![]() ![]() Fainter magnitude 12 Enceladus orbits a few arcseconds from the rings’ bright edge. Tenth-magnitude Tethys, Dione, and Rhea hover closer to the rings, changing relative positions hourly. Saturn’s brightest moon, Titan, orbits every few weeks. Saturn’s polar diameter spans 17″ and the rings’ diminishing angle to our line of sight (now 18°) reveals the south polar region. Details of Saturn’s subtle atmospheric belts are best seen by allowing your eyes to catch fleeting periods of good seeing. Any backyard telescope will reveal its 19″-wide disk, encircled by the magnificent ring system spanning 42″ by 13″. Like all outer planets, Saturn is best viewed near the meridian at opposition, this is around local midnight (1 A.M. ![]() The planet starts August at magnitude 0 but quickly dims to 0.2 for the rest of the month. Saturn is easy to spot among the faint stars of Capricornus the Sea Goat, outshining everything in this region. Rising in the southeast as the Sun sets, you’ll find the ringed planet 15° high by 10 P.M. 9, when a slender two-day-old Moon is visible for about an hour after sunset, with Mars 3.5° to its south. Over the next few days, Regulus quickly drops out of view and the Red Planet slides eastward across Leo. Mars is a few months away from solar conjunction and gradually becoming more difficult to observe. Try using binoculars to spot them you’ll need a clear horizon. Both are a challenging 5° high in the west 30 minutes after sunset. ![]() Mars also stands 2° from magnitude 1.4 Regulus. Much dimmer magnitude 1.8 Mars is located 11° west (lower right) of Venus on Aug. By month’s end, the phase shrinks to 73 percent lit and the planet spans 15″. Venus is 82 percent lit and 13″ wide on Aug. Try very early in twilight or even before sunset (never point your telescope toward the Sun). ![]() Venus’ sheer brilliance makes details more difficult to view when the sky is dark. Venus, now magnitude –4, outshines 1st-magnitude Spica. By August’s end, Venus and Virgo’s brightest star, Spica, hang low in the west, less than 7° apart. 13, Venus appears to have a moon of its own: 4th-magnitude Beta (β) Virginis is located just 8′ to its southwest. Set against the deep blue twilight, this is a memorable scene. Note the earthshine illuminating the dark portion of our satellite. 10, a thin three-day old crescent Moon pairs elegantly with Venus. While its elongation from the Sun increases from 33° to 40° this month, the planet doesn’t gain altitude for Northern Hemisphere observers. 17 and continues to more southerly declinations. Venus crosses the celestial equator by Aug. The planet roughly maintains this position as it slides along the ecliptic through Leo and Virgo, moving southwest. It glows at magnitude –3.9 in early August and is 8° high in the west 45 minutes after sunset, easy to spot as twilight descends. Binocular viewers can track down distant giants Uranus and Neptune in the morning sky.īrilliant Venus dominates the western sky this month. Jupiter provides some unique satellite events not to be missed if you have a telescope. Overnight there’s a planet spectacular starring Saturn and Jupiter, both of which reach opposition this month. Venus is easy to spot, so use it as a guide to find the other two, which are more challenging in twilight. On early August evenings, you’ll find three rocky planets in the sky: Venus, Mars, and Mercury. ![]()
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