| Subject: August Sky Show: Perseid meteor shower |
Author:
Betty
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Date Posted: 16:07:11 07/25/04 Sun
In reply to:
Betty
's message, "Hubbble telescope to die & be destoyed" on 12:26:05 02/15/04 Sun
This month there is an entire parade of bright objects to see in the sky. You won't need telescope or binoculars to enjoy the night sky, and what a great way to relax after the heat of summer dog days!
Jupiter dominates the sky this month. The giant planet is at opposition which means that it is opposite the sun in our sky. If you could look down on the solar system, you could draw a straight line from the Sun, through Earth and on to Jupiter. At opposition, planets rise in the east at sunset and are in the sky all night. It is nearly impossible not to notice Jupiter. Binoculars or telescope will show the four Galilean moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
In the western sky, Venus vies for attention. The planet is even brighter than Jupiter, but is up for only 90 minutes after sunset. While Jupiter is bright because it is so huge, Venus is bright because it is closer to the Sun, about 1/3 closer than Earth & is a lot closer to us. It is curious to note that Venus goes through phases, but unlike our moon, Venus is brightest when at the crescent phase. It takes a small telescope to show the phases of Venus, and no other detail can be seen. The reason Venus is brightest in the crescent phase is because that is when it is closest to Earth. When Venus is more "full" it is nearly on the other side of the Sun and farther away and so does not appear as bright. The sun also outsines it's brightness when it's nearly full.
Also in the west-southwest is Mars. Look for a pinkish dot about 30 degrees high in the sky at sunset. Mars stays with us about an hour or so after Venus sets. Mars is quite near a bright star, Spica in the constellation Virgo. Spica is white and makes an interesting color contrast with Mars.
Saturn is the last planet to make its appearance in Autumn skies. The ringed planet rises in the east around 9PM and is in the constellation Pisces.
The brightest star in the night sky in August is Vega in the constellation Lyra the lyre. The star is directly overhead at sunset. Vega has a distinctive blue color, and is stunningly blue when seen with binoculars. The star Vega was mentioned in the box-office hit "Contact." This was the star that we received messages from in the movie.
The moon reaches full on the 18th but throughout the month passes close by a number of interesting objects. The evening of August 9th finds the crescent moon only 5 degrees above Mars in the west-southwest sky at sunset. On the 17th, the moon passes only 0.0008 degrees south of Saturn at 10PM. On the 25th the moon passes 0.3 degrees north of the bright star Aldebaran in Taurus.
My favorite event in August is the annual Perseid meteor shower. This shower is the most splendid of all the meteor showers and up to 68 meteors per hour may be seen. A meteor shower occurs when the Earth's orbit passes through an old comet orbit The comet associated with the Perseids is comet Swift-Tuttle. The reason they are called the Perseids is that they radiate from the general area that the constellation Perseus is in the sky.
You may actually watch for meteor several nights before and after the peak date of August 12th. Watch high in the north east, but do not stare at any particular area. Let your eyes wander and they will be more likely to pick up on any motion such as a meteor.
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