The "stars" of August are actually meteors and planets. As it always seems to be. The full moon is wrapping up and it's time to get my crystals and rocks off the window ledge, they are done charging and are now ready to help me with balancing the energies in my world and manifesting what I want to manifest, higher vibrations and such. I am currently searching for a new crystal, citrine. Jupiter and Saturn are at opposition this month. Saturn opposition occurs on the first say of the month, August 1st (August 2nd if you're in Europe according to BBC Sky at Night Magazine). Jupiter opposition occurs on August 19th. "In astronomy, opposition describes when a planet or other body is in the opposite part of the sky to the Sun. At such times, planets appear brighter and larger than at other non-opposition times." (BBC Sky at Night Magazine). In other words, it's a great time to try and see these planets with a naked eye, though binoculars, nightscopes, and telescopes will give better views, of course. At opposition, Jupiter will shine at -2.9 magnitude, and should be handsomely and pretty finely detailed through a good telescope. "Jupiter and Saturn—the two largest planets in our solar system—both come to opposition this month, making them each optimally bright, big, and out all night." (NIGHT SKY FOR AUGUST 2021- The Old Farmer's Almanac). "The Moon and Venus will pass within 4°17′ of one another on the night of August 10th. This is too far apart to view through a telescope or binocular view, but don’t let that dissuade you. Venus is bright and the Moon will be only 11% illuminated making it a perfect night to view them both." (Space Tourism Guide). Peak Perseids! "Given a young Moon, the Perseid meteors will perform at full glory on August 11 and 12. This is the most watched meteor shower of the year. The post-midnight hours are best for viewing these very fast shooting stars." (NIGHT SKY FOR AUGUST 2021- The Old Farmer's Almanac). August 18 – Peak of the K-Cygnid Meteor Shower. "On this night, you can look for the peak of the κ-Cygnid meteor shower at a rate of roughly 3 meteors per hour. This meteor shower is not as bombastic as the Perseids a few days earlier, but the moon will be only 1% illuminated – nearly new – and ideal for a night of stargazing and meteor spotting, even if those shooting stars are quite infrequent." (Space Tourism Guide). On August 20th, the moon and Saturn will closely approach one another. On August 21st the moon and Jupiter will closely approach one another. I try to give a night sky report as if to a person who doesn't have a pair of binoculars or a telescope and wants to try and see things with the naked eye. Doing this is harder the more light pollution you have (if you live in a heavily populated city with lots of lights at night). Your best bet at seeing planets with the naked eye is to remember the rule, "stars twinkle, planets don't." Planets will have a steady sort of light to them. But of course, the best thing would be to get a telescope. Even an inexpensive one would afford you some better view of the stars and planets. I only have a nightscope and binoculars. I do okay with those for now. I would like to have a telescope someday, when we have the room for it and a sky with enough stars and planets to see with it (and no city light pollution!) If you have scopes to see with, visit the websites below for more viewing options, such as asteroids in opposition this month. Always keep looking up! You never know what you'll see up there! Websites:
BBC Sky at Night Magazine: www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/how-see-planets-night-sky-august/ Space Tourism Guide: https://spacetourismguide.com/night-sky-august/ NIGHT SKY FOR AUGUST 2021- The Old Farmer's Almanac: https://www.almanac.com/night-sky-august-2021
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I said I was going to make monthly posts for Astronomy News, but got a late start for this month. Blame my birthday and the 4th of July. Sorry about that.
