Great celestial events in August
It’s certainly rare to have a total solar eclipse and one of the best meteor showers in the same month, but that’s what's happening this August on nearly the same date! Only a small part of the world gets to see the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, but weather permitting, all of us get to enjoy the Perseid meteor shower, peaking the night of Aug. 12-13.
Let me start with the total solar eclipse. Unlike the last one in 2024, the U.S. will be shut out on this one. The path of totality on Aug. 12 runs generally from Siberia to near the North Pole. From the Pole, the path continues down across the eastern edge of Greenland and Iceland, and on to northern Spain. You have another chance to view a truly great total solar eclipse on Aug. 2 in 2027, but you’ll also have to travel big-time! The path of totality will run across portions of northern Africa, the Middle East, Spain and Gibraltar. What’s really cool about this eclipse is that there’ll be up to six minutes of totality. Make your travel plans ASAP. It will be crazy crowded in the path of totality.
Unlike the eclipse, we’ll be able to see the annual Perseid meteor shower over Butler, barring cloud cover. It's one of the best meteor showers of the year! The Perseids slowly get going in the last few days of July but build to a very, very active peak during the early morning hours of Aug. 13, roughly from around midnight to just before morning twilight fades in. This year, astronomical conditions couldn’t be better because there’ll be absolutely no moonlight interfering during the peak night of Aug. 12-13, where in the countryside, you may see well over 50 meteors or more per hour, but even if you're viewing from areas of moderate light pollution, you should see a decent number of meteors or "shooting stars." I’ll have more on the Perseids next week in Starwatch.
In the evening sky, the only planet available is the very bright planet Venus. It jumps out of early evening twilight in the low western sky and sets shortly thereafter. Venus has been our “evening star” for several months now, but will gradually bow out as we move toward autumn. In early November it begins its stint as the “morning star.”
The summer constellations are in full bloom now after evening twilight fades. In the low southern sky, you'll see Scorpius the Scorpion, which really resembles a scorpion. The brightest star of Scorpius is Antares with its ruddy glow, marking the heart of the great beast. On Aug. 20, the first quarter half-moon will be just off to the lower right of Antares.
Next door, just to the east of Scorpius, is Sagittarius the Archer, which looks much more like a teapot. Over in the northwestern sky is the Big Dipper, hanging by its handle. The much fainter Little Dipper is just to the right, with Polaris, the North Star, at the end of the handle. In the northeast is a giant "W." That's the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen. That W outlines the throne of Queen Cassiopeia, who is eternally tied into it as punishment for her vanity that many of the gods of Mount Olympus took great exception to!
If you’re lucky enough to live in the dark countryside, you’ll be overwhelmed by the Milky Way band. Look for a milky ribbon of light reaching across the entire sky from the southwest horizon around the spout of the Sagittarius teapot all the way to Cassiopeia in the northeast, nearly bisecting the celestial dome. That’s the Milky Way band, the combined light of billions and billions of stars that make up the plane of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
Nearly overhead is the Summer Triangle, made up of three bright stars: Vega, Altair and Deneb. All three of these stars are the brightest in their respective constellations, Lyra the Harp, Cygnus the Swan and Aquila the Evil Eagle. The Summer Triangle is a great tool for finding these constellations and many other celestial treasures.
The full moon on Aug. 28 has several nicknames. Among them are Sturgeon Moon, the Grain Moon, Corn Moon and Lightning Moon. This month, you could also name it the disappearing moon! That’s because the moon will track across Earth’s shadow, giving us viewers on our planet a lunar eclipse. Technically, it’ll be a partial lunar eclipse but darn close to a total eclipse! At mid-eclipse, over 96 % of the moon will be in Earth’s umbra shadow. Most of the moon will take on a dark, ruddy tinge. I’ll have more details later this month.
It’s an awesome August in our night skies!
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is also the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at adventurepublications.net. Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.
