August 2025 – What’s Up!

Week of 25th August

• Astronomical Twilight ends at 22:18 BST at the start of the week and at 22:00 BST by the end of the week.
• Neptune (+7.8) is the first planet to rise this week at 20:48 BST, followed by Saturn (+0.7) at 20:53 BST, Uranus (+5.7) is up at 22:44 BST, then Jupiter (-2.0) at 01:49 BST, the morning Star, Venus (-4.0) appears at 03:09 BST, and finally, you can catch a glimpse of Mercury (-0.9), which rises at 04:39 BST before the Sun rises at 06:12 BST.
• Enjoy the return of the Andromeda Galaxy, M31 (+3.4) this week, along with its two satellite galaxies, M110 (+8.1) slightly further away than M32 (+8.1) which appears closer to M31’s core. Finish the galaxy search with M33 (+5.7), the Triangulum Galaxy.
• The Moon is First Quarter on Sunday.
• The Sun currently has 6 active regions and the sunspot number is 87.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

Week of 18th August

• Astronomical Twilight ends at 22:40 BST at the start of the week and at 22:21 BST by the end of the week.
• Mercury reaches its highest altitude of about 14° in the morning sky on Thursday. Take care of the rising Sun if trying to spot Mercury with binoculars.
• Saturn (+0.8) rises at around 21:30 BST this week, followed by Jupiter (-2.0) at around 02:10 BST and then Venus (-4.0) at around 02:50 BST.
• New Moon allows Deep Sky target hunting, so this week start with beautiful double star, Almach (+2.2) in Andromeda, then on to M34 (+5.2), an open cluster in Perseus, and stay in Perseus to finish with NGC 869 & 884, the magnificent Double Cluster (+5.3), best enjoyed with a wide field view such as with binoculars.
• The Moon is New on Saturday.
• The Sun currently has 4 active regions and the sunspot number is 53.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

Week of 11th August

• Astronomical Twilight ends at 23:04 BST at the start of the week and at 22:44 BST by the end of the week.
• The Perseid meteor shower peaks on Tuesday evening. This can be one of the finest meteor showers of the year with a nominal ZHR of up to 150 meteors per hour, but this year the Waning Gibbous Moon will drown out the fainter meteors. The progenitor of the shower is comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
• Saturn (+0.8) rises at around 21:50 BST this week, followed by Venus (-4.0) and Jupiter (-1.9) in close conjunction at around 02:50 BST.
• Three Globular Clusters to hunt down with binoculars this week. The first is NGC 6934 (+8.8) in Delphinus, next move to Pegasus for M15 (+6.2), and then finish in Aquarius with M2 (+6.5).
• The Moon is Last Quarter on Saturday.
• The Sun currently has 10 active regions and the sunspot number is 137.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).

Week of 4th August

• Astronomical Twilight ends at 23:30 BST at the start of the week and at 23:08 BST by the end of the week.
• Saturn (+0.8) and Neptune (+7.8) rise together at around 22:20 BST this week. Next up is Uranus (+5.8) at 00:10 BST, followed by Venus (-4.0) at around 02:29 BST rapidly approaching Jupiter (-1.9) which rises shortly afterwards at 02:50 BST.
• Bright moonlight this week calls for bright targets, and open clusters in the Milky Way fit the bill perfectly; there are many to choose from, but for this tour, start near the southern horizon with M11, the Wild Duck Cluster (+5.8) in Scutum, then in to Cygnus for M29 (+6.6), and finish in Cassiopeia with Caroline’s Rose, NGC 7789 (+6.7).
• The Moon is Full on Saturday – the Sturgeon Moon.
• The Sun currently has 8 active regions and the sunspot number is 132.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week (click here for full ISS pass details).