August 1997

by Steve Stefanik

August is the month of the Perseid meteor showers but the Jovian giant Jupiter steals the show this month. Look for this brilliant -2.3 magnitude planet low in the southeast after dark. It will reach opposition on the 9th when it will be directly opposite us from the sun. You can’t possible miss it due to its gigantic 49 arc second size making it the biggest and brightest star or planet in the night sky except for the moon of course! If you have difficulty locating it or you’re still not sure if you’ve spotted it, it will appear near the full moon on the night of the 17th. Through even a small telescope or binoculars you can make out the light and dark bands, dark and light spots, swirls, plumes, and festoons of its atmosphere. You can also get a glimpse of its four largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They should look about the same as when their discoverer Gallileo viewed them through his two inch telescope back in 1610.

About the time Jupiter is rising in the southeast, the blinding evening "star" Venus is setting in the northwest. You can’t miss it. Its more than a full magnitude brighter than Jupiter. On the evening of the 6th a slim three-day-old waxing crescent moon will appear above and to the left of it while a much more subdued +0.3 magnitude planet Mercury is below and to the right of it about 30 minutes after sunset.

Mars of course is dwindling in size and brightness. Look for the ruddy-red planet low in the southwest about an hour past sunset. If you have difficulty locating it look for it on the evening of the 9th when when an almost first quarter moon will be about 5 degrees above and to the left of it. The bright first magnitude blue-white star Spica will be below and to the right of it in the constellation Virgo.

The planets Uranus and Neptune are still visible in the southern sky having just reached opposition last month. Uranus is still at a respectable magnitude +5.7 among the stars of Capricorn while Neptune is considerably dimmer at +7.9 among the stars of Sagittarius.

Pluto is well placed due south among the stars of Scorpio at dusk but is all but impossible to see without a telescope.

The last of the planets to make its way into the night-time summer sky is of course Saturn. Look for the +0.4 magnitude ringed planet high in the southeastern sky late in the evening among the stars of Pisces. A waning gibbous moon passes nearby the planet on the night of the 22nd.