So I will cover now (7/13/21) until the end of the month. Saturday, July 17 - First Quarter Moon (at 10:10 GMT) "When the moon completes the first quarter of its orbit around Earth at 6:10 a.m. EDT on Saturday, July 17 (or 10:10 GMT) its 90 degree angle away from the sun will cause us to see the moon half-illuminated - on its eastern side. At first quarter, the moon always rises around mid-day and sets around midnight, so it is also visible in the afternoon daytime sky. The evenings surrounding first quarter are the best ones for seeing the lunar terrain when it is dramatically lit by low-angled sunlight, especially along the terminator, the pole-to-pole boundary between the lit and dark hemispheres." Saturday, July 17 - NUNO - National UFO Night Out (as soon as it gets dark out, wherever you are) From the groups Reddit page: "Instead of tirelessly debating things we can't know, we should be out there looking at the skies with cameras and optics and collecting evidence. We could altogether get some buzz going about a certain date in UFO communities here, on Twitter and Youtube and wherever else. Pick a single night we all spent as much time as we can under the stars and report back any evidence of anomalous stuff." So they picked this Saturday. I'm ready with my IR night vision scope I got for my birthday. Link to their main page: https://linktr.ee/NunoSkywatch Friday, July 23 - Full Thunder Moon (at 2:37 GMT) "The moon will reach its full phase on Friday, July 23 at 10:37 p.m. EDT (or 02:37 GMT on Saturday, July 24). The July full moon, commonly called the Buck Moon, Thunder Moon, or Hay Moon, always shines in or near the stars of Sagittarius or Capricornus. The indigenous Ojibwe people of the Great Lakes region call this moon Abitaa-niibini Giizis, the Halfway Summer Moon, or Mskomini Giizis, the Raspberry Moon. The Cherokees call it Guyegwoni, the Corn in Tassel Moon. The Cree Nation of central Canada calls the June full moon Opaskowipisim, the Feather Moulting Moon (referring to wild water-fowl habits), and the Mohawks call it Ohiarihkó:wa, the Fruits are Ripened Moon. Because the moon is full when it is opposite the sun in the sky, full moons always rise in the east as the sun is setting, and set in the west at sunrise. Since sunlight is striking the moon vertically at that time, no shadows are cast; all of the variations in brightness you see arise from differences in the reflectivity, or albedo, of the lunar surface rocks." Saturday, July 24 - Bright Moon below Saturn and Jupiter (all night) "While the moon’s monthly visit with the gas giant planets will begin with Saturn on the previous evening, skywatchers who are outside on Saturday night, July 24 will find our slightly-less-than-full natural satellite shining very brightly below and between bright Jupiter on the left (or celestial northeast) and Saturn on the right (celestial northwest). After they finish rising around 9:30 p.m. local time the trio will make a nice wide-field photo opportunity when composed with some interesting scenery." Thursday, July 29 - Southern Delta-Aquariids Meteors Peak (at 5:00 GMT) "The annual Southern Delta Aquariids meteor shower lasts from July 21 to August 23. It will peak before dawn on Thursday, July 29, but it is quite active for a week surrounding that date. This shower, produced by debris dropped from periodic Comet 96P/Machholz, commonly generates 15-20 meteors per hour at the peak. It is best enjoyed from the southern tropics, where the shower’s radiant, in southern Aquarius, climbs higher in the sky. Unfortunately, the bright gibbous moon shining in the night-time sky on the peak date will severely reduce the number of meteors seen – so continue your meteor-watching on the following few nights, when the moon will wane and rise later." Night Sky News for July copied from space.com. Got to this link for more sky stuff for July (especially if you have a nice telescope): https://www.space.com/16149-night-sky.html Happy Solstice!
We passed through the solstice Sunday 6/20 at around 11:32 pm."This is when the Sun is farthest north for the year (in Earth's sky) and begins its six-month return southward." I've been under the weather, so the astronomy post is a bit late-sh this week. Also, I'm taking from a different site this week. Just to mix things up a bit. Tuesday, June 22nd: "The nearly-full Moon shines over Antares this evening. By 11 or midnight they're due south on the meridian, as shown below, meaning that Scorpius is as high as it gets." Wednesday, June 23rd: "Mars is passing through the heart of the Beehive Star Cluster, M44, this evening for North America. Get your binoculars or low-power, wide-field telescope on Mars, very low in the west-northwest, right at the end of dusk. (Faint Mars is about a fist at arm's length upper left of bright Venus.) At the time of dusk at other longitudes around the world, Mars will be more toward one edge of the cluster." Thursday, June 24th: "Full Moon (exact at 2:40 p.m. EDT). The Moon rises in twilight about a half hour after sunset." Saturday, June 26th: "On the eastern side of the sky, the big Summer Triangle holds sway after dark. Its top star is Vega, the brightest in all the east." (Vega is supposed to be the star I was born under. I found a thing online, but in the co-ordinates for the location of the town where I was born, and the time, and vroom! Vega is my star.) This