| Title: |
August Skywatch Highlights |
| Location: |
Hawaiian Islands |
| Date / Time: |
August 2007 |
| Comments: |
As Saturn & Venus slip into evening twilight, Jupiter will rule as the only naked-eye planet visible in our night sky. Brilliant JUPITER dominates the southern sky, just northeast of Antares, the red supergiant star which is the "heart" of Scorpius, the Scorpion. Using Jupiter to locate Antares, look for the "J" or "fishhook" shape of the GIANT scorpion (aka: Ka Makau Nui o Maui: the giant fishhook of Maui). At the beginning of August, Jupiter & Antares are just south of overhead at sunset, & are visible most of the night. Notice how Jupiter, reflecting the light of our yellow-orange Sun, gleams a brilliant golden color, in contract to the ruddy glow of red Antares. MARS will be rising just after midnight in early August, close to the Pleiades star cluster (AKA: Seven Sisters, or Makali'i). Mars is getting brighter as Earth slowly catches up to the orbit of the Red Planet, which will reach opposition in December. Watch as Mars approaches Aldebaran, the red giant star which is the "eye" of Taurus, the bull. Around Aug.20-23, Mars appears as the "other eye" of the bull and, by the end of the month, appears between it's two horns. For the first week of August, early risers might catch a view of MERCURY in the pre-dawn sky, rising in the east just after Castor & Pollux, Gemini's brightest stars. After Aug. 8th, Mercury is lost in the Sun's glare. Be sure to mark your calendar for two special August AstroEvents: Aug.11-13: the Perseid Meteor Showers, and Aug. 27-28: Total Lunar Eclipse. (See notes). Take the time to appreciate our gorgeous summer skies, rich in star clusters, nebulae & other deep space objects. Lucky we live in Hawaii! For further details and an August sky map, visit Bishop Museum Planetarium www.bishopmuseum.org/planetarium (bishopmuseum.org). |
|
Maintained by Roz Reiner - Kauai, Hawaii
>> Email Roz <<
|