What’s Up This Third Week Of August
It looks like the forecast is calling for some cloudy and rainy nights early this week, however, some clear skies might come this way starting Wednesday night. Sunset occurs right around 8:40 PM, so be ready with all your stargazing friends and equipment by 9:40 PM to find yourself under truly dark skies. The temperature on the upcoming clear nights will be in the upper 60s in the hours following sunset, so bring some bug spray and a light jacket.
Be on the lookout this week for fireballs from the famous Perseid meteor shower, a razor-thin waning crescent moon heading into the new moon, the Milky Way dust lanes across the entire sky, and some evening planets.
Every year around the second and third week of August, the Perseid meteor shower makes astronomy news headlines, and for good reason. This annual shower produces up to 100 fireballs per hour under dark skies. A single meteor is only about as big as a grain of sand but heats up into a bright flash of light when ripping through Earth’s atmosphere at 130,000 mph. The Perseids are an annual spectacle since it is actually the Earth ramming through a field of debris left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle. The ideal time to watch for meteors is around 2 AM when the Earth’s western hemisphere is pointing “into” the dust field. While this shower peaks on August 12th/13th, you can still see meteors up through late August, so don’t let the cloudy skies get your hopes down. [IMAGE: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/2332/new-nasa-map-details-2023-and-2024-solar-eclipses-in-the-us/]
A composite image of an all-sky camera view of the Perseid meteor shower.
Luckily, the moon is in its waning crescent phase heading into a new moon. This is great for stargazers hoping to get a glimpse of shooting stars since the moon’s glow will not be washing out the fainter meteors streaking through the sky. The new moon officially occurs on Wednesday, August 16.
There has been lots of hype behind “The Great American Eclipse” which will take place on April 8, 2024 that will pass over most of the eastern United States. Ohio is even in the path of totality where the moon will perfectly block the sun and turn day into night. Did you know there is an annular eclipse happening on October 14, 2023? This eclipse will pass through most of the western United States and will give the sun a “ring of fire” look, due to the characteristics of an annular eclipse. If you happen to be in a city like San Antonio TX, you will be in a perfect place to see BOTH eclipses (cloud coverage pending)! [IMAGE: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/2332/new-nasa-map-details-2023-and-2024-solar-eclipses-in-the-us/]
An annular eclipse, while not as spectacular as a total eclipse, is nonetheless very cool.
The summer is “Milky Way season” since the core of our galaxy is high in the southern sky and the dusty arms stretch through the northern sky. In a dark-sky location, you will notice a dense collection of stars and cloudy-like features in the sky. This is a culmination of billions of stars (although our eyes can only see a few thousand) and complex structure created by dust and gas that resides between the stars. A long-exposure image will reveal more detail and more stars within the overhead Milky Way core and arms.
The Milky way is seen high overhead in mid August in the late evening. This view is facing directly upwards, while oriented towards the west.
On Friday, August 18th, around 8:45 PM, look low in the western sky to see the thin waxing crescent moon approaching Mars. You may also notice the innermost planet, Mercury, hanging out just a few degrees below the Mars-Moon matchup. A pair of binoculars or a telescope will reveal more surface detail of the moon, but Mars and Mercury appear so small that even a high-power telescope (focal length >700mm) is required to begin to see the details of Mars.
The thin crescent moon will point out Mars and Mercury in the twilight on August 16.
After the cloudy nights clear, make sure to get outside and stare up into the vastness of the cosmos. Be on the lookout for a thin crescent moon, the Milky Way stars stretched across the entire sky, and a Mars-Mercury-Moon meetup. Bring a blanket or reclining chair to comfortably stare up at the sky for minutes on end. Patience will be rewarded with impressive Perseid fireballs streaking across the sky every few minutes.
Clear Skies!