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The evenings of August present a spectacular panorama of four planets, including Venus Jupiter and Mars which far surpbad all the night stars, and Saturn ranking sixth in brilliance, after only these three planets and stars Arcturus and Vega .
Set up a telescope and share views of these four planets. For best results, see them in order from west to southeast at dusk: 1. Venus goes from the gibbous phase to the crescent phase, 57 percent full on Aug. 1, at 40 percent on the 31st. (Venus will be even more impressive in September, as it crosses thinner crescent phases, with the disk growing in apparent size as Venus approaches the Earth.) 2. Jupiter shows its cloud belts and much than the four brilliant moons discovered by Galileo. 3. Saturn displays its still-inclined rings a generous 26 degrees in our view, with Titan satellite in a 16-day orbit. 4. The frozen Southern Carbon Frozen March ice cap shrinks with the advance of its spring season-look soon! See other surface features, such as Syrtis Major and Hellas Basin, provided that Martian dust storms do not obscure our sight
Catch Mercury Weak in l 39; East-Northeast to east during the twilight of the morning to the end of August and beginning of September.
The month of August is a prime month for early evening observation of the Milky Way. The best dates – at the end of the evening twilight, without moonlight – are from August 1st to 13th and from August 30th to September 30th. 11. In a dark place, follow the Milky Way strip from the cloud of vapor (the star cloud of Great Sagittarius) just above the beak of the teapot, through the cloud of stars Cygnus along the neck of the Swan. and beyond. Seen through binoculars, the Cygnus Star Cloud is easily resolved into stars.
Aug. 1 at twilight: Four planets – in the order from west to southeast, Venus-Jupiter-Saturn-Mars-wingspan 127 degrees. A line from Venus to Jupiter, 49 degrees long, has extended its own length after Jupiter locates Saturn. Extend another 30 degrees after Saturn to find Mars. The telescopes now show Venus as a 57 percent gibbous disc lit. March, just two nights after the closest approach, still shines at -2.8 magnitude and shows a disk big enough for an 80-power magnification to make it look as big as the moon at 39. naked eye!
Aug. 4, Dawn: This is the last quarter (half) moon.
Aug. 5, twilight: Venus and Jupiter are at 45 degrees apart; Saturn and Mars are 27 degrees apart until 5 September.
Aug. 6, before dawn: The crescent moon, Hyades and Aldebaran look spectacular in binoculars! As you go out with your binoculars, look at the cluster of "seven sisters" of the Pleiades at about 14 degrees above Aldebaran.
Aug. 6, twilight: The current orbital speed of the Earth around the sun is 18 miles per second, to the constellation Aries in the morning sky, and directly away from Jupiter and the constellation of Libra in the evening sky. An hour after sunset, when the sun is below the west-northwest horizon, try to visualize the motions of all visible planets at that time. An observer observing from the north, or "above", the solar system, from the direction of the constellation Draco, would observe all the planets that turn counter-clockwise around the sun. Venus, in faster movement, catches the Earth and will catch us at the end of October. In the past three months, we have pbaded the three bright outer planets – Jupiter in early May, Saturn in late June, and March in late July (on the dates of their oppositions). We are now heading straight away from Jupiter, and we leave behind these three planets that move more slowly.
Aug. 7, Twilight: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars extend over 120 degrees
Aug. 8-10, dawn: Follow the last lunar days of the lunar cycle in the morning sky. On August 9, Pollux is 9 degrees to the left of the moon (a 6 percent crescent) and slightly higher. Castor is 4-1 / 2 degrees to the top left of Pollux. On August 10, the moon (only 1%) rises at dusk 14 degrees below and slightly to the right of Pollux. Start looking below Orion for the first appearance of Sirius in the East-Southeast.
Aug. 9, twilight: Venus and Saturn are at 90 degrees.
Aug. 10, dusk: Venus and Spica are separated by 20 degrees. Venus is now heading to East one degree a day.
Aug. 12, 30 minutes after sunset: Find the young moon, a 4 percent crescent, 41 hours after nine, 23 degrees to the lower right of Venus. Later, the same night: Perseid meteors culminate during the night, the best of the late evening on August 12th up to the first light of dawn on August 13th, increasing in number as the radiant rises. degrees north-northeast at the end of twilight, up to 60 degrees at the beginning of morning twilight. Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, but the members of this rain, if their trajectories are extended backward before their bright spots, would all come from a common radiant below the "W" of Cbadiopeia.
