August 1, 2005
Astronomy Note for August
This is the meteor month, with 5 named meteor showers. The timing of the moon's phases will make for dark skies during meteor shower activity, but monsoonal skies may not cooperate. Most of these showers are sparse, or have a weak showing predicted this year. But taken together, this is a great month for seeing meteors around the sky.
-Aquarids South, 4 Aug peak. Active now thru 15 Aug Faint, minor shower.
-Aquarids North (delta), 8 Aug peak. Active now thru 25 Aug. Mostly faint meteors.
-Perseids, 12 Aug peak. Active now thru 24 Aug. This could be interesting. Perseids are relatively fast, averaging almost 60 km/hr in the atmosphere, and they are often bright and often leave long, persistent trails. At the "traditional" peak, which should be between 10pm and 1am Arizona time, they average about 100 per hour. However, Perseid peaks are variable, and in some years additional, even bigger peaks, occur before and after the traditional peak, sometimes a difference of a day or more, so it is a good time to be alert when outside late.
-Cygnids, 17 Aug. Active 3-25 Aug. I lied: The peak will be near full moon. Few meteors expected in this shower, but they will come out of the North (Draco) and can be brilliant, slow-moving, and showy.
-Aquarids North(Iota), 19 Aug peak. Active 11-31 Aug. Another sparse shower.
-Planets: Jupiter and Venus are in the evening sky (Venus is lower and brighter) and getting closer to each other (apparently) all month long. Mars rises late in the evening, but is burning bright, and will be as bright as Sirius by month end. With a decent telescope, you can watch the southern icecap melting away as the summer solstice of that part of Mars approaches.