If you could view some of the celestial events in July and are eager to see more, don’t worry, August is lined with many interesting events!
We start with an event that might be of great interest to people interested in viewing the constellations, the New Moon. On August 4, the sky will be Moonless allowing more constellations to be viewed in the night sky. In case you missed out on the blog about the celestial events in July, a Moonless is ideal for stargazing because the Moon blocks off a lot of the light coming from the stars, making them quite faint in the sky.
On August 7 and 8, Venus and Mercury will come together to form a conjunction in the sky, meaning that the two planets will appear to be quite close to each other. This event has a lot of astrological history as the conjunction of Mercury and Venus is generally a sign of harmonious communication among people, perfect for those who argue a lot!
The meteor showers this summer continue as the Perseid meteor shower will peak in the middle of August. This shower comes from the debris of the Swift-Tuttle comet with meteors ranging from 100 meteors per hour. This event can be best viewed away from city lights, and late in the night of August 12 and early morning of August 13.
The next event is great for avid Moon gazers as it is the full Moon, which will peak on August 19. Note, however, that this is not just a plain old moon, it's a supermoon. Basically, the Moon will appear to be larger and brighter in the night sky. This occurs when the Moon is closest to the earth and happens around three to four times per year. This month’s Moon is called a Sturgeon Moon, whose name originates from the abundance of sturgeons caught in the Great Lakes in the late summer.
The fun continues the next day when Saturn and the full Moon will be in conjunction. The planet will appear below the Moon and can be visible with the naked eye, but if you have a telescope, you may be able to see the planet in more detail. If you live in northern South America and Europe, you may be able to see the Moon oscillating Saturn, which is essentially the Moon moving in front of Saturn and Saturn will reappear on the other side of the Moon.
For those interested in photographing astronomical events, August 27 is the perfect day to put those skills to use! Mars and Jupiter will join the waning crescent moon in the early hours of August 27 in the eastern sky forming a beautiful alignment that you should try to see! Jupiter will be a bright dot in the sky while Mars will be to the lower left of Jupiter and will have a reddish hue.
There are many other celestial events lined up for this month so be sure to check out which ones can be viewed locally and pray for decent weather!
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