What’s Up in the August Sky
August’s Evening Planets
Bright Venus will be in Virgo the Virgin until around 9 PM. Red Mars will be up all night, between Capricornus the Sea Goat and Sagittarius the Archer. Jupiter will be in Libra the Scales until midnight at the beginning of August and setting earlier every night until 10 PM by the end of the month. Uranus will be in Pisces the Fish around midnight and rising earlier every day. Neptune is in Aquarius the Water Bearer all night. Saturn and dwarf Pluto will be in Sagittarius the Archer.
August’s Evening Stars
Spot the Summer Triangle of Vega in Lyra the Harp, Deneb in Cygnus the Swan, and Altair in Aquila the Eagle all night. See Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion, Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, and Arcturus in Boötes the Herdsman. Also, find the stars of constellations Ophiuchus, Libra, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Hercules, Aquarius, Andromeda, Draco, Pegasus, and Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Big and Little Dippers).
August Evening Skycharts
Two charts of the morning sky for early in the month, followed by later.
Sky Safari star map annotated with Annotable by Peter Tagatac.
Sky Safari star map annotated with Annotable by Peter Tagatac.
August’s Morning Planets
Mars will be up until 5 AM at the beginning of August and setting earlier every night. Uranus will be in Pisces the Fish and Neptune is in Aquarius the Water Bearer until sunrise. In the second half of the month, Mercury will be between Cancer the Crab and Leo the Lion as of 5 AM.
August’s Morning Stars
See the Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb, and Altair. Look for Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull, Castor and Pollux in in Gemini the Twins, Beetlejuice and Rigel in Orion the Hunter, as well as the stars of constellations Lyra, Aquarius, Cetus, Orion, Pisces, Aries, Draco, Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Andromeda, Perseus, and Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Big and Little Dippers).
August Morning Skycharts
Two charts of the morning sky for early in the month, followed by later.
Sky Safari star map annotated with Annotable by Peter Tagatac.
Sky Safari star map annotated with Annotable by Peter Tagatac.
August Skylights
Aug 4 Last Quarter Moon at 2:20 PM
Aug 5 Spica, Jupiter, Antares, Saturn, and Mars line up around 9 PM looking south
Aug 10 Moon at perigee (222,500 miles away)
Aug 11 New Moon at 6:00 AM
Aug 13 Perseid meteor shower peaks, pre-dawn
Aug 18 First Quarter Moon at 3:50 AM
Aug 23 Moon at apogee (252,100 miles away)
Aug 26 Full Moon at 7:55 AM
Times given in EDT.
