SkyEye

Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events.

August 2007

All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT).
Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for 45° N and 30° S.
Like total solar eclipses, lunar occultation events can be seen only from limited regions on Earth (and sometimes not at all if the occultation takes place during daylight hours). However, the Moon will appear close in the sky to its "target" for some hours either side of the actual occultation, regardless of where you are.

Date		Event
1	Wed	A cross-quarter day occurs midway between solstices and equinoxes.
2	Thu
3	Fri	Moon at perigee
4	Sat
5	Sun	Last Quarter Moon
6	Mon
7	Tue
8	Wed
9	Thu	Unlike last month, the Moon does not interfere with the Delta Aquariid meteor shower.
10	Fri
11	Sat
12	Sun	New Moon
13	Mon	Dark skies mean an excellent year for observing the famous Perseid meteor shower.
13	Mon	Neptune at opposition
14	Tue
15	Wed	Mercury at superior conjunction
16	Thu
17	Fri
18	Sat	Venus at inferior conjunction
19	Sun	Moon at apogee
20	Mon	First Quarter Moon
21	Tue	Saturn at conjunction
22	Wed	Moon occults first-magnitude star Antares: visible from New Zealand and the Antarctic.
23	Thu
24	Fri
25	Sat
26	Sun
27	Mon
28	Tue	Total eclipse of the Full Moon
29	Wed
30	Thu
31	Fri	Moon at perigee

The Solar System

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. Dwarf planets and small solar-system bodies are not so constrained, often moving far above or below the ecliptic.

Sun: Cancer -> Leo
Mercury: Gemini -> Cancer -> Leo
This tiny planet disappears from the morning sky early in the month as it goes for superior conjunction on 15 August. It reappears in the western sky after sunset at the end of August, quite low as seen from the northern hemisphere but climbing rapidly for southern hemisphere observers.
Venus: Sextans -> Hydra -> Cancer
Like its neighbour, Venus also has a date with the Sun: our sister world is at inferior conjunction on 18 August. Our "evening star" disappears early in the month, reappearing very late in August as the "morning star" just before sunrise in the east.
Mars: Taurus
The red planet now rises before midnight. It will continue to brighten through the end of the year.
Jupiter: Ophiuchus
This giant planet sets at about the same time that Mars rises so look for it in the west after sunset.
Saturn: Leo
At conjunction on 21 August, the ringed planet is lost to view in the solar glare this month.
Uranus: Aquarius
With opposition approaching next month, Uranus is up nearly all night.
Neptune: Capricornus
A small telescope is necessary to view the most distant planet in the solar system. Neptune is at opposition on 22 August but is eighth magnitude at best.

The Celestial Sphere

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

For More Information...

Consult our online glossary for non-technical explanations of many of the astronomical terms used in these pages.
Blue moons, eclipses, the dates of Easter and much more can be found at the Interactive Astronomy Pages.
For more information about the objects and events described in SkyEye, visit these astronomy-related sites.

Credits

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 Hoag's Object in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Discovered in 1950 by astronomer Art Hoag, this unusual ring galaxy is slightly larger than our own Milky Way. The blue ring is dominated by young, massive stars whilst the nucleus is comprised largely of older, yellower stars. Located 600 million light years away in the constellation of Serpens, Hoag's Object was photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope on 9 July 2001.