Dark Sky News

Sagittarius! Scorpio! Lyra! Cygnus! Hercules! Spectacular constellations in the summer sky. Make sure you use at least some binoculars to scan the Milky Way this month.

Don’t forget to look for the summer triangle: Deneb in Cygnus, Vega in Lyra and Altair in Aquila!

This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Sturgeon Moon because the large sturgeon fish of the Great Lakes and other major lakes were more easily caught at this time of year. This moon has also been known as the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon.

6 planets are aligned for morning (very late night) viewing!

The Perseids is one of the best meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by comet Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862. The Perseids are famous for producing a large number of bright meteors. The shower peaks this year on the night of August 12 and the morning of August 13. The waning gibbous moon will block out all but the brightest meteors this year. But if you are patient, you may still be able to catch quite a few good ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Perseus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

Besides the crescent Moon being close by on the 19^th, this is also when Mercury is furthest from the Sun in the sky. You could potentially see it from around the 10^th onwards, but it won’t be particularly bright and you’ll only have a few minutes to spot it at around 15 to 20 minutes before sunrise.

If you have no luck, try using binoculars or use the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter to help you locate it (see above). Once you’ve spotted it, keep track of it to see how many days you can see it before it disappears. In theory, if you have a clear unobstructed view of the eastern horizon, it should remain visible until the first few days of September.

The New Moon will occur at 6:08 UTC. Finally nights are starting to get longer!!! What can I say, I’m a DSO lover!