week's Night Sky News was taken from "Sky & Telescope" magazine: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-june-18-26/ This week, it's all about galaxies and asteroids! Highlights of "Night Sky News" copied from from Astronomy.com's weekly feature "The Sky This Week": Saturday, June 5 The constellation Virgo, now high in the southwest at sunset, hosts a smorgasbord of galaxies. That’s because in its direction sits the aptly named Virgo Supercluster. The cluster itself contains at least 100,000 galaxies; but tonight, we’re focusing in on just eight. Known as Markarian’s Chain, these galaxies sit in the sky near magnitude 4.9 Rho (ρ) Virginis. NGC 4438 sits roughly in the center of the chain, so if you have a go-to scope and can plug in its name or coordinates (Right Ascension: 12h27m45.6s, Declination: 13°00'31"), you’ll align your sights right where you want them to be. (Three galaxies! And we think we're alone in the universe!) Sunday, June 6 Asteroid 3 Juno reaches opposition at 6 P.M. EDT. Located in the large constellation Ophiuchus, you’ll find it rising this evening in the southeast after sunset. Roughly magnitude 10, you should be able to catch the small world with large binoculars or a small scope, as it floats 5° west-northwest of magnitude 4.5 47 Ophiuchi. Juno falls in the top 10 largest asteroids, spanning about 145 miles (243 km) across. It was the third asteroid discovered, as indicated by its number, and was first identified in September 1804 by Karl Harding. Once you’ve spotted Juno, it’s worth staying in the area to have a look around. Ophiuchus is a rich area and serves as home to several deep-sky objects, including seven Messier globulars sprinkled throughout the constellation: M9, M10, M12, M14, M19, M62, and M107. Sunrise: 5:32 A.M. Sunset: 8:26 P.M. Moonrise: 3:33 A.M. Monday, June 7 The crescent Moon passes 2° south of Uranus at 2 A.M. EDT. You can’t see them at that time, but the pair is rising in the east about an hour before sunrise if you want to try your luck then. At that time, they’re about 3° apart, with the now 8-percent-lit Moon sitting directly below Uranus in Aries the Ram. Uranus shines a dim magnitude 5.9, which will require binoculars to see in the growing twilight. If you choose binoculars with a wide field of view, you should be able to get both objects at once. Uranus spans a mere 3" across and will appear as a grayish, flat “star.” Another 11.5° above the planet (relative to the horizon) is Hamal, Aries’ 2nd-magnitude alpha star. The Moon also reaches apogee — the farthest point in its egg-shaped orbit around Earth — at 10:27 P.M. EDT. At that time, our satellite will sit 252,418 miles (406,227 km) away. Sunrise: 5:32 A.M. Sunset: 8:27 P.M. Moonrise: 3:57 A.M. Moonset: 6:02 P.M. Moon Phase: Waning crescent (7%) Wednesday, June 9 Asteroid 4 Vesta is currently sliding past a popular trio of galaxies known as the Leo Triplet. These three spirals — M65, M66, and NGC 3628 — lie between Theta and Iota (ι) Leonis and tonight, magnitude 7.5 Vesta is about 35' to their southwest. You can capture the 300-mile-wide (480 km) asteroid easily in most binoculars, and M66 is visible through 10x50s from the suburbs. The Triplet’s fainter components are more challenging, requiring at least 15x50 binoculars or a small scope. Any instrument or magnification that can fit a little more than a Full Moon (which spans about 30') into its field of view will do. The asteroid will remain in the Triplet’s neighborhood for another few days, so you can return to try again for the rest of the week if your views are hampered tonight or if you’re looking to spot the small world’s motion from night to night. Sunrise: 5:31 A.M. Sunset: 8:28 P.M. Moonrise: 4:55 A.M. Moonset: 8:02 P.M. Moon Phase: Waning crescent (0.5%) Friday, June 11 Venus appears low in the western sky at sunset, blazing a bright magnitude –3.9. It remains visible until nearly 10 P.M. Tonight, it’s sharing the constellation Gemini with a thin crescent Moon. The two hang less than 3° apart. Between them is 3rd-magnitude Mebsuta, an aging class G supergiant star that shines thousands of times brighter than the Sun, but whose surface temperature is much cooler. Through a telescope, Venus appears about 11" across and is nearly fully lit, showing a phase of 94 percent. That’s in stark contrast to the Moon, which is just over 2 percent lit by the time the pair disappears below the horizon. Binoculars will yield the best view, allowing you to more easily glimpse the thin crescent Moon against the darkening sky. Sunrise: 5:31 A.M. Sunset: 8:29 P.M. Moonrise: 6:15 A.M. Moonset: 9:55 P.M. Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (1%) Here's some highlights from Astronomy.com's The Sky this Week for 5/29/21-6/4/21:
The Sky This Week from Astronomy.com is starring...the Moon!
First in it's fullness and then with an eclipse on the same day...Wednesday 5/26/21. The eclipse is in the morning, and how much of it you can see will depend on where you are. On Friday 5/28, Mercury and Venus will be close to one another. You may be able to see Merc with a good telescope, maybe binoculars, but at a 1.8 apparent magnitude, you won't be able to see it with the naked eye. Details here at Astronomy.com: https://astronomy.com/observing/news/2021/05/the-sky-this-week-from-may-21-to-28 |
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