Wrapping up at the end of one night to see Perseids, I like to watch the rising of Procyon the star "before the dog" to the l '. is, and Sirius "the dog's star" in the east-southeast at dusk in the morning. (Follow Orion's belt towards Sirius.) Completing the winter triangle with the shoulder of Orion, Betelgeuse both stars are visible one hour before sunrise of the sun, when the summer triangle of Altair Vega and Deneb is low in the west to the northwest. Can you see the Summer and Winter Triangles simultaneously? You have to face different directions to see the six stars!
Aug. 13 at dusk: Venus grows in apparent size as she approaches the Earth, while Mars shrinks as we retreat. They now appear of the same size, but remarkably different: Bright, cloud-covered Venus is half-lit, while Mars is 98 percent full, with its polar cap shrinking tilted nearly 10 degrees to Earth. Watch the moon pbad Venus and Jupiter until the 17th.
Aug. Sept. 13, 10 at nightfall: During the next four weeks, Mars moves very slowly against the stars, and the binoculars will show a tight and compact four-star cluster of magnitude 4.5 to 4.8 in the same field, a few degrees to the west of Mars. The long diagonal kite is just over 2 degrees long, and the short diagonal of about 1 degree. The gathering, a Chinese asterism called Dog Nation or Territory of Dogs, consists of Omega, 59, 60 and 62 Sagittarii stars. For tales about Sagittarius, including the fascinating Chinese fable on the dog territory, visit http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/sagittarius.htm and http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum / Space / archive / StarShine / Starlore / e_starshine_starlore14.htm.
August 15 at dusk: The moon is in the west-southwest, 7 degrees to the upper right of Spica. Venus is 15 degrees lower right of Spica. Watch Venus move closer to Spica for the rest of the month ..
Aug. 16 at dusk: Jupiter pbades 0,6 degrees north of Alpha in Libra, or Zubenelgenubi the third magnitude star marking the southern claw of a larger previous version Scorpion. The binoculars give a good view.
Ao. 17 at dusk: Venus reaches the greatest elongation, 46 degrees of sun in the afternoon and the evening sky. Notice Jupiter at the bottom right of the moon. The moon is in the first quarter (half full) during the night, in an hour after the moon. Mars closely: Syrtis Major pbades just north of the center of the March disc at 20:52
Aug. 18 at dusk: Jupiter is at 25 degrees to the west of Antares . Watch the moon jump on Antares August 18-19, and pbad Saturn and March 20-23 August. Mars Up Close: Syrtis Major pbades just north of the center of the March disc at 9:29 pm. (37 minutes later each day).
Aug. 19 at dawn: Mercury ends retrograde, but on the near side of its orbit and backlit; at a magnitude +1.6 this morning, it's a tough target in a bright twilight. It gets easier: the mercury lights up at magnitude +1.0 on August 21st, at 0.0 on August 25th, -0.5 on August 28th and -1.0 on September 3rd.
Aug. 20 at dusk: Venus and Spica are 10 degrees apart. Mars up close: Syrtis Major pbades just north of the center of the March disc at 22:43. Mars is the highest in Palm Springs at 22:58, the closest match!
Aug. 23 at dusk: Venus and Jupiter are now within 30 degrees. Later in the night, Mars is at 10:45, while Syrtis Major pbades just north of the center of the March disk at 0:34 on August 24.
Aug. 24-26, at dawn: Mercury forms an almost equilateral triangle with Pollux and Procyon, about 23 degrees from one side. Compare with the great winter triangle of Sirius, Procyon and Betelgeuse.
Aug. 26: The full moon is at 4:56 in the morning. At dawn, Mercury is very low in the east-northeast, at the greatest elongation, at 18 degrees from the sun. At dusk, for a dozen evenings, until September 6: Venus and Spica are within 5 degrees, and seem the closest, to 1.3 degree apart, on August 31st. The binoculars give good views of the pair at dusk
Aug. 27 at dusk: Mars ends retrograde in the extreme southeast of Sagittarius. Binoculars show Chinese Asterism, "Dogs Nation" or "Territory of Dogs", in the west of Mars for at least two more weeks
August 28 at dusk: Venus and Spica are at 3 , 1 degrees. The moon rises pretty much like Venus.
Aug. 31 at dusk: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, span 95 degrees. Venus goes to 1.3 degrees south of Spica (the closest tonight). Telescopes show Venus as ascending, 40 percent full, and March 94 percent full.
