Night Sky

August 2007

I would like to acknowledge the generosity of Arthur Davis, whose monthly 'Sky Notes' hand-outs provide much of the information on this page.

Planets

Planet		Position / Events
	Mercury	Reaches superior conjunction on 15th. Poorly placed.
	Venus	Reaches inferior conjunction on 18th. A morning object thereafter, well placed once again by month's end.
	Mars	Becoming brighter throughout August. Reaches mag +0.5 on 7th, when it will be a little south of the Pleiades.
	Jupiter	Will set before midnight from early this month, but is bright in the evenings (mag -2.2).
	Saturn	Reaches conjunction on 21st. Poorly placed.
	Uranus	An evening object (mag +5.7). Currently lies in Aquarius.
	Neptune	An evening object (mag +7.8). Currently lies in Capricorn.

 

For a more precise schedule of the rising and setting times of the planets, please visit Heavens Above.

Meteor Showers

The table below lists August's major showers. Visit Gary Kronk's page of August radiants for more information on this month's showers.

Note also that the night of the Perseid maximum this year (2007) will be clear due to a new moon (see below), making for near-ideal viewing conditions... as long as the weather holds!

Name	Peak ZHR* (No. & Date)		Duration
Perseids	> 50	Night of 12/13 Aug	23 July - 22 Aug
* ZHR = Zenithal Hourly Rate

 

Phases of the Moon

 

Date (Aug)	1 - 4	5	6 - 11	12	13 - 19	20	21 - 27	28	29 - 31
Phase
	Waning, gibbous	Last Quarter	Waning, crescent	New	Waxing, crescent	First Quarter	Waxing, gibbous	Full	Waning, gibbous

 

The Sun

Solar Minimum passed last autumn (2006), so sunspot activity will gradually increase over the next five years or so.

It is always important to remember to never look directly at the Sun, especially not through binoculars or telescopes. Serious permanent damage can be done to your eyes. Always project an image of the Sun onto paper or card in order to make observations.

Visit the Astronomy Now site for more observational information.