Look for meteor shower and a lunar eclipse this month

Three things in particular interest me this August, those being a partial lunar eclipse, an excellent year for the Perseid meteor shower, and the return of Saturn to the evening sky.

The partial lunar eclipse comes on Aug. 27. The Moon will already be in the beginning of the eclipse when it rises at sunset (about 7:45 p.m.). By about 8:30 p.m., the Moon will be noticeably darker as it enters the deepest part of the eclipse. It will start appearing lighter at about 10 p.m. as it comes out of the eclipse. It is a partial eclipse in our area. The shadow of the Earth does not completely block the Sun from some illumination of the Moon’s surface, although it will be pretty close.

On the night of Aug. 12-13, we will see the peak of the famous Perseid meteor shower. They originate from the comet Swift-Tuttle, which has an approximate 133-year orbit around the Sun. The comet is now in the outer solar system (it last visited the inner solar system in 1992), but its orbital path contains small rocks and debris that get dislodged from the comet. When the Earth passes through this orbital path, we get the meteor shower, as debris is pulled into our atmosphere, burning up as it falls toward Earth. This year, Aug. 12 will be at new Moon, so there will be no moonlight to “wash out” the dimmer Perseid meteors. If skies are clear, find a dark site, away from lights, and just watch the sky for meteors. Best time is after midnight, in the early hours of Aug. 13. The area from which the meteors enter our atmosphere is where we see the constellation Perseus, hence the name. When you see a meteor zoom across the sky, trace back along its path and see if it leads to the area of Perseus. If so, it is a Perseid meteor. Where is Perseus? Look in the north-northeast, just below the recognizable “W” shape of Cassiopeia, to find Perseus.

Saturn returns to the evening sky in August! Look for it low in the east after sunset. In early August it rises at about 11 p.m. By the end of the month, it will rise by 9 p.m. Saturn’s rings are visible again — last year, we viewed them almost “edge-on” and they were hard to see. They will be magnificent this year.

Venus still shines as the “evening star” in August, low in the west after sunset. On Aug. 15, the waxing crescent Moon will lie just below Venus, which should make for a nice sight.

Mercury and Jupiter are in the early morning sky in August. On the 15th, they come very close together, for a nice conjunction, low in the east-northeast, at about 5:30 a.m.

Enjoy the skies of August!