August 2024 – What’s Up!

Week of 26th August

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 22:14 BST at the start of the week and at 21:56 BST by the end of the week.
  • Saturn (+0.6) rises at around 20:20 BST through this week, making it a good evening target. It reaches a maximum altitude of around 30°. It is particularly interesting at the moment as its alignment with Earth renders its rings close to edge on.
  • Jupiter (-2.3) and Mars (+0.8) continue to dominate the eastern morning sky. Jupiter currently rises at around 23:35 BST.
  • This week’s observing challenge is to find three globular clusters around the small constellation of Equuleus, the area of sky just to the south and east of Altair at the bottom of the Summer Triangle. Start with NGC 6934 (+8.8) at 52 kly in Delphinus, then on to M15 (+6.2) at 34 kly in Pegasus, and finish with M2 (+6.5) at 38 kly in Aquarius.
  • The Moon is Last Quarter on Monday.
  • The Sun currently has 9 active regions and the sunspot number is 172.
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

Week of 19th August

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 22:36 BST at the start of the week and at 22:17 BST by the end of the week.
  • On Wednesday morning there is a lunar occultation of Saturn. The event starts at 04:25 BST, when Saturn (+0.7) will disappear behind the Moon (-11.7), reappearing about an hour later at 05:20 BST. Look to the southwest to spot the occultation – the pair will be about 26° above the horizon, sinking to 20° for the reappearance. Ensure that you have a good low horizon to view the entire event. Fingers crossed for clear skies!
  • Jupiter (-2.2) and Mars (+0.8) dominate the eastern morning sky. Jupiter currently rises just after midnight BST.
  • The Moon is Full on Monday – the Sturgeon Moon. It is also a Supermoon.
  • The Sun currently has 11 active regions and the sunspot number is 170.
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

Week of 12th August

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 23:00 BST at the start of the week and at 22:40 BST by the end of the week.
  • The Perseid meteor shower peaks on Monday. It is one of the finest meteor showers of the year with a ZHR of around 100; the young Moon will provide good observing conditions. Meteors can be seen in all parts of the sky, but appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus. The shower is caused by the Earth passing through debris deposited by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
  • Mars (+0.8) and Jupiter (-2.2) are in conjunction on Wednesday, appearing with just 23 arcminutes of separation. Look to the east from their rising at around 01:00 BST through to sunrise at 05:50 BST.
  • Search for three open clusters this week, starting with M11, the Wild Duck Cluster (+5.8) close to the southern horizon in Scutum. Then move northwards to M29 (+6.6) in the heart of Cygnus close to the star Sadr, Gamma Cygni. The tour finishes with M39 (+4.6) at the northern border of Cygnus.
  • The Moon is First Quarter on Monday.
  • The Sun currently has 9 active regions and the sunspot number is 234.
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

Week of 5th August

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 23:25 BST at the start of the week and at 23:03 BST by the end of the week.
  • Saturn (+0.8) is now an evening object, rising at 21:57 BST. Look in the southeast to find the planet, a telescope will reveal the ring system edge on in this apparation.
  • Early risers can enjoy a line up of planets from west to east: Neptune (+7.8), Uranus (+5.8), Mars (+0.9) and Jupiter (-2.1) in the dawn sky.
  • This week’s New Moon Dark Sky Challenge is in Delphinus, the small constellation of ‘the Dolphin’ just to the east of the Summer Triangle. Start with Gamma Delphini (+4.3 and +5.0), a double star with a separation of 8.8 arcseconds that forms the nose of the dolphin. On to NGC 6934 (+8.8), a globular cluster that is as old as the Universe itself. To finish, NGC 7006 (+10.6), a challenging globular cluster at just 4 arcminutes in size which lies about 130,000 light years away from Earth.
  • The Moon is Waxing Crescent all week.
  • The Sun currently has 11 active regions and the sunspot number is 217.
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

 

in What's Up