August Astronomy Adventures

With the sun setting a little earlier each night, the skies of late summer provide a variety of targets for some quick stargazing. Better yet, leave the dirty dishes and the television, grab a cool drink, and sit outside with the family and to really enjoy all the sky has to offer.

High in the eastern sky, the Summer Triangle is the dominant star pattern. Find this basic shape and you are well on your way to nabbing three different constellations.

Low above the southern horizon is Antares, a red star that marks the fiery heart of Scorpius the scorpion. You will need a clear view of the southern horizon to see the whole scorpion, down to the stinger at the tip of his tail.

Hanging in the northwestern sky, the Big Dipper is still just high enough above the trees to be completely visible.

Face north, slightly to the right of the Big Dipper, to locate the Little Dipper. Even on a clear, dark, moonless night, the Little Dipper will be a challenge to spot simply because its stars are not as bright as those of the Big Dipper. The end of the Little Dipper’s handle is Polaris, the North Star. From Polaris, the Little Dipper curls in towards the handle of the Big Dipper.

There is one bright star rising in the southeast at sunset that will certainly grab you attention, especially because there are no other bright stars nearby to compete. This ‘star’ is really Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.

On or near July 19, Jupiter was hit by either a comet or asteroid. The impact left a large mark in the planet’s atmosphere. This mark was discovered by an amateur astronomer in Australia. Soon afterwards, telescopes around the world, including the newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, turned their attention to the giant planet. The impact mark may remain visible for a few weeks, but it will be difficult to see without a large telescope. Visit hubblesite.org for some of the sharpest pictures of this event.

Stay out long enough in the dark, and you may notice a hazy band of light stretching from the northern horizon, through the Summer Triangle, down past the tail of the scorpion in the south. This is the Milky Way. Summer is an excellent time to look for the Milky Way, but your sky needs to be clear and dark, far away from city lights.

Get up before the sun to see the eastern sky ablaze with spectacular sights. Venus rules the dawn as the brightest object in the sky except for the Sun and Moon. On the morning of Monday, August 17, a thin crescent Moon will make a nice companion for Venus.

By 5 am, Orion the hunter is lying on his side to the right of Venus, at about the same height above the horizon. Taurus the bull is bearing down above Orion with the pretty Pleiades star cluster high in the eastern sky as the Sun begins to overtake the night.

Maybe Some Meteors

The Perseid meteor shower is considered to be one of the two best showers of the year. On a clear, dark night, observers might see as many 60 meteors per hour. The shower is predicted to reach maximum before dawn on Wednesday, August 12.

Even though the best time for meteor watching is technically between midnight and dawn, they can be seen by patient observers all night. Also known as “shooting stars,” meteors are not really stars but rather small bits of dust, often left by comets, These particles burn up in the atmosphere as Earth plows into them in space.

One nice feature of the Perseid shower is its wide stream of dusty material. This means that some Perseid meteors can be seen three days before and three days after the peak. There is still a chance that you could see some Perseid meteors Friday or Saturday night, when there will be little moonlight to interfere with the show.

Mars as Large as the Full Moon? Not!

Mars is far away and faint, barely worth looking at right now. That’s true even if you received an email promising “Mars will appear as large as the full moon this summer”. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet!

That email has been going around since 2003, when Mars was closer to Earth than at any time in the past 60,000 years. But even then, Mars never looked that big!

However, Mars will be a nice telescope target in December and January when Earth passes Mars in its orbit. Join us for winter star parties later this year for a genuine close-up look at the red planet.

Summer Star Parties

The next free public star party is set for 8:30-10:30 PM on Saturday, August 15 at the Special Events Field at Edwin Warner Park. Jupiter will rise late in the evening, and if you watch carefully, you might also see a few Perseid meteors streak across the sky. The Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society will set up telescopes so everyone can enjoy these celestial sights. The best part: it’s all FREE!

Directions to both star party locations are available on our star parties page. Be sure to wear bug spray and comfortable clothes to the star party. No spike heels or neck ties allowed! Please note that star parties may be cancelled due to poor weather. If the weather is questionable, visit our web site or call AstroLine at (615) 401-5092 before leaving home.