The most beautiful shooting star of the year is coming
A look into the night sky in August is particularly rewarding for several reasons: The Perseid meteor shower can bring up to 100 shooting stars per hour. So-called fireballs are also expected. Moreover, the almost full moon will cover Saturn - a cosmic spectacle.
August begins with nocturnal sky sparkles: A large number of shooting stars is expected with the Perseid meteor shower. The peak is expected between August 9 and 13. Bright objects, so-called bolides or fireballs, are not uncommon.
Most meteors are expected in the early morning hours of August 12. The Perseids, the richest and most beautiful meteor shower of the year, can bring up to 100 shooting stars per hour. The best time for observation is between 11 pm and 4 am.
With a speed of 60 kilometers per second, the Perseids are quite fast objects. At this speed, the journey from Earth to the Moon would take only 90 minutes. Most meteoroids vaporize in the Earth's atmosphere. However, there are exceptions, some hit the Earth's surface or fall into the sea. Only very rarely does a meteorite hit in densely populated areas.
Another special celestial event: Moon and Saturn
There is not just one special celestial event in August: The almost full moon will cover the planet Saturn. Our neighbor in space will pass in front of the ringed planet in the early morning hours of August 21 and cover it for an hour. The exact times depend on the location. In Hamburg, the cosmic spectacle begins at 5:33 am, in Berlin at 5:34 am, in Düsseldorf at 5:31 am, in Leipzig at 5:30 am, and in Munich at 5:33 am.
About an hour later, the moon will release the ringed planet, and Saturn will reappear on the western edge of the moon. The coverage is particularly impressive when observed through a telescope, as the ring and the planet's globe gradually disappear behind the moon's edge and reappear after an hour on the dark western edge of the moon.
Evening star period of Venus begins
Saturn in the constellation Aquarius will gradually become the planet of the entire night in August. At the beginning of the month, it rises around 10:30 pm, and by the end of the month, it rises half an hour after sunset. Venus appears in the evening sky and begins its evening star period. It is the first celestial body to be recognized in the increasing evening twilight.
On August 4, Venus will pass north of Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. A day later, it will meet the waxing crescent moon. By the end of August, it will cross the celestial equator in a southerly direction. Its settings will become earlier, from 9:46 pm at the beginning of the month to just before 9 pm at the end of the month.
Mars is the planet of the second half of the night. It passes through the constellation Taurus and, at the beginning of the month, passes five degrees north of its brightest star, Aldebaran. In mid-August, the reddish Mars will pass north of the much brighter, white Jupiter.
Jupiter dominates the second half of the night. A nice celestial sight can be seen on August 28 around 3 am: The waning moon joins Mars and Jupiter above the eastern horizon. Mercury will overtake Earth on its inner orbit on August 19. The swift planet remains invisible in August.
Vega stands high in the sky
The Summer Triangle is now high in the south. Steeply above our heads, one can see Vega, 25 light-years away in the constellation Lyra. Next to Lyra, the Swan spreads its wings. It is marked by a large star cross, also known as the "Cross of the North." Its brightest star, Deneb, marks the second vertex of the Summer Triangle.
Deneb is the farthest of the bright stars of the first magnitude. Its distance measures 2500 light-years. It counts among the so-called supergiant stars with almost 200 times the diameter of the Sun and a luminosity that is 50,000 times that of our Sun. Deneb thus counts among the largest and brightest stars in our Milky Way.
Atair, the third star of the Summer Triangle, forms the main star of Aquila, which appears to be diving towards its prey. At 17 light-years away, the Eagle star counts among the neighboring stars of our Sun.
The Big Dipper has descended towards the northwest, while in the northeast, the sky's W, Cassiopeia, is rising.
Moonlight hinders visibility of the Milky Way
The shimmering band of the summer Milky Way is only visible far from Earth's light pollution even in August. The softly glowing band of thousands of sparkling stars can therefore only be observed by many people rarely or never. Even moonlight hinders visibility.
New Moon is reached on August 4th at 13:13. Full Moon occurs on the 19th at 20:26 in the constellation Aquarius. On the 9th, the Moon is at its farthest from Earth at 405,297 kilometers, while on the 21st, it is at its closest at 360,196 kilometers away.
The Sun moves along the descending branch of its annual path and approaches the celestial equator. On the 10th, it leaves the constellation Cancer at midday and enters Leo, passing its main star, Regulus, on the 22nd. On the same day, it enters the zodiac sign Virgo in the afternoon.
The midday height of the Sun decreases by more than nine degrees, and the day length shortens by nearly two hours at 50 degrees north latitude.
During the peaks of the Perseid meteor shower, the night sky is painted with numerous shooting stars.The Perseid meteor shower, known for its high number of bright shooting stars, can also produce stunning fireballs.
