Saturn, Perseid Meteors And A Super Blue Moon In August Skywatching
Catch Saturn at opposition this month. The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak on Aug. 12 and skywatchers will be treated to a Super Blue Moon.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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TechTranscript
00:00 What's up for August?
00:04 See Saturn at dusk and dawn, the Perseid meteors return, and a super blue moon.
00:12 In August, we've lost Venus and Mars from the evening sky, but we'll have great views
00:16 of Saturn all night.
00:19 Saturn reaches opposition this month, meaning it's directly opposite the Sun as seen from
00:23 Earth.
00:24 Planets in opposition rise just after sunset and are visible until dawn, and it's when
00:29 they appear at their biggest and brightest for the year.
00:32 Look for the giant planet low in the eastern sky around 9 p.m. by mid-month, appearing
00:37 a bit higher each evening as August continues.
00:40 On the morning of August 3rd, Saturn appears just a couple of finger widths apart from
00:44 the nearly full moon.
00:46 Find them in the west before sunrise.
00:49 The moon then makes a nice pairing with the Pleiades star cluster on the morning of the
00:53 9th, with Jupiter hanging nearby.
00:56 The moon then has a super close meetup with the reddish star Antares, brightest star in
01:01 the constellation Scorpius, on the evening of August 24th.
01:06 August brings one of the best-known annual meteor showers, the Perseids.
01:11 And this year, the stage is set for a good show as the peak night, August 12th and into
01:16 the 13th, is near the new moon.
01:18 The meteors are bits of dust, most no larger than sand grains, that originate from comet
01:23 Swift-Tuttle.
01:25 Swift sweeps through the comet's debris trail every year about this same time, resulting
01:29 in the annual shower.
01:31 The radiant, the point in the sky where the meteors appear to originate, is toward the
01:35 northeast, appearing in between the upside-down "W" of constellation Cassiopeia and bright
01:41 star Capella.
01:43 Observing the Perseids is easy.
01:45 Just find yourself a safe, dark spot to lie down with your feet pointing roughly toward
01:49 the northeast and look straight up.
01:51 The best time to view them is between midnight and dawn as the radiant rises higher in the
01:56 sky.
01:57 Meteor activity likely will be at its greatest in the hour preceding dawn.
02:01 The crescent moon also rises in the couple of hours before dawn, but it's only about
02:06 7% illuminated, so it shouldn't pose a significant problem for viewing the meteors.
02:11 You might also see a few meteors in the early morning hours during the week before and after
02:15 the peak.
02:17 August begins and ends with a full moon, making for a special occurrence that only happens
02:22 every couple of years.
02:24 You see, a second full moon in a single calendar month is commonly called a "blue moon."
02:30 They happen every two to three years because the moon's monthly cycle is just a bit shorter
02:34 than the average length of a month.
02:37 So eventually a full moon will happen at the beginning of a month with enough days left
02:41 for a complete lunar cycle.
02:43 When that happens, we get a blue moon.
02:46 But there's more.
02:47 The August 30th blue moon is also a supermoon.
02:51 The moon's orbit isn't a perfect circle, so sometimes it's a little farther away from
02:55 Earth and sometimes closer.
02:57 At its closest point, called perigee, it's 14% closer than at its farthest.
03:04 About three to four times a year, the full moon phase happens to coincide with the moon
03:08 reaching perigee, and we call that event a supermoon.
03:12 While it technically appears a bit bigger and a tad brighter than the average full moon,
03:17 the difference is not super noticeable to the eye.
03:20 The combination of these two special full moons making for a super blue moon occurs
03:26 about every 10 years on average, though the time between any two occurrences can vary
03:31 from two months to two decades or more.
03:35 So enjoy this month's two full moons.
03:38 And while the second one won't appear supersized or any bluer than usual, now you know what
03:44 makes it special.
03:47 Here are the phases of the moon for August.
03:51 Stay up to date with all of NASA's missions to explore the solar system and beyond at
03:56 nasa.gov.
03:57 I'm Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that's what's up for this
04:01 month.
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