Luckily you will still be able to see the brighter meteors and fireballs for which the Perseids are famous. While the Perseids gradually build up prior to their peak, they fall off rapidly afterward, but may be seen up to 10 days later.
General advice for meteor-watching.
No special equipment or knowledge of the constellations is needed.
As with most astronomy related activities, you'll need to find a dark, open sky to enjoy the show. An open sky is also important because most meteors fly across the sky in many different directions and through numerous constellations.
Meteor counts increase after midnight as the Earth rotates head-on into the meteors as it travels in orbit around the Sun.
Give yourself at least an hour of observing time, because meteor showers come in spurts and interspersed with lulls. Remember, your eyes can take as long as 20 minutes to adapt to the darkness of night. So don’t rush the process.
Know that the meteors of a specific shower all appear to come from a single point in the sky. If you trace the paths of the Perseid meteors backwards, you’d find they all come from a point in front of the constellation Perseus. Don’t worry about which stars are Perseus. Just enjoying knowing and observing that they all come from one place on the sky’s dome.
Enjoy the comfort of a reclining lawn chair. Bring along a blanket and a thermos filled with a hot drink.
Remember all good things come to those who wait. Meteors are part of nature. There’s no way to predict exactly how many you’ll see on any given night. Find a good spot, watch and wait.
General advice for meteor-watching.
No special equipment or knowledge of the constellations is needed.
As with most astronomy related activities, you'll need to find a dark, open sky to enjoy the show. An open sky is also important because most meteors fly across the sky in many different directions and through numerous constellations.
Meteor counts increase after midnight as the Earth rotates head-on into the meteors as it travels in orbit around the Sun.
Give yourself at least an hour of observing time, because meteor showers come in spurts and interspersed with lulls. Remember, your eyes can take as long as 20 minutes to adapt to the darkness of night. So don’t rush the process.
Know that the meteors of a specific shower all appear to come from a single point in the sky. If you trace the paths of the Perseid meteors backwards, you’d find they all come from a point in front of the constellation Perseus. Don’t worry about which stars are Perseus. Just enjoying knowing and observing that they all come from one place on the sky’s dome.
Enjoy the comfort of a reclining lawn chair. Bring along a blanket and a thermos filled with a hot drink.
Remember all good things come to those who wait. Meteors are part of nature. There’s no way to predict exactly how many you’ll see on any given night. Find a good spot, watch and wait.
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The Perseids often have bright fireballs of various colors, and can leave persistent trails of meteor dust.
Saturn In View
Saturn will be well placed for observation for the next several months. Right now Saturn resides in the constellation Sagittarius. It will be visible for much of the night, reaching its highest point in the sky around midnight local time. However, for northern hemisphere observers it is low in the sky along the ecliptic, and therefore is more susceptible to atmospheric turbulence for telescopic observation. Check the local "seeing" conditions for your area for the best times to observe. Saturn will present a view of its beautiful ring system even in the smallest telescope, and under conditions of excellent atmospheric steadiness, it is quite an amazing sight:
Saturn will be well placed for observation for the next several months. Right now Saturn resides in the constellation Sagittarius. It will be visible for much of the night, reaching its highest point in the sky around midnight local time. However, for northern hemisphere observers it is low in the sky along the ecliptic, and therefore is more susceptible to atmospheric turbulence for telescopic observation. Check the local "seeing" conditions for your area for the best times to observe. Saturn will present a view of its beautiful ring system even in the smallest telescope, and under conditions of excellent atmospheric steadiness, it is quite an amazing sight:
Saturn at opposition 2017, photo by James Martin
The rings of Saturn
Saturn, like the Earth, has a rotational axis which is tilted with respect to its orbit around the Sun. This results in Saturn presenting different tilts towards observers on the Earth throughout a Saturnian year - 29 Earth years. Saturn will be angled to show its northern hemisphere at this opposition, and the rings will inclined at an angle of 24° to our line of sight, which is almost the maximum inclination they can have. This means they will be well presented:
Saturn, like the Earth, has a rotational axis which is tilted with respect to its orbit around the Sun. This results in Saturn presenting different tilts towards observers on the Earth throughout a Saturnian year - 29 Earth years. Saturn will be angled to show its northern hemisphere at this opposition, and the rings will inclined at an angle of 24° to our line of sight, which is almost the maximum inclination they can have. This means they will be well presented:
Saturn's ring system is truly one of the most beautiful things you can see in the night sky, so don't miss and opportunity to view Saturn through a telescope. Such views have caused awe and wonder for generations of would-be amateur astronomers and the public. One can never tire of seeing them.
Noctilucent Cloud Outbreak
If you've never seen a cloud of frosted meteor smoke, now is the time to look. 2019 is shaping up to be the best year for noctilucent clouds (NLCs) - maybe ever. Normally confined to near-Arctic latitudes, NLCs have been seen this month in most US states.
If you've never seen a cloud of frosted meteor smoke, now is the time to look. 2019 is shaping up to be the best year for noctilucent clouds (NLCs) - maybe ever. Normally confined to near-Arctic latitudes, NLCs have been seen this month in most US states.
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Noctilucent clouds make a spectacular display over the Chippewa Flowage in northwestern Wisconsin on June 8th around 10 p.m. "The sky was like moving waves," said photographer Marilee Morris.
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Noctilucent clouds form every year when wisps of summertime water vapor rise to the top of Earth's atmosphere and crystallize around specks of meteor smoke. The season typically starts in late May, peaks in July, and peters out in August. If NLCs are being seen in California and New Mexico in June, the season's peak in early July could be very special indeed.
Noctilucent clouds have been creeping south for years--a possible result of climate change and/or the solar cycle. 2019 has broken all the old records for southern sightings, bringing the clouds into the mainstream of mid- to low-latitude sky watching. Now everyone should be alert for NLCs.
Observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset (or before sunrise) when the sun is just below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you may have spotted a noctilucent cloud.
Source: spaceweather.com
Jupiter Well Placed For Observation
Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, takes center stage in the evening night sky. However, for northern hemisphere observers it is low in the sky along the ecliptic, and therefore is more susceptible to atmospheric turbulence for telescopic observation. Check the local "seeing" conditions for your area for the best times to observe.
Even binoculars will show Jupiter's disc and the four bright "Galilean moons." In a telescope, one can clearly see this "gas giant" planet has an elliptical versus circular shape, caused by a rapid rotational period of almost 10 hours. Also easily visible are the bright moons Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede, which at times cast shadows on Jupiter's cloud tops.
The most prominent feature on Jupiter is the Great Red Spot, which is the longest lasting storm known in the solar system, present since telescopic observations of Jupiter were made over 300 years ago. The GRS has been slowly shrinking over the past many decades, and recently, some relatively rapid changes have been taking place, and there is speculation that this storm may be unraveling over the next few decades. Since mid-May, Jupiter's Great Red Spot has contracted by 3000 km, reducing the size of the anti-cyclone by more than 20%. This 10-day movie created by Marco Vedovato of the JUPOS Project shows what's happening:
Enormous rivulets of red gas can be seen streaming away from the storm as it spins. "This is something we've never seen before," says Vedovato, who assembled the animation by stitching together images from nearly a dozen amateur astronomers.
