Home Back to August Sky
New Moon: August
16
Full Moon:
August 30
STAR GAZE (August 13):
Sun: Sets at 8:20pm, astronomical twilight ends at 9:58pm
and begins at 5:20am the next morning. The Sun rises the next morning at 6:51am.
Between astronomical twilights, we get about 7.4 hours of darkness.
Moon: (illuminated
4%) The Moon sets at 7:21pm.
Jupiter & it's moons:
Jupiter is only 16 degrees above the horizon at sunset, and sets at 9:48pm. It
is too low to see clearly through a telescope.
Asteroids: Juno is in the middle of the constellation
Scutum, about 3 degrees away from Messier 11. It is 36 degrees above the eastern
horizon at sunset on the night of the gaze, and sets at 4:21am. It is magnitude
9.9.
SOLAR SYSTEM:
Mercury:
Is at Inferior conjunction on August 23, so this month is not a good time
to find Mercury.
Venus: Is at greatest elongation from the Sun on August 17.
Saturn: Was at superior conjunction on July 8, so it is too low to be seen clearly through a telescope. By the end of the month, it is about 30 degrees above the eastern horizon at sunrise.
Uranus: Is at opposition on August 6, in Aquarius. It is magnitude 5.7 and visible to the unaided eye!
Neptune: Is at opposition on August 27, in Capricornus. It is magnitude 7.8 and visible through binoculars.
Pluto: Was at opposition in July, is now in Ophiuchus. It is magnitude 13.8 and visible in a 14" -18" scope.
DEEP SKY OBJECTS (DSO's) (Not
the biggest or best, but interesting) :
Minkowski 2-9 (aka: The Butterfly Nebula, or PK 10+18.2): This
planetary nebula was made famous by a beautiful Hubble Space Telescope photograph.
It's faint, at magnitude 13.2, and a larger telescope and high power (~550x)
is needed to resolve the nebula into it's two elongated lobes and it's central
star. It is thought to be very young, created about 1,500 years ago. In August,
look for Minkowski 2-9 early in the night before it gets too close to the western
horizon (It is 42 degrees above the horizon when astronomical twilight ends
at 9:58pm). Also, this nebula is pretty far into the southern sky, located not
far above the top of Scorpius. We could not find it thru an 11" telescope
using a narrow band filter, so we recommend trying at least a 14" scope
with an OIII filter. Good luck! Size: 60"x30" (Location: 17hr 05m
38s RA -10 deg 08.5' Dec, in Ophiuchus).
Humason 1-2 (aka: PK 86-8.1): Planetary nebula. Magnitude 12.7. A medium sized scope (10") will show an hourglass figure at about 400x. Size: 8.3" (Location: 21hr 33m 08s RA +39 deg 38' 04" Dec, in Cygnus. 3 degrees east of Sigma Cygni).
If available, use an OIII filter, or even a narrow band filter, to view the 2 planetary nebulae above.
Supernova in Galaxy NGC2403: an 11.2 magnitude supernova in this
8.5 magnitude spiral galaxy was discovered in July by an amateur astronomer
in Japan. This galaxy is also known as Caldwell 7, and, per The Night Sky
Observer's Guide, was the first galaxy beyond our Local Group in which a
Cepheid variable was discovered.
NGC2403 is too low in the west in the evenings this month, but, buy the end
of this month, is 33 degrees above the eastern horizon when astronomical twilight
begins in the morning. So the last hours of darkness will be the best time to
find this supernova and, as the year goes on, NCG2403 will be higher and higher
in the morning sky. By the end of September, NGC2403 will be 50 degrees above
the eastern horizon when astronomical twilight begins in the morning. We hope
the supernova remains bright long enough for us to get good views of it this
fall. See this article
in S&T for a sky chart & photo to identify the supernova. (Location:
07hr 36.9m +65deg 36' in Camelopardalis)
HIGHLIGHTS:
Lammas
(a cross-quarter day): August 1st. See article
from the Clark Planetarium.
Perseid
meteor shower: Peaks in the early morning hours of August 12. The ZHR
(Zenithal Hourly Rate) is 100, but a single observer should expect to see no more
that about 60 per hour. Here in Asheville, the 14% illuminated crescent moon rises
at 3:14am, but will not hurt the shower very much. These meteors are sand and
pebble sized debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle's 1862 orbit. "...because
recent perturbations by Jupiter are directing old Perseid meteoroids about 0.01
a.u. closer to the Sun, the core of the broader, "traditional" stream may be shifted
closer to Earth's orbit, resulting in a stronger-than-average annual shower...
the Perseids (may) tend to put on stronger-than-average displays at 12-year intervals
(12 years being Jupiter's orbital period), and that 2004 is one of the favored
years." See article
in S&T.
CLUB STARGAZE:
You can check the AstroAsheville
Yahoo group (or call Tim @ 251-0040 or John @ 251-1933 x17 (before 5:00) or
667-9268 (after 5:00)) for a go/no-go decision and to verify location.
CLUB MEETING:
Indoor club meetings are usually the first Thursday of every
month, at 6 p.m. in the Sim’s
Group offices (230 Short Coxe Ave., Asheville, NC.)
Happy Starwatching! Dress Warm! Blue Ridge Parkway Information
Line is 828-298-0398
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(Much of the above info is derived from Sky & Telescope magazine, Ottewell's
Astronomical Calendar, The Night Sky Observer's Guide, Burnam's Celestial Handbook,
Megastar 5.0, Planets202, the ol' Miller Planesphere, and a little (very little)
common sense.)