Name: What's Up: August 2023 Skywatching Tips from NASA
Uploaded: 2023-08-05T08:57:03.000Z
Duration: 4 min 9 s

In August, we've lost Venus and Mars from the evening sky,

but we'll have great views of Saturn all night.

Saturn reaches opposition this month, meaning

it's directly opposite the sun, as seen from Earth.

Planets in opposition rise just after sunset

and it's when they appear at their biggest

Look for the giant planet low in the eastern sky around 9 p.m.

appearing a bit higher each evening as August continues.

On the morning of August 3rd, Saturn appears just a couple

of finger widths apart from the nearly full Moon.

on the morning of the ninth with Jupiter hanging nearby.

The Moon then has a super-close meet up with the reddish star

Antares, brightest star in the constellation Scorpius,

of the best known annual meteor showers, the Perseids.

And this year, the stage is set for a good show as the peak

night, August 12th and into the 13th, is near the new moon.

The meteors are bits of dust, most no larger

than sand grains, that originate from comet Swift-Tuttle.

Earth sweeps through the comet's debris trail every year

about this same time, resulting in the annual shower.

the point in the sky where the meteors appear

appearing in between the upside down “W” of constellation

Just find yourself a safe, dark spot to lie down

toward the northeast and look straight up.

The best time to view them is between midnight and dawn.

likely will be at its greatest in the hour preceding dawn.

a significant problem for viewing the meteors.

You might also see a few meteors in the early morning hours

during the week before and after the peak.

You see, a second full moon in a single calendar month

They happen every 2 to 3 years because the Moon's monthly cycle

is just a bit shorter than the average length of a month.

So eventually a full moon will happen at the beginning

of a month, with enough days left for a complete lunar cycle.

The August 30th blue moon is also a supermoon.

a little farther away from Earth and sometimes closer.

About 3 to 4 times a year, the full moon phase

happens to coincide with the Moon reaching perigee,

While it technically appears a bit bigger and a tad brighter

the difference is not super noticeable to the eye.

The combination of these two special full moons

making for a “super blue moon,” occurs about every ten years

on average, though, the time between any two occurrences

can vary from two months to two decades or more.

And while the second one won't appear super-sized

or any bluer than usual, now you know what makes it special.

Here are the phases of the Moon for August.

Stay up to date with all of NASA's missions

to explore the solar system and beyond at NASA.gov.

I'm Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,