The Visible Planets
Mercury is seen above the east-northeast horizon before sunrise at the start of the month. On August 2, Mercury is at its furthest angular distance away from the rising sun, giving the best opportunity for northern hemisphere viewers to see this planet this year! On August 11, the slim waning crescent Moon can be seen just above Mercury before sunrise. On August 15, look for Jupiter to make a nice pairing with Mercury just above the east-northeast horizon before sunrise.
Venus is found shining brilliantly low above the west-southwest horizon after sunset during the month. After sunset on August 15, Venus will appear just above the waxing crescent Moon, making for a nice pairing. By the end of the month, Venus sinks much lower toward the west-northwest horizon, after sunset, but will still be visible. A view through a telescope will now show Venus as crescent shaped as this world gets closer to the Earth in its orbit.
Mars rises above the east-northeast horizon, around 1:56 a.m. local time, at the start of the month, and at around 1:24 a.m. local time by the end of the month. Mars starts the month with the constellation boundaries of Taurus, the bull, but on August 12, it moves into the adjacent constellation of Gemini, the twins, and traverses that constellation through the rest of the month. If you are looking for Mars in the sky, then you will notice two other reddish coloured objects near it. These are the stars Aldebaran, of Taurus, and Betelgeuse, of Orion, two red giant stars! Before sunrise on August 9, look for Mars near the waning crescent Moon.
Jupiter begins to rise above the east-northeast horizon before sunrise around the middle of the month. Look for a nice conjunction of Jupiter with the planet Mercury on the morning of Augusts 15. As the month progresses, Jupiter rises higher into our eastern dawn sky.
Saturn rises above the eastern horizon just a little after 11:30 p.m. at the start of the month and by 9:30 p.m. by the end of the month. By the time of sunrise, Saturn stands over 30 degrees above the southwestern horizon. During the month of August, Saturn is found moving amongst the stars of Pisces, the fish. On the evenings of August 30 and 31, look for Saturn near the waning gibbous Moon.
Moon Phases
August 5 Last Quarter Moon
August 12 New Moon and solar eclipse!
August 19 First Quarter Moon
August 27 Full Moon (The Sturgeon Moon or the Berry Ripening Moon) Lunar eclipse!
Special Events
International Space Station (ISS) Observable Passes
Visible passes of the ISS from our location will begin again after August 21, with these passes being seen in our predawn hours. Exact times of these passages for your location can be found by visiting the website http://www.heavens-above.com or by using satellite tracking smart phone apps like Sputnik or Spot-the-Station.
August 2 Mercury at its greatest western elongation of 19 degrees.
August 3 Civic holiday, Heritage Day
August 8-16 Mount Kobau Star Party near Osoyoos, BC. See https://www.mksp.ca/ for details.
August 9 Waning crescent Moon above Mars!
August 12 Partial solar eclipse from Edmonton
Time of the partial solar eclipse are as follows:
Partial Eclipse Begins: 10:02 a.m.
Mid-eclipse: 10:38 a.m. (14% eclipse magnitude)
Partial Eclipse Ends: 11:15 am
August 12-13 The summer’s best meteor shower, the Perseids, peak over the evening from August 12 to the 13. The anticipated zenith hourly rate from a dark site is about 110 meteors per hour during the peak. As the Moon is new on this day, the sky will be very dark, giving us the best conditions to see this wonderful meteor shower!
August 12-16 Saskatchewan Summer Star Party Cypress Hills, SK. Details can be found here: https://sssp.saskatoon.rasc.ca/
August 15 Mercury and Jupiter conjunction low in the eastern sky before sunrise.
Venus at its greatest eastern elongation of 46 degrees from the Sun.
August 27 Deep Partial Lunar Eclipse tonight!
Details of the lunar eclipse are as follows
- Moon rises at 8:26 p.m. above the southwestern horizon.
- Partial umbral lunar eclipse begins at 8:33 p.m.
- Mid-eclipse is at 10:12 p.m. (93% of the Moon in the Earth’s dark shadow.
- Partial umbral eclipse ends at 11:51 p.m.
The TELUS World of Science – Edmonton RASC Observatory will be open for this event starting at 8:30 p.m. (weather permitting), however our line of sight will not be good. It is recommended that you find a location with a clear unobstructed view to the southwestern horizon.