Saturday morning August 24th about an hour before sunrise local time look for the 23-day old waning gibbous Moon to be about 1o from the reddish star Aldebaran. Aldebaran represents the ‘angry eye’ of Taurus the Bull, and is at the end of the v-shaped open star cluster, the Hyades.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
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According to the pseudoscience of astrology the Sun enters the constellation of Virgo the Maiden on Friday August 23rd. When in fact the actual position of the Sun is toward the west and still within the boundaries of the constellation of Leo the Lion.
Read a little more about how astrology has the Sun incorrectly placed in a previous blog, and in another blog discussing the effects of precession.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
While August signals the end of summer vacation for students and teachers, for sky-watchers the month signals the beginning of the Perseid meteor shower. This annual event occurs when the Earth passes through the path of debris left behind by the Comet P/SwiftTuttle. The Perseids, like all meteor showers, are named for the region of the sky that the meteors seem to radiate from. The Perseids radiant is within the constellation Perseus.
The meteor shower lasts slightly longer than a month, beginning around July 17 and ending around August 24. The best times for viewing, when the maximum number of meteors could be seen (under ideal conditions), is the peak night, on August 13th. The best time for viewing the meteors is after midnight and in the couple of hours before the Sun rises. At this time, our position on the Earth will face directly into the “cloud” of debris.
This year the peak night is 3 days before full Moon which is good news because the waxing gibbous Moon will set at around 4-5 am local time as the area around the Pleiades and the radiant rise in the east. This leaves maybe 2 hours of viewing before the sky brightens too much.
Where should you look to find Perseus and the meteors? For those viewing from mid-northern latitudes (40-50 degrees Perseus rises around midnight over the northeast horizon. By early morning, the Perseids radiant is very high, nearly overhead toward the northeast horizon.
One Perseid Down- Many More to Go?
Perseids: The Peak Night
Here is a wonderful short video about a falling star by Sascha Geddert.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
Sunday August 11th, over the southern horizon, the outer planet Jupiter will be about 6-7o from the reddish star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion. A little further east, just above the handle of the teapot-shaped Sagittarius, is the outer planet Saturn and the 11-day old waxing gibbous Moon separated by about 1-2o.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
Sunday August 11th the Sun in its apparent eastward motion along the ecliptic, moves out of the constellation Cancer the Crab and into the constellation of Leo the Lion. This is the true or actual position of the Sun as opposed to the pseudoscience of astrology which usually has the astrological Sun one constellation ahead or east from the Astronomical Sun’s position.
Read a little more about how astrology has the Sun incorrectly placed in a previous blog, and in another blog discussing the effects of precession.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
Over the next couple of evenings the waxing gibbous Moon will pass by two outer planets, Jupiter and Dwarf Planet Ceres. On the 8th the 8-day old waxing gibbous Moon will be about 2o from the Dwarf Planet Ceres, and on the 9th the 9-day old Moon will be about 2o from Jupiter.
Monday evening August 5th the 5-day old waxing crescent Moon will be within about 5-6o from the blue-white star Spica over the southwestern horizon. Both will set shortly before midnight local time.
Spica is part of the constellation Virgo the Harvest Maiden and represents a bundle of grasses, perhaps wheat, in her left hand.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
