SKYWATCH

August 1995

by Steve Stefanik

August is of course the month of the Perseid meteor showers which are expected to peak on the night of the 12/13th this year. They originate from Earth passing through the dust and debris left by the passing of comet Swift-Tuttle. Unfortunately the moon will be just two days past full so the sky won't be very dark to view most of the 50 or 60 meteors per hour. However, the Perseids tend to gradually increase in number several nights before they peak so you might try viewing them beginning on the night of the 4/5th through the 8/9th after mid-night when the moon will have already set. Look toward the northeast in the direction of the constellation Perseus where they will appear to radiate from.

August nights will also display the familiar "J" hook of Scorpius and the "teapot" of Sagittarius as you look due south. The bright white (magnitude -2.2) planet of Jupiter will be prominently positioned for viewing through a telescope or binoculars above and to the right of the brightest red star Antares, in the constellation Scorpius.

The planets Uranus and Neptune (magnitudes +5.7 and +7.9 respectively) can be found with binoculars or a telescope above and to the left of the handle of the "teapot" asterism in the constellation Sagittarius. Uranus appears somewhat greener than the somewhat bluer Neptune.

Saturn is also well placed for viewing this month. It rises in the southeast about mid-evening among the dim stars of Aquarius. On the night of the 10/11th the Earth once again passes through the plane of it's rings for the second time this year. In May we passed from the north to the south side of the rings. For those of you who have been observing the planet through binoculars or a telescope, we have been looking at the unilluminated underside of it's rings so they have appeared to disappear. After the 10th we will be looking at them from the northern sunlit side so the rings will appear as a thin white line. In November, when the planet reaches opposition (directly opposite Earth from the sun) the southern side of the rings will become illuminated so the thin white ring will again disappear for the third time.

You might be able to catch a glimpse of the planet Mercury low in the west after sunset in the last few days of the month.

Venus can't be seen this month because it's at superior conjunction behind the sun.