SkyEye: August 2024

Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events!

All times and dates are in UT with the time given to the nearest 30 minutes.
Planetary positions are geocentric apparent places, referred to the true equator and equinox of date.

The phases of the in August 2024

Day	Events
1	The waning crescent Moon is 1.8° south of β Gem (Pollux) at 23:00.
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4	Mars is nearly 5.0° north of the first-magnitude star α Tau (Aldebaran) at 01:30. Mercury enters into retrograde motion today. The NEW MOON occurs at 11:00 and Venus passes a degree north of α Leo (Regulus) at 23:00.
5	The very young crescent Moon is found 1.7° north of Venus at 23:00.
6	Two hours later, at 01:00, the Moon passes a distant 7.5° north of Mercury.
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8	Mercury and Venus are 5.7° apart at 16:30 but are only 18° away from the Sun at the time.
9	The Moon passes through its descending node and reaches apogee today.
10	The waxing crescent Moon occults the first-magnitude star α Vir (Spica) at 09:30.
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12	The light from the FIRST QUARTER MOON should not provide too much intereference for observing the Perseid meteor shower which should peak between 13:00 and 16:00.
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14	At 04:30, the waxing gibbous Moon occults the first-magnitude star α Sco (Antares). Twelve hours later, Mars and Jupiter approach to within 0.3° of each other.
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19	This FULL MOON is the third of four in the current season, making it a Blue Moon by the original definition. Also on this day, Mercury reaches inferior conjunction and Uranus passes through west quadrature.
20	The minor planet 4 Vesta is at conjunction.
21	The waning gibbous Moon is busy today! First it occults Saturn beginning around 01:00. After reaching perigee, our satellite then goes on to occult Neptune. This event begins at 20:00.
22	The Moon passes through its ascending node.
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26	The LAST QUARTER MOON is found 4.4° north of Uranus at 01:00 and then occults the open star cluster M45 (Pleiades) two hours later.
27	The Moon makes a distant (5.7°) pass by Jupiter at 14:00.
28	The waning crescent Moon is found 5.3° north of Mars at 01:30, and Mercury returns to direct motion.
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30	At 05:00, the waning crescent Moon is 1.7° south of β Gem (Pollux).
31	The waning crescent Moon is found 3.1° north of the open star cluster M44 (Beehive) at 05:30. Moonlight should not unduly interfere with peak activity of the Aurigid meteor shower which occurs at about 11:00.

The position of the Sun and planets at mid-August 2024

Sun Cancer → Leo

Mercury Leo → Sextans → Leo The best evening apparition of the year for southern hemisphere observers draws to a close this month. The tiny planet is already on its way back toward the western horizon and passes Venus on its way to inferior conjunction on 19 August. Mercury is never more brilliant than first magnitude in August but it brightens as it reappears in dawn skies near the end of the month.

Venus Leo → Virgo Venus continues its reign as the evening star, climbing higher above the western horizon every evening and best seen from equatorial and southern vantage points. It shines at magnitude −3.9 all month and is much brighter than Regulus when the two celestial bodies appear a degree apart on 4 August. The new crescent Moon appears less than 2° north of Venus the following day and Mercury races past on 8 August.

Earth and Moon The Moon will provide minimal interference for the annual spectacle that is the Perseid meteor shower, peaking this year on 12 August. The Moon is full on 19 August; this will be the third Full Moon of four this season (summer for the north, winter for the south). This is the original definition of a "Blue Moon".

Mars Taurus Mars is brightening this month, starting at magnitude +0.9 and ending at +0.7, and is starting to look a bit gibbous when viewed through a telescope. The red planet is primarily a morning sky object although it rises before midnight for southern hemisphere observers before the end of the month. Mars approaches a number of Bayer-designated or named stars in Taurus this month — 1.2° south of the optical double κ¹ Tau/κ² Tau, 2.0° north of ε Tau or Ain, and 1.7° south of υ Tau on 2 August; 4.9° north of Aldebaran on 4 August; 1.2° south of τ Tau on 8 August — before overtaking Jupiter mid-month.

Jupiter Taurus The largest planet in the solar system rises after midnight. It is in conjunction with Mars on 14 August when the two bodies just 0.3° apart.

Saturn Aquarius First-magnitude Saturn is visible in the evening sky. It is found 1.1° south of the fourth-magnitude star φ Aqr on 18 August before undergoing a lunar occultation on 21 August. On the last day of the month, Saturn is less than 2° north of ψ¹ Aqr, another fourth-magnitude star sporting a Bayer Greek-letter designation.

Uranus Taurus Uranus reaches west quadrature on 19 August and begins to appear in the evening sky before midnight. Because it is only sixth-magintude, it is best observed from a dark location when the Moon is absent from the sky.

Neptune Pisces A small telescope is necessary to view the most distant planet in the solar system. Rising in the early eveng hours, it is occulted by waning gibbous Moon on 21 August.