August 2024

The moon’s at northern lunistice when August starts. It’s 28.5 degrees north of the equator on the 1^st. It’s an old moon in the morning sky. You’ll see the waning crescent below Jupiter, Mars, and Aldebaran. The moon will be below and left of that trio from most of the northern hemisphere and below right of them from most of the southern hemisphere. The crescent moves through Gemini on the 2^nd and 3^rd. And the moon is new on the 4^th.

In the evening sky, a waxing crescent passes by Venus and Mercury which are close to Regulus in Leo on the 5^th. This grouping is best seen from near the equator and south of it. On the 7^th, the moon’s moving into Virgo. As it passes the star Zaniah on the 8^th, the moon’s going southward over the equator. The moon passes Spica on the 10^th and moves to Libra on the 11^th. First quarter occurs with the moon in Libra on the 12^th.

The moon spends the 13^th and 14^th in Scorpius. It’s entering Sagittarius at southern lunistice at 28.6 degrees on the 15^th. After going through Capricornus on the 17^th and 18^th, the moon is full on the way into Aquarius on the 19^th. It’s close to Saturn on the 20^th. The next three mornings, the waning gibbous lunar disk is in Pisces. It’s going northward over the equator on the 22^nd.

Last quarter is on the 26^th as the moon passes the Pleiades and approaches Jupiter and Mars again. By late in the month, those two planets have moved on past the Hyades. The moon passes Jupiter on the 27^th and Mars on the 28^th. On the 28^th, the moon’s at northern lunistice again at 28.6 degrees. A waning crescent disk passes through Gemini again on the 29^th and 30^th. This time, the twins are higher in the morning sky at the same hour as before.

Finally, on the last day of August, the moon will be in Cancer north of the Beehive. Since the moon last passed Mercury, the messenger planet has crossed to the morning sky. You may be able to spot it below the moon on the 31^st.

Other lunar information for the month: apogee is on the 9^th at 405,300 kilometers away and perigee is on the 21^st at 360,000 kilometers.

Now, more about this month’s planetary action. As August starts, Mars is close to Ain, the star opposite Aldebaran at the “top” ends of the Hyades V. Jupiter is a little east of the V. Both planets are moving eastward. Mars is faster. It passes Jupiter on the 14^th when they appear 0.3 degrees apart. By the end of the month, the red planet is approaching the feet of Gemini while Jupiter still has a way to go to get there, although the big planet has made progress getting away from Taurus and the Hyades. See this action in the morning.

If you can find Uranus this month, it will likely be with binoculars. The planet’s between the Pleiades and the head of Cetus the sea monster. This is also a morning spectacle.

Saturn is just east of Aquarius and moving retrograde. It rises in mid-evening when August starts. By the month’s end, the planet is just above the horizon rising at nightfall. The ringed planet will be at opposition on September 8^th.

In the evening sky, Venus will remain an evening object all month, steadily heading deeper into the evening sky. As already mentioned, Mercury transitions from evening to morning. On the 1^st, both planets appear about the same distance from Regulus, Mercury on one side, Venus on the other. While Mercury heads southward away from Regulus, it also begins heading westward on the 4^th. Meanwhile, Venus passes the star on the north side on the 5^th.

Mercury goes through inferior conjunction on the 19^th and then reemerges as a morning object a few days later. Meanwhile, Venus stays close to the horizon for northern hemisphere observers. Its march into the evening sky is more obvious to southern sky watchers.

The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the 12^th and 13^th. You could see up to 100 meteors per hour if it’s a good year for it. The moon will have set during the ideal position for Perseus.