August 2023 – What’s Up!

Week of 28th August

• Astronomical twilight ends at 22:10 BST at the start of the week and at 21:52 BST by the end of the week.
• Saturn (mag +0.4) has just passed opposition and remains well placed in our evening sky, though the 99% Full Moon will be close by on Wednesday at just 3° separation.
• Jupiter (-2.6) rises at about 22:00 BST through the week. There is a Great Red Spot transit at 22:36 BST on Thursday.
• The Moon is Full on Thursday. As the second Full Moon in the same month it is called a Blue Moon; furthermore, it is at perigee, so it will be a Super Blue Moon!
• The Sun currently has 5 active regions and the sunspot number is 69.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.
  (For full details about ISS passes click this link: heavens-above-iss-passes to visit the heavens-above website. If you are not in Marlborough, please ensure that you set your location for the most accurate ISS timings).

Week of 21st August

• Astronomical twilight ends at 22:32 BST at the start of the week and at 22:13 BST by the end of the week.
• Saturn (mag +0.4) reaches opposition on Sunday when it will be opposite the Sun from Earth, putting it in the optimum position for observation. It will be at a distance of just 8.76 AU and will have an apparent size of 19 arcseconds. Through the week the gas giant rises at about 20:00 BST and culminates at around 01:10 BST.
• Delphinus is the constellation of the week, found just to the east of Altair. It is quite faint with Alpha Delphini only mag +3.8. It contains the lovely double star, Gamma Delphini at the nose of the Dolphin with a separation of 8.8 arcseconds, and two globular clusters, NGC 7006 (+10.6) and NGC 6934 (+8.8); all great telescopic targets.
• The Moon is First Quarter on Thursday.
• The Sun currently has 7 active regions and the sunspot number is 104.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.
  (For full details about ISS passes click this link: heavens-above-iss-passes to visit the heavens-above website. If you are not in Marlborough, please ensure that you set your location for the most accurate ISS timings).

Week of 14th August

• Astronomical twilight ends at 22:56 BST at the start of the week and at 22:36 BST by the end of the week.
• Saturn (mag +0.5) lies at a maximum altitude of 27° this week, rising at about 20:45 BST and culminating at around 01:50 BST. Its rings will appear to brighten as it approaches opposition on 27th August.
• Jupiter (-2.5) rises at about 22:50 BST through this week. This year’s apparition should be impressive as it reaches an altitude of over 50° with opposition on 3rd November.
• The Summer Triangle is high in the dark, Moon free sky this week. Use a telescope to search out its highlight deep sky objects: two planetary nebulae – M27, the Dumbbell Nebula (+7.1) and M57, the Ring Nebula (+8.8), two double stars – Albireo, Beta Cygni and the Double Double, Epsilon Lyrae, two globular clusters – M56 (+8.3) and M71 (+8.2), two open clusters – M29 (+6.6) and Collinder 399 (+3.6), and finally, two nebulae – the North America Nebula (+4.0) and the Veil Nebula (+5.0). Plenty to keep you busy!
• The Moon is New on Wednesday.
• The Sun currently has 4 active regions and the sunspot number is 61.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.
  (For full details about ISS passes click this link: heavens-above-iss-passes to visit the heavens-above website. If you are not in Marlborough, please ensure that you set your location for the most accurate ISS timings).

Week of 7th August

• Astronomical twilight ends at 23:21 BST at the start of the week and at 22:59 BST by the end of the week.
• The Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak on Saturday night. It is one of the finest meteor showers of the year with up to 60 meteors per hour and this year, proximity to the New Moon will provide perfect dark skies for observation. The shower’s progenitor is comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The period of activity is from 17th July to 24th August, so look out for Perseid meteors either side of the peak too.
• Saturn (mag +0.5) is visible in our evening sky, rising at around 21:15 BST and culminating at about 02:30 BST. It is quite low at a max altitude of about 27°. Jupiter (-2.5) returns to our evening sky, rising at around 23:15 BST this week.
• The Moon is Last Quarter on Tuesday.
• The Sun currently has 7 active regions and the sunspot number is 100.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.
  (For full details about ISS passes click this link: heavens-above-iss-passes to visit the heavens-above website. If you are not in Marlborough, please ensure that you set your location for the most accurate ISS timings).