The August Sky

.....August is one of the best observing months of the year.  The nights are starting to get a bit longer (still cursed by Daylight Savings Time), and the Summer Milky Way, including the center of the galaxy, moves across the center of the sky from Perseus in the northeast, through Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cygnus, Aquila, Sagittarius and Scorpius.  While I have not yet discussed many of the constellations with the Milky Way, just wandering through this section of the Milky Way with binoculars is wonderfully rewarding.

.....As before, constellations that have been covered in the blog are shown in blue (Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Boötes, Libra, Corona Borealis, Hercules, Ophiuchus and Serpens, and Scorpius), with other constellations in red.  Saturn is being lost in the west, so if you want to observe Saturn, you'll have to do it in evening twilight, though if you look east starting at about 1 AM, you can see Jupiter rising.  As always, constellations we have yet to cover are in red.

.....August is most notable for the Perseid meteor shower (on which more later).  In short, during the first part of the month, meteors will be more common, many of them seeming to track from the northeast and the constellation Perseus.  Try to squeeze out meteor observing early, though, because while the meteor shower peaks on the night of August 11th, so does the full Moon.