WORDS OF NIGHT: Four luminous planets, Perseid Meteor Shower highlights the nights of August | Way of life



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Sunrise and Sunset

Eastern Daylight Time at the US Naval Observatory

The sun rises at 6 am and sets at 8:15 pm on the 1st

The sun rises at 6:28 am and sets at 19:34. 31

Phases of the Moon in August

New Moon on the 11th

Complete "Moon of Green Corn" or "Moon of the Sturgeon" on the 26th

Stars and Constellations

The August sunsets occur noticeably earlier – from about an hour to the end of the month – than those of early July, and the l 39; Night sky observation can therefore begin much earlier. As the sky darkens on warm August evenings, sky observers may have a last glimpse of the Spica star, which is now in the southwest, before getting lost. in the dazzling sun

– Yellow arcturus, which, like Spica, is considered a star of the spring season. Unlike Spica, which disappears in the evening twilight, Arcturus, due to its more northerly position, will remain visible early in the fall.

On the far left of Spica, the south-southwest is one of the most classic. summer stars, red-orange Antares in Scorpius. The body of the Scorpion winds towards the horizon and then upwards in a curved sting. The most prominent stars in the sting are cat eyes, a pair of unevenly shining stars; Shaula is the brightest of the two on the left, while Lesath is the weaker on the right. And at the top left of the cat's eyes is the teapot of Sagittarius, a grouping easy to identify. Saturn currently resides in Sagittarius and is much brighter than any of its stars.

The Summer Triangle, consisting of Vega, Altair and Deneb in the constellations Lyra, Aquila and Cygnus, respectively, stands to the east during the evening and passes overhead around midnight . If you live away from city lights, the Milky Way appears as a misty band extending across the Scorpius and Sagittarius skies to the southwest across the triangle region. summer and across Cassiopeia to the northeast

The Big Dipper, part of the Big Dipper's constellation, is now dipping to the northwest horizon. The bow of the handle of the Big Dipper leads to Arcturus, while the two stars before the dipper point to Polaris. After dusk ends and the sky becomes dark, you may be able to see the Ursa Minor, which is part of Ursa Minor, extending to the outside of Polaris up to the left. In the late evening, the inevitable "W" shape of the constellation Cassiopeia rises to the northeast, while, just above Cassiopeia, lies Cepheus, a ground-shaped house composed mainly of weak stars. In addition, the Grand Pegasus Square, which consists of four stars in the form of a rectangle lying on its edge, can be seen rising to the east. The evening lifts of Cassiopeia and Pegasus are two celestial signs that autumn will soon be upon us.

Planets at the naked eye in the evening and morning sky

The spectacular "evening star" with a yellowish glow in the west at dusk. Venus really clears up during the month of August since the distance between it and the earth is decreasing day by day. Venus attains her greatest oriental elongation (evening) with the Sun on the 17th. However, Venus goes to bed earlier each night: about two hours after sunset, or before 22 hours. EDT, early August, but an hour and a half after the Sun at the end of the month. Venus zips in the western half of the Virgin in August, near the Spica star at the end of the month.

Now the third brightest planet after Venus and Mars, Jupiter remains a shining "star" next to the second brightest star in Libra. Zubenelgenubi. The beams of Jupiter in the southwest at dusk; he goes to bed around midnight on August 1 and shortly after 10 pm 31.

More than a month after his opposition to the Sun (June 27), Saturn remains in a good position for evening viewing throughout the month of August. In the middle of the month, Saturn is almost full south around 21:30. The contrast between the cream color of Saturn (similar to that of Jupiter) and reddish Mars, which drags Saturn in the sky about two hours, is striking.

Mars was in opposition to the Sun on July 27 and closest to the Earth on July 31. During the month of August, the Earth begins to move away from Mars and, as a result, Mars will decrease in brightness for the remainder of 2018 and for much of 2019. At the beginning of the month August, Mars is reddish. in the southeast at dusk. Brighter than Jupiter, the distinctly reddish hue of Mars contrasts with the yellowish color of Jupiter. Seen through a telescope, Mars reveals reddish deserts, dark markings and its white southern polar cap.

Mercury is in inferior conjunction with the Sun on August 8th and therefore is not visible. Towards the end of August, Mercury appears in the dawn sky. On the 26th, Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation (morning) with the Sun and should be visible resembling a bright yellow star in the East-Northeast before sunrise.

The Earth crosses the debris of Comet Swift-Tuttle around August. 12, producing the meteor shower of Perseid. This year, the Moon just past will not intervene. Look generally north-east around or after midnight, but meteors can be seen in any part of the sky.

Information on lunar phases and sunrise / sunset times of the Sun and planets is obtained at usno.navy.mil/astronomy. Additional information comes from "The Astronomical Almanac (2016-2020)" by Richard J. Bartlett (Editions Stars and Stuff, 2015). For more information on the starry sky, visit the Widener Observatory Stargazing website at www.widener.edu/stargazing. A set of free sky charts can be obtained on skymaps.com.

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