Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue | Cross-quarter days are midway between solstices and equinoxes. |
| Moon occults Spica: this event begins at approximately 0100 UT but only the end of the occulation is visible in dark skies from the southernmost parts of South America. | ||
| 2 | Wed | First Quarter Moon |
| Jupiter at east quadrature | ||
| 3 | Thu | |
| 4 | Fri | Moon occults Antares: visible from the southern ocean between Africa and Antarctica beginning at about 1800 UT. |
| 5 | Sat | |
| 6 | Sun | |
| 7 | Mon | Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| Saturn at conjunction | ||
| 8 | Tue | The Delta Aquariids meteor shower is washed out by the light of the nearly Full Moon. |
| 9 | Wed | Full Moon |
| 10 | Thu | Moon at perigee |
| 11 | Fri | Neptune at opposition |
| Moon occults Uranus: visible from approximately 0600 UT in most of South America south of the equator. | ||
| 12 | Sat | This year's appearance of the Perseids meteor shower is not enhanced by the waning Moon. |
| 1 Ceres at opposition at eighth magnitude in the constellation Piscis Austrinus | ||
| 13 | Sun | |
| 14 | Mon | |
| 15 | Tue | |
| 16 | Wed | Last Quarter Moon |
| 17 | Thu | |
| 18 | Fri | |
| 19 | Wat | |
| 20 | Sun | |
| 21 | Mon | |
| 22 | Tue | |
| 23 | Wed | New Moon |
| 24 | Thu | |
| 25 | Fri | Moon occults Mars during daylight hours |
| 26 | Sat | Moon at apogee |
| 27 | Sun | |
| 28 | Mon | Moon occults Spica during daylight hours |
| 29 | Tue | |
| 30 | Wed | |
| 31 | Thu | First Quarter Moon: The second Full Moon in a month is popularly known as a Blue Moon but there is no special name for the second First Quarter Moon in a month. |
The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars.
| Object | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Cancer -> Leo |
|
| Mercury | Gemini -> Cancer -> Leo |
The nearest planet to the Sun is at greatest elongation west on 7 August. It is a morning sky object and is best viewed this month from the northern hemisphere. It appears quite close to Venus on 10 August. |
| Venus | Gemini -> Cancer -> Leo |
The "morning star" is getting closer to the horizon with each passing day. Northern hemisphere observers have the best views of our nearest neighbour for the rest of the year but it never gets very high in the sky. |
| Mars | Leo -> Virgo |
The red planet is getting increasingly difficult to spot as it is not far from the solar disc in the west after sunset. It is occulted by the Moon on 25 August. |
| Jupiter | Libra | East quadrature on 2 August makes this an excellent time to observe (through a small telescope) the interplay of shadows between the disc of the planet and the four Galilean satellites. Look soon after sunset because Jupiter is setting earlier and earlier in the evening. |
| Saturn | Cancer | Because it's at conjunction on 7 August, the ringed planet is too close to the Sun to be observed in August. Start looking for it in the east just before sunrise at the end of the month. |
| Uranus | Aquarius | Uranus rises about an hour after its neighbour Neptune and is up most of the night this month. |
| Neptune | Capricornus | This distant gas giant is at opposition on 11 August and is visible (with binoculars or a small telescope) all night. |
Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.
Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.
| Local Time | Northern Hemisphere | Southern Hemisphere |
|---|---|---|
| 1730 hours (1830 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 1930 hours (2030 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 2130 hours (2230 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 2330 hours (0030 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0130 hours (0230 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0330 hours (0430 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0530 hours (0630 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop at Furman University.
The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. The composite image from May 1998 combines EIT images from three wavelengths (171Å, 195Å and 284Å) into one that reveals solar features unique to each wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
Copyright © 1995-2006 by David Harper and L.M. Stockman