Extras
As mentioned above: March this month shows his southern polar cap frozen carbon dioxide, shrinking with the advance of the south spring, as well as surface elements , such as Syrtis Major and Hellas Basin better in the nights of August 17 to 24, provided that the Martian dust storms do not block the view.
In August opens, March, just one day approaches the closest, still shines at -2.8 magnitude and shows a 24.3-second diameter arc record. It is in the middle of spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars, and the bright cap of the South Pole narrows significantly as Mars approaches its perihelion in mid-September, and at its solstice. summer in the south in mid-October
a prominent dark mark first noticed in 1659, will be in a good position to watch the nights of August 17 to 24 as it pbades near the center of the disc of March in the 2.5 hours from the moment the planet is highest in our local sky night. But Mars is the most southerly in mid-August, so it's less than 30 degrees south for residents of the Coachella Valley. Be patient and wait for a good view. The best times to look for Syrtis Major, which looks like a dark triangular India pointing north and pbading north of the center of the disc, occur about 37 minutes later each night, starting Aug. 17 at 8:52 pm and ending on the 16th August. 25 to 1:11 am At all these same moments, look for the light-colored Hellas Basin that runs through the center of the disc, between Syrtis Major and the polar cap. Martian dust storms could make these surface features difficult or impossible to observe. Hope the sky will be clear, both on Mars and on Earth!
The next "windows" for the best observation of Syrtis Major and Hellas occur 36 days later, at the end of September. Mars will then reach its highest point in the south about two hours earlier in the evening. From here, look at the face of Mars shifted by 10 degrees of longitude a day, if you look when Mars goes south. For a map of Mars for any date and time, visit the Mars and Mars Profiler Sky and Telescope: https://is.gd/marsprofiler.
See also these detailed descriptions of the appearance of March 2018 :
http: // www .alpo-astronomy.org / jbeish / 2018_MARS.htm
http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/mars.htm
Asteroid Vesta in August 2018: For much of of the month, the asteroid Vesta is an easy target for binoculars, and the star Theta Ophiuchi of 3.3-magnitude is the starting point and the key to locating it. Find Theta Oph 12 degrees east of Antares, almost halfway to Lambda Sagittarii of magnitude 2.8, at the top of the teapot. Theta Oph is represented on the charts of the sky calendar of August 7th and August 17th to 23rd. On August 1, Vesta, of magnitude 6.3, ends retrograde at 2 1/4 degrees north-northeast of Theta Oph by moving 4 minutes to the southward bow every day. Note these two stars in the same binocular field in the upper left of Theta: 44 Ophiuchi, 4.2 magnitude and 1.3 degrees northeast of Theta; and 51 Oph, magnitude 4.8 and near 1.2 degrees east-northeast of Theta. After August 1st, Vesta bends to the east. On August 16, a Theta line at 44 Oph, 1.3 degrees long, extended nearly half its length after 44 Oph, locates Vesta, magnitude 6.7. The Moon appears near this field on the evenings of August 19th and 20th. On the evenings of August 20th and 21st, Vesta, of magnitude 6.8 and moving from east to southeast by 9 minutes per day, seems very close to 4.8 Oph. The asteroid spends 7 minutes arc south of the star during the day of August 21st. For a Vesta Dashboard, visit http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/vesta-2018-opposition/.
Here is a link to article about the 2018 appearances of Uranus and Neptune with tables of correspondence:
https://is.gd/urnep
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ice-giants-neptune-and-uranus/ [19659002] For suggestions of projects of 39, observation from August to October 2018, visit http://abramsplanetarium.org/msta/.
The Desert Astronomical Society's website contains a list of our evening feature nights, Sawmill Trailhead , our high altitude site (elevation 4000 feet), will have a star festival starting at dusk on Saturday, August 11th.
Abrams Planetarium publishes a monthly calendar Sky with a map of the evening sky Subscriptions are $ 12 per year, for three printed issues sent quarterly. Subscribe or see an example of return on www.abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar.
Wishing you a clear sky!
Robert C. Victor was astronomer at the Abrams Planetarium of Michigan State University. He is now retired and enjoys offering sky-watching opportunities to various groups in the Coachella Valley. Robert D. Miller completed graduate studies in planetarium and later astronomy and computer science at Michigan State University and remains active in astronomy research and extension
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