MessageToEagle.com -
In August, stargazers will have several excellent opportunities to go out and admire the night sky. But the sky is very big and full of stars,
so where should you look?
As always, our popular stargazers' calendar informs you where to search for the celestial objects.
Remember that you can explore astronomical wonders from your own backyard!
Lets take a look at highlights of the August Night Sky! Make sure you don't miss the Perseid meteor shower and Blue Moon this month!
Evening Planets
In the evening twilight, Saturn and Mars form a lovely trio with the bright star
Spica as they dip toward the western horizon.
Aim a telescope at the planets to reveal their stunning features.
Constellations and Deep-Sky Objects
Stargazing on a hot August night reveals a multitude of wonders in the summer
night sky.
Lyra, the Small Harp, lies high in the late evening sky. Its main star is the great
Vega, one of the brightest in the sky.
Look for Lyra by locating Vega and then the parallelogram of stars nearby.
Epsilon Lyrae, the bright star near Vega, is actually a wonderful quadruple-star
system, known as the Double-Double.
In the parallelogram of Lyra lies the dramatic Ring Nebula. It is an expanding
shell of glowing gas expelled by the dying star at its center.
The great constellation Cygnus, the Swan, flies high through the August night.
Using bright Vega as your guide star, look for the cross just to the east. Cygnus
is also known as the Northern Cross.
Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the Milky Way. Its name is the Latinized Hellenic (Greek) word for swan.
Albireo, at the head of the Swan, is a showpiece for small telescopes. This
spectacular pair of stars features contrasting colors of sapphire and golden topaz.
Deneb, the Swan's tail, is a supergiant star. If Deneb replaced the Sun in the
center of our solar system, it would engulf Mercury and Venus.
On a clear night, hazy patches of nebulae can be seen by casually panning
across the Cygnus area with binoculars.
The most prominent is the North America Nebula, an area of gas and dust
illuminated by the nearby, brilliant star Deneb.
Cygnus also hosts several clusters of stars. The easiest to find are M29 and M39.
M29 is found near the center of the Northern Cross. When viewed in a small
telescope, it resembles a small square.
Best seen in binoculars, M39 is a loosely bound cluster of about 30 stars, just to
the north of Deneb.
Just south of Cygnus lies the small constellation Vulpecula, the Little Fox, first
charted by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century.
Vulpecula hosts the Dumbbell Nebula, which can be seen as a faint smudge in
binoculars. A small telescope reveals its double-lobed shape.
Aquila, an eagle, the thunderbird of the Greeks.
Aquila, the Eagle, was known to the ancient Greeks as the great bird of Zeus. There are several explanations for the presence of this eagle in the sky.
In Greek and Roman mythology, the eagle was the bird of Zeus, carrying (and retrieving) the thunderbolts which the wrathful god hurled at
his enemies. But the eagle was involved in love as well as war.
Altair, the brightest star in Aquila, is only 16 light-years from Earth.
The bright stars of the summer night sky, Vega, Altair, and Deneb, make up the
Summer Triangle.
Use binoculars to look for the Coathanger, located halfway between Altair and
Albireo. This remarkable little group of stars forms a familiar pattern from our
point of view.
Morning Planets
During the middle of the month, three planets grace the morning sky just before
sunrise.
Mercury hovers just above the eastern horizon.
Gaze upward to see Venus and Jupiter.
While Mercury can be a challenge to find, Venus and Jupiter will be easy to spot
throughout the month.
A multicolored, long Perseid meteor striking the sky just to the left of Milky Way.
Image credit & copyright: Brocken Inaglory
Astronomy dates to remember in August
August 2 - Full Moon
The Moon will be directly opposite the Earth from the Sun and will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth.
August 5-6 - Curiosity lands on Mars
This is of course not an event you will be able to observe through your telescope, but can still follow Curiosity as it sets down on Mars
and begins a two-year prime mission to investigate one of the most intriguing places on Mars.
Read more here!
August 12-13 - Perseid meteor shower
The Perseid meteor shower is an always-anticipated feature of the August night
sky. Look for meteors during the early morning hours of August 12th and 13th.
These streaks of light are tiny bits of a comet burning up as they enter Earth's
atmosphere.
The cometary debris trail, through which Earth passes once a year,
was left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle during its many visits to the inner solar
system.
August 17 - New Moon
The Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth.
August 24 - Neptune at Opposition
The blue planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. Remember,
this is the best time to view Neptune.
However, because of its distance, it will only appear as a tiny blue dot in all but the most powerful telescopes.
A blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. For a blue moon to occur, the first of the full moons must appear at or near the beginning of
the month so that the second will fall within the same month (the average span between two moons is 29.5 days). The full Moon on Aug. 31, 2012,
will be this type of blue moon; it will be the second full moon in one month.
August 31 - Full Moon
The Moon will be directly opposite the Earth from the Sun and will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. Since this is
the second full moon in the same month, it is known as a blue moon. This rare calendar event only happens once every few years,
giving rise to the term, "once in a blue moon."
Enjoy your stargazing and if you take any great astro pictures, remember
to send the images to us so we can publish them.
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In August, stargazers will have several excellent opportunities to go out and admire the night sky. But the sky is very big and full of stars,
so where should you look?
It doesn't matter whether you are a beginner or an experienced backyard astronomer.
It's never too late to become interested in astronomy and these superb applications can help you in your stargazing pursuits.
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