Episode 347 – Objects to Observe in August 2023

August 1st – Full Moon

August 2nd – Saturn 2-degrees above the Moon in VERY EARLY ie 1 am morning Sky

August 8th  – Last quarter Moon 

• Jupiter 3-degrees below Moon in early morning sky

August 10th – Mercury at greatest Elongation 27-degrees in Evening Sky – tough in very bright dusky sky

• 10 Hygiea at opposition m=9.6
• Hygiea is a major asteroid and possible dwarf planet located in the main asteroid belt. With a diameter of 434 kilometres and a mass estimated to be 3% of the total mass of the belt, it is the fourth-largest asteroid in the Solar System by both volume and mass.
•  Annibale de Gasparis discovered Hygiea on 12 April 1849. 
• Named after the Greek Goddess of Health
• On Aquarius Capricornus Border

August 13th & 14th – Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks in the early morning hours on these mornings

August 15th – Old Moon Challenge – You’ll see a sliver of a Moon in morning twilight.

August 16th –  New Moon / Young Crescent Moon possible in evening twilight

August 18th – Mars 2-degrees below and right of Moon in evening twilight

August 24th – First Quarter – Lunar Straight Wall visible – Moon Occults ANtares this evening

What is an Occultation?

From here the Moon Passes in front of Antares in the Daylight sky just a few minutes before Sunset, around 8pm, however, the Moon is readily visible in the daytime around 1st quarter and with the Moon as a guide you might find Antares. We can easily see the reveal at about 9pm when it’s dark.

August 26th – 8 Flora at opposition m= 8.3

• discovered by J. R. Hind on 18 October 1847
• The name Flora was proposed by John Herschel, from Flora, the Latin goddess of flowers and gardens
• Morning Sky Eastern Taurus

August 27th – Saturn at opposition – rings are closing in a little…look like little ears when we viewed them in Grasslands.

August 30th – Full Moon and Saturn 2 degrees above and right of the Moon in evening sky

Comet E1 Atlas should be ~10th magnitude in August – In Cepheus

Comet V2 ZTF is getting closer to 10th Magnitude…heading south though hugging the Taurus Cetus Boarder and southern horizon for a few months.

Double Stars

Epsilon 1 Lyr – The Double Double

Gama 2 Del – 2 bright yellow stars of similar magnitude