August 2012

Moon 

Full                                    2^nd    20:36  -- 05:55 
                                  

Last Quarter                       9^th     23:08  -- 14:19               

New                                   17^th   05:43  -- 19:50                

First Quarter                       31^st   19:22  --  06:09               

We’re getting away from the grip of summer’s short light nights and into the longer darker nights of autumn.

Planets

After the 9^th, Mercury can be seen as it rises in the east, 70 mins before the Sun, but the dawn twilight will make it difficult even though it’s at mag 1.5 and 9 arcsec.. You’ll need a telescope to note the 17% phase. It will be easier daily, while it’s pulling away from the Sun, till the 19^th, when it’ll begin to return towards the Sun. But it should be available till the end of the month, when it will rise 60 mins before the Sun. The phase by then will be 92%. Of course you’ll need a good low eastern horizon.

Venus will rise on the 1^st, at 2:15am, bright mag –4.4, 28 arcsec  and showing a 42% phase, dazzling. It will stay there for the rest of the month, as the Morning Star, with its phase gradually increasing to 59%.
Mars will start the month setting in the west soon after the Sun, so will spend little time with us this month. It will have gone on the 1^st, by 10:30pm, and on the 31^st, it will set soon after 9pm. It will still be bright but small with little detail to be seen as it will be in the thick air near the horizon.
Jupiter rises an hour ahead of Venus in Taurus at 1am on the 1^st. Bright at mag –2.2 and big at 36 arcsec. It leaves Venus behind as the month progresses till at the end of the month it rises at 11:15pm and is 3 hours ahead of Venus. It will still be in the company of the Hyades, so it is Venus that has been lagging behind rather than Jupiter running faster. Jupiter will, by then, be mag –2.4 and 39 arcsec.
Saturn is keeping pace with Mars in the west, and on the 1^st, it will be available only from dusk till it sets at 11pm, soon after Mars. By the 31^st, it will have set at 9:15pm, at mag 0.8, and 16 arcsec. This will be the last of Saturn till it rises again in the east in November.
Uranus will rise on the 1^st, before midnight, and will be in the sky all night. It will be mag 5.8, a tiny 4 arcsec blue disc, on the Pisces/Cetus border. It will have asteroid Pallas for company throughout the month, getting as close as 3° on the 11^th. It rises on the 31^st at 8:45pm, as dusk is settling, and will still be available till dawn.
Neptune will also be in the east, ahead of Uranus, rising at 10pm on the 31^st of July. It will also be in the sky all month, a 2 arcsec blue disc of mag 7.8. You’ll need a well set up Goto telescope to find it and see it. Though binoculars will show it if you're looking in the right place. A sky chart will be available if you need it. It rises on the 31^st at 7:45pm, and will set at dawn, but it doesn’t get more than 24° up in the sky.

Meteor Showers.

There are 5 showers with peaks in August, but only the Perseids of any value. Reputed to have an hourly rate of 100 meteors at the zenith. We’ll be having a meteor watch and barbeque on the 11^th. Unfortunately, the 30% full Moon will rise just below Perseus at midnight.

Comets.

None at naked eye visibility, and none at easy telescope visibility either.

For details of Satellites and Iridium Flares contact http://www.heavens-above.com
For Star charts contact the observatory on the Contacts menu item.