Star Watch

By Deane Morrison

     This year, August serves a smorgasbord of celestial delights in both the morning and evening skies.

     In the west, Venus is still bright, though steadily sinking into the sunset. On the 16th, its beauty will be enhanced by a young crescent moon shining next to it.

     During the first half of the month, the Andromeda Galaxy — the Milky Way’s closest large neighbor galaxy — will be near the northeastern horizon at nightfall and perhaps easier to find than when it’s high in the sky. Look for a faint smear of light to the lower right of the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia and to the left of the Great Square of Pegasus, which will also be near the horizon. Binoculars will help. The Andromeda Galaxy is approximately 2.5 million light-years away and belongs to the constellation of the same name.  

     In the morning sky, the iconic winter constellations are sweeping westward past Mars. The red planet begins the month between Orion and the brilliant star Capella, in Auriga, the charioteer, and ends it near the Gemini twin stars, Castor and Pollux. A waning moon joins Mars on the 9th. On the 10th, the moon forms a nearly isosceles triangle with Castor and Pollux. 

     This year no moon will interfere with the annual Perseid meteor shower, which should peak in the predawn hours of the 13th. Perseid meteors are fast, often colorful and known for leaving persistent trails.

     On the night of the 27th to 28th, the full moon glides through Earth’s umbra, or dark inner shadow, in a deep lunar eclipse. The moon makes first contact with the umbra at 9:34 p.m. on the 27th; reaches maximum eclipse at 11:13 p.m., when about 94 percent of the moon will be engulfed in the umbra; and ends with the moon’s exit from the umbra at 12:52 a.m. on the 28th.  

The University of Minnesota offers public viewings of the night sky at its Duluth and Twin Cities campuses. For more information, see:

Duluth, Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium: www.d.umn.edu/planet

Twin Cities, Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics: www.astro.umn edu/outreach/pubnight

Check out astronomy programs, free telescope events, and planetarium shows at the
University of Minnesota's Bell Museum: www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/astronomy

Find U of M astronomers and links to the world of astronomy at: http://www.astro.umn.edu.

7/23/26 Contact: Deane Morrison, (612) 720-3721, morri029@umn.edu