Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 10, 2024

Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 11

■ It’s peak Perseid meteor night! And maybe the first of two. The actual peak of the shower is supposed to be from about 13h to 16h UT on the 12th, which is 9 a.m. to noon on the 12th Eastern Daylight Time; 6 to 9 a.m. Pacific Daylight time. That’s not long after the ideal Perseid meteor-watching hours before dawn. But who knows, the next night could be just as good or nearly so.

In early evening the meteors will be few, but those that do appear will be Earth-grazers skimming far across the top of the atmosphere. As the hours pass and the shower’s radiant (in northern Perseus near Cassiopeia) rises higher in the northeast, the meteors will become shorter and more numerous. The first-quarter Moon sets around 11 p.m. daylight-saving time, leaving the sky nicely dark. The shower’s radiant continues to gain altitude until dawn puts an end to the show.

By 11 p.m. daylight-saving time Perseus is climbing up the northeastern sky. And the shower’s radiant point, next the pointy hat on the Perseus stick figure and below Cassiopeia, is already high enough for the shower to be a little more than half as active as it will be when the radiant is much higher just before dawn. That’s for an observer near 40° north latitude. For observers farther south Perseid rates all night will be a bit less, especially during the evening.

Layer up warmly even if the day was hot; remember about radiational cooling late at night under an open clear sky! A sleeping bag makes good mosquito armor, and use DEET on whatever parts of you remain exposed.

Bring a reclining lawn chair to a dark, open spot where no local lights get in your eyes. Lie back, and gaze up into the stars. Be patient. As your eyes adapt to the dark, you may see a meteor every minute or so on average as night grows late. You’ll see fewer under light pollution, but the brightest ones will shine through.

The best direction to watch is where your sky is darkest, usually overhead. The shower’s radiant (the meteors’ perspective point of origin, if you could see them coming from the far distance) is in northern Perseus under Cassiopeia. But the meteors only become visible when they hit the upper atmosphere, and this can occur anywhere in your sky.

MONDAY, AUGUST 12

■ The waxing Moon shines in the southwest after dusk. Look for orange Antares a little more than a fist at arm’s length to the Moon’s left or upper left. About halfway between them is Pi Scorpii, 3rd magnitude, the bottom star of the vertical row of three forming Scorpius’s flat head.

■ Will the Perseids be as active late tonight as they were late last night? Set up again to watch and find out! See yesterday. Tonight the first-quarter Moon sets around 11 or midnight daylight saving time, depending on your location.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 13

■ Now the gibbous Moon shines only a degree or two from Antares. Cover the bright Moon with your fingertip to see its surrounding stars more easily.

■ Jupiter and Mars shine together in conjunction in the early morning hours tonight (Wednesday morning the 14th). They’ll be just 0.3° apart. That’s the width of the thin end of a chopstick held at arm’s length. The two planets will easily fit into the same telescopic field of view at less than 100 power. Jupiter will be a white ball 37 arcseconds wide, perhaps showing its major belts (pale tan). Mars will be a much littler yellow-orange blob just 6 arcseconds wide.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14

■ Now the gibbous Moon shines between Antares to its right and the Sagittarius Teapot to its left.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15

■ This evening the Moon is in the Teapot, by its spout (for evening in North America). Again, cover the Moon with your fingertip to better see its background stars.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16

■ The Moon is just left of the Teapot’s handle this evening.

On Saturday morning August 17th, Mars and Jupiter still shine just 1.4° apart before dawn. They passed each other on the 14th.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 17

■ As summer progresses and Arcturus moves down the western evening sky, the kite figure of Boötes that sprouts up from Arcturus tilts to the right (depending on your latitude). The kite is narrow, slightly bent, and 23° long: about two fists at arm’s length. Arcturus is the kite’s bottom point where the stubby tail is tied on.

■ The Big Dipper now slants at about the same height in the northwest, to the Kite’s right. We’re in the time of year when the Big Dipper scoops down during evening, as if to pick up the water that it will dump from high overhead early next spring.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 18

■ Whenever bright Vega shines nearest your zenith, as it does right after dark now, you know that the Sagittarius Teapot is at its highest down in the south.

Two hours later when Deneb passes the zenith, it’s the turn of little Delphinus and boat-shaped Capricornus down below it to stand at their highest due south.