Vega, the brightest member of the Summer Triangle, is high in the east at nightfall early in the month and directly overhead by month’s end. By then, Pegasus is in view low in the east, marked by the Great Square. Arcturus, one of the other brilliant stars of summer, is plunging toward the western horizon as August wanes.
The full Moon of August is known as the Grain Moon or Green Corn Moon
Perigee August 10
Apogee August 22
Moon phases are Central Time.
Denebola, the star at the tail of Leo, the lion, is well up in the east at nightfall at this time of year. It forms the bottom point of a triangle of stars that forms the lion’s hindquarters. Regulus, Leo’s brightest star, is to the upper right of the triangle.
The Moon reaches apogee tonight, which is its greatest distance for its current orbit around Earth. It will be roughly 252,347 miles away, which is more than 13,000 miles farther than the average distance.
The Crab Nebula stands high in the east at nightfall, near the tip of one of the horns of Taurus, the bull. You need a telescope to see it because it’s not very bright at visible wavelengths. In X-rays, though, it’s one of the brightest objects in the sky.
A star pattern that runs along the spine of the Milky Way is quite prominent at this time of year. It’s the Northern Cross, which is part of the constellation Cygnus, the swan. It stands almost straight up from the western horizon at nightfall.
The Moon will be new at 7:28 p.m. CST tonight as it crosses the line between Earth and the Sun. It will be immersed in the Sun’s glare, but will return to view as a thin crescent in the early evening sky in a couple of days.
The Skull Nebula is the stripped-off “skin” of a once-normal star. That skin forms a colorful bubble of gas around the star’s dead core. It is in the south at nightfall, well to the lower left of bright orange Mars, although you need a telescope to see it.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is at its best tonight. It typically reaches a peak of about 100 “shooting stars” per hour, making it one of the busiest of all showers. But the peak lasts no more than a couple of hours, so it’s a tough shower to watch.
Earth is closest to the Sun for the entire year the next couple of days. It is about 1.7 percent closer than the average distance of 93 million miles. After tomorrow we will move farther from the Sun until early July.
The Moon and the brilliant planets Venus and Jupiter snuggle close together in the dawn sky tomorrow. Venus is the “morning star,” to the upper right of the Moon. Jupiter is farther to the lower left of the Moon.
The brightest objects in the night sky team up before and during dawn tomorrow: the Moon and the planets Venus and Jupiter. Venus is the “morning star,” to the lower left of the Moon. Jupiter is to well the lower left of Venus, not far above the horizon at dawn.
