Night Sky for August
The New Moon occurred on 1st and First Quarter occurs on the 8th of this month. Full Moon falls on the 16th and Last Quarter on the 23rd. This month also sees a second New Moon on 30th.
On 1st there was a partial eclipse of the Sun and there will also be a partial eclipse of the Moon on 16th.
Mercury is not visible this month.
Venus will be a bright evening object visible just after sunset by the end of the month..
Mars is noy visible as it is now only in the sky during daylight.
Jupiter lies low in the Southern sky and is worth a look. A small telescope or a good, large pair of binoculars will show the four largest moons of Jupiter. These moons are named Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto after consorts of the mythological god and are collectively known as the Galilean Satellites because they were all discovered by Galileo in the early 1609. Next year’s International Year of Astronomy will commemorate the 400th anniversary of this event.
Saturn is no longer visible.
Uranus and Neptune are both low down, close to the South-Eastern horizon. Neptune comes to opposition (highest point in the sky, due South at midnight) on 15th and will be seen against the background stars of Aquarius.
Pluto is not visible this month.
August is a good month for meteor showers. Sightings of bright shooting stars are often confused with UFO sightings, especially at this time of year, but are perfectly natural phenomena. The Capricornids reach maximum on 1st, the Iota Aquarids on 6th, The Delta Aquarids on 7th, the Perseids, often a very rich shower with many bright meteors, peaks on the 12th/13th and the Aurigids on the 28th. The number of meteors you are likely to see depends on how dark the sky is. Even the moonlight interferes so the best nights are when there is little or no moon.
You can see the objects mentioned above and find out more with the Basingstoke Astronomical Society who have their next meetings on Thursday September 25th at Cliddesden Primary School from 7.00p.m when Alan Lorrain will give a talk about “Eclipses” and a Practical Meeting on Thursday 9th October Details on the Society website, www.basingtokeas.org.uk
Notes by John Stapleton Secretary Basingstoke Astronomical Society