What’s In August’s Skies

By Matt Woods

Planets:

Mercury can be found throughout August low in the West in the early evening. It’ll move from the constellation Leo (The Lion) into the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin) during the second half of the month. On the 28th of August, it will reach its greatest elongation in the West and start its journey back towards the Sun’s glare. Venus is low in the northeast in the early morning it will be moving from the constellation of Gemini (The Twins) to the constellation of cancer during the second week of the month, before it moves into the constellation of Leo.

Mars rises in the morning sky in the Northeast. It’ll move from the constellation of Aries (The Ram) into the constellation of Taurus (The Bull) during the second week of August. Jupiter can be found again this month in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster) and will be visible in the late evening in the east. Saturn is in the evening sky in the constellation of Capricornus (The Sea-Goat). On the 15th of August at 01:00 am (AWST), Saturn will reach its opposition and will be at its best viewing for us.

Uranus is remarkably close to Mars in the eastern morning sky between the constellations of Aries and Taurus. On the 2nd and 3rd of August, they will be at the closest points to each other before continuing their journeys in the night sky. Neptune again is just up from Jupiter in between the constellation of Pisces (The Fish) and the constellation of Cetus.

Venus on the 15/08/22 at 6 am (AWST) Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune on the 15/08/22 at 6 am (AWST)

The Perseids Meteor Shower:

The Perseids meteor shower is once again nearly upon us, with the peak night occurring on the night of the 12th/13th. The Perseids is a Northern Hemisphere shower, and they appear to come from the constellation Perseus, and that’s where they get their name from. The shower is active from about mid-July to the end of August. Normally, the meteor rate exceeds 100 meteors per hour.

Unfortunately for us in Australia, the Perseids is very low on the horizon in the North around 6 am. This year the Moon is a Full Moon phase, so they will be reduced numbers from the light pollution from it.

The Perseids on the 13/08/22 at 6 am (AWST)

Celestial Wonder To Look At This Month:

The Dumbbell Nebula:

Dumbbell Nebula on the 15/08/22 at 9 pm (AWST) The Dumbbell Nebula (M27 & NGC 6514) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula (The little fox) of between 9-15,000 years of age. A planetary nebula is an emission nebula. It’s formed from a star than has blown off a shell of material in a nova-style explosion. Planetary nebulae are usually spherical style object and relatively small in size, which is why they look like planetary discs in small telescopes. They are very short-lived phenomena of a few tens of thousands of years which then fade out.

The nebula is nearly 3 light-years across and 1,360 light-years from Earth. The central star is the progenitor of the Dumbbell Nebula is a white dwarf star, ~5 % of the Sun’s diameter and ~50 % of its mass, making it larger than most other known white dwarfs.