Forecast for August 2014

 Moon                         

                                                                                                                        
First Quarter                         4^th  - 14:48 – 00:00      
Full                                       10^th  - 20:07 – 05:15
Last Quarter                        17^th  - 23:37 – 14:26
New                                      25^th  - 05:59 – 19:43

 We’ve passed the longest day so things should be getting better, but they aren’t of course. We have to wait till September to start getting into the longer nights. However, we must make the best of it as this month is the last we’ll see of the centre of the galaxy till next year. Lots to see there if the Cloud God is helpful. There is still a good chance of seeing Noctilucent Clouds in the north, lit by the Sun sliding just below the northern horizon from dusk to dawn.

Planets

Mercury will be a morning object but only for the first 3 days of the month after which it gets too close to the Sun for safe observing, so don’t try it. However, from the 16^th Mercury can be seen setting in the west 20 mins after the Sun, so still not easy. It will be mag -1.1, but a small 5arcsec disc. It will move further west from the Sun during the rest of the month but will set still only 20 mins after the Sun, and mag -0.2 by the 31^st.

Venus will be a very bright Morning Star at mag -3.9/11arcsec, rising a couple of hours before the Sun, in the lightening twilight. It will move towards the Sun closing the gap, but still keeping far enough to give some 2 hours of observing time before the Sun lifts over the horizon by the end of the month. On the 18^th it will be very close to Jupiter, within 11’ of it in fact, with M44 within half a degree of them both. They’ll all fit into the frame of an APS chip on a 530mm focal length telescope. All this at 5:30am. On the 23^rd , and 24^th , a thin sliver of the Moon will join them. That must be considered a good photo opportunity.

Mars will be visible on the 1^st, in the west, an evening object, setting with the Moon 2 hours after the Sun. It will present a mag 0.4/8arcsec disc. It will be a little further away, and smaller but still visible 2 hours after sunset on the 31^st , with the half Moon within 4°. On the other side of the Moon, the west, will be Saturn, within half a degree of the half Moon, descending below the horizon together in the darkening gloom.

Jupiter is a morning object this month, but not till the 9^th as it’s too close to the Sun to observe safely. On the 9^th it’ll rise an hour before the Sun and will show a disc of mag -1.8/31arcsec. Much less bright than Venus just 9° above. They come together on the 18^th as mentioned earlier. By the end of the month while Venus has moved closer to the Sun, Jupiter stays un-moved and will be the brightest in the morning twilight at mag -1.8 from when it rises at 3:30am till Venus joins it at 5:00am. The Sun will rise and destroy them both at 6:10am.

On the 1^st , Saturn will set in the west some 3 hours after the Sun, presenting a disc of mag 0.5/17arcsec. Easy enough to observe. On the 3^rd the half Moon will be within 7°, but on the 31^st, it will be within half a degree. The Moon again show half its face. Mars will be 4° away, as they set together at 9:00pm.

Uranus will be an evening object this month, rising on the 1^st, at 10:50pm, almost due east. It will show a mag 5.8/4arcsec tiny blue disc, in late twilight. It will be observable till morning washes it out, but will actually set at 11:50am. By month’s end it will have changed little, but will set at 9:50am, and will be available for study till the Sun lights the sky about 5:30am.

Neptune’s tiny mag 7.8/2arcsec blue disc will rise at 10:00pm on the 1^st , in darkening twilight and will be there all night till the sun burns it out about 3:00am. It will, like Uranus, change little till the 31^st , when it will rise at 8:00pm in quite bright twilight. It will, as Uranus, be available all night till dawn twilight hides it.

 

Meteor Showers. There are 5 showers peaking in August, but the only one of note is the Perseids which claim up to 100/hour may be visible at the top of the sky. Though we didn’t see that last year, there’s always a good chance of a good display. The radiant is in Perseus but the almost full Moon will be less than a quarter of the sky away, so will brighten the sky so the fainter meteors will be hidden. Still worth the effort though, provided the sky is clear.

 

Comets. The brightest is C/2014 E2 (Jacques), forecast to be about mag 8.7 to mag 9.0. It moves from Auriga at the start of the month to Cepheus at the end. A good long trot across the sky, quite close to Earth and the Sun, so should be visible in binoculars in the morning twilight all month, fingers crossed. All others are going to be too faint to see, remembering that they have much lower surface brightness than stars.

The south is again the best area to look, for bright nebulosity, M17, M16, Globular clusters, M22, M14, M12, M10, open clusters, M11, M26 and lots more. The sky is full of stars towards the middle of the galaxy too, so just sweeping with big binoculars will be rewarding.

 

If you need a star chart of this or any other area, get in touch with me at the observatory.