August Night Sky
D.W.Q.M.: Duke Juliano: "There's this man in Florence- claims that by arranging ground glasses in a certain order, it's possible to see the moon and stars as large as your hand."
Marco:"Is that a good thing?" (from the Fourth Doctor story, The Masque of Mandragora)
Woo-hoo! August! What a great month for backyard astronomy! :)
This astronomy post is brought to you by Sky and Telescope
Planets ...vs. the moon. ;)
August 7th: Crescent moon close to Venus at dusk. Neptune comes to opposition.
August 9th: Crescent moon close to Jupiter at dusk.
August 24th: Moon near Mars after 11pm (EDT)
August 25th: For the next week, Mercury is below Saturn near the eastern horizon about 75 minutes before sunrise. Don't forget your binoculars!
August 31st: Moon near Saturn in twilight this morning. Uranus reaches opposition tonight.
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Meteors!
August 11th-12th: Perseids peak tonight! The best known, most reliable shower (dubbed 'old faithful' by many astronomers) peaks just after midnight on the 12th. The cool thing about this shower is that it remains pretty active just before and just after the peak. In fact, you might be able to catch as stray Perseid as early as tonight! Also, the moon sets before midnight, so the sky will be nice and dark (now if only it will remain clear as well!) If you have to get up early Friday morning, don't worry, there should be good viewing Friday night/early Saturday, too. :) :) (perhaps I can convince my friends right after the Feast????) ;) There's a really cool online article, just click here. :)
Other cool stuff
August 19th: Full Moon.
August 28th: from 10:30pm - 1am for the next 10 days is the best time to see the Milky Way this summer! :)
This Day in Astronomy
August 17th, 1877: Asaph Hall discovers Phobos and Deimos, the 2 moons of Mars.
August 24th, 1989: Voyager 2 flies by Neptune.
Clear skies and happy viewing!
Marco:"Is that a good thing?" (from the Fourth Doctor story, The Masque of Mandragora)
Woo-hoo! August! What a great month for backyard astronomy! :)
This astronomy post is brought to you by Sky and Telescope
Planets ...vs. the moon. ;)
August 7th: Crescent moon close to Venus at dusk. Neptune comes to opposition.
August 9th: Crescent moon close to Jupiter at dusk.
August 24th: Moon near Mars after 11pm (EDT)
August 25th: For the next week, Mercury is below Saturn near the eastern horizon about 75 minutes before sunrise. Don't forget your binoculars!
August 31st: Moon near Saturn in twilight this morning. Uranus reaches opposition tonight.
----------------------------------
Meteors!
August 11th-12th: Perseids peak tonight! The best known, most reliable shower (dubbed 'old faithful' by many astronomers) peaks just after midnight on the 12th. The cool thing about this shower is that it remains pretty active just before and just after the peak. In fact, you might be able to catch as stray Perseid as early as tonight! Also, the moon sets before midnight, so the sky will be nice and dark (now if only it will remain clear as well!) If you have to get up early Friday morning, don't worry, there should be good viewing Friday night/early Saturday, too. :) :) (perhaps I can convince my friends right after the Feast????) ;) There's a really cool online article, just click here. :)
Other cool stuff
August 19th: Full Moon.
August 28th: from 10:30pm - 1am for the next 10 days is the best time to see the Milky Way this summer! :)
This Day in Astronomy
August 17th, 1877: Asaph Hall discovers Phobos and Deimos, the 2 moons of Mars.
August 24th, 1989: Voyager 2 flies by Neptune.
Clear skies and happy viewing!
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