{"id":553,"date":"2020-08-01T01:59:30","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T01:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/?p=553"},"modified":"2020-10-01T03:43:02","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T03:43:02","slug":"august-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/august-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"August 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As this month\nbegins, if you can see Comet C\/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), it will be in the\nwest after sunset. You’ll need binoculars or a telescope. Say goodbye\nto this visitor which will not be back our way for approximately\nanother 7,000 years. Never forget the wonder it brought to this\nsummer’s already exciting night sky watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Saturn<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\ncomet is in Coma Berenices the first week of August. It will move\nbelow Bo\u00f6tes and into Virgo during the month. Leo is setting as\nevening begins too. Scorpius, Ophiuchus, and Hercules are among the\nconstellations on the meridian as night begins. Look for Sagittarius\nrising with Jupiter and Saturn next to it. The nearly full moon is\nwith them on the first night of the month. The two planets don’t move\nmuch from those spots this month. The moon rejoins them on the 28th<\/sup>\nand 29th<\/sup>.\nCapricornus and Aquila are also rising at sunset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mars<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mars\nrises next to Pisces by late evening. A waning gibbous moon passes by\nthe red planet on the 9th<\/sup>.\nAll month, the planet is moving eastward along and then toward the\nsouthern fish. It crosses into the space between the fish on the\n19th<\/sup>.\nAt the end of the month, Mars is snugly between them. Below them is\nCetus, rising around midnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Venus<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Venus\nis an early morning riser below the Hyades. The planet provides an\nexcellent opportunity this month to witness the dynamics of motion\nwithin the solar system. At the same time every morning, it will\nappear to be at nearly the same elevation and azimuth while the\nconstellations behind it have risen a little more. It starts at the\nedge of Taurus above Orion’s head. From the 5th<\/sup>\nthrough the 10th<\/sup>,\nVenus moves across the hand on the hunter’s raised arm and then into\nthe feet of Gemini. A waning crescent moon visits on the 15th<\/sup>\nwhen the planet is next to the star Nucatai. At month’s end, Venus is\nmoving out of Gemini and toward Cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venus\nseems to almost hover in place because it is approaching greatest\nelongation near the middle of the month. On the 12th<\/sup>,\nit is 45.8\u00b0 west of the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\nend-of-month position for Venus is about where Mercury is when August\nstarts. Mercury reaches Cancer by the 8th<\/sup>,\nbut it lost in the light of sunrise by then too. The messenger planet\nis emerging into the evening sky by the time the month ends, but is\nstill hard to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moon phases this\nmonth:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full on the 3rd<\/sup>.\nLast quarter on the 11th<\/sup>. New on the 19th<\/sup>.\nFirst quarter on the 25th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orbital positions\nfor the moon in August:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern lunistice\non the 1st<\/sup>. On the equator going north on the 8th<\/sup>.\nNorthern lunistice on the 15th<\/sup>. On the equator going south\non the 22nd<\/sup>. Southern lunistice on the 28th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moon is at\napogee on the 9th<\/sup>. It is 404,700 km or 251,400 mi from\nEarth, center-to-center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moon is at\nperigee on the 21st<\/sup>. It is 363,500 km or 225,900 mi from\nEarth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable\nconjunctions this month:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1st<\/sup> \u2013\nJupiter and the moon 1.5d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2nd<\/sup> \u2013\nSaturn and the moon 2.3d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6th<\/sup> \u2013\nNeptune and the moon 4.0d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9th<\/sup> \u2013\nMars and the moon 0.7d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10th<\/sup> \u2013\nUranus and the moon 3.3d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13th<\/sup> \u2013\nMoon and Aldebaran 3.9d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15th<\/sup> \u2013\nVenus and the moon 4.0d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16th<\/sup> \u2013\nMoon and Pollux 4.4d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17th<\/sup> \u2013\nMercury at superior conjunction 1.8d. from the sun<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23rd<\/sup> \u2013\nMoon and Spica 6.5d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

29th<\/sup> \u2013\nJupiter and the moon 1.4d. and later Saturn and the moon 2.2d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orbital positions\nof the planets:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mars is at\nperihelion on the 3rd<\/sup>. The red planet is 1.381\nastronomical units from the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercury is at\nperihelion on the 6th<\/sup>. It is 0.307 astronomical units from\nthe sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The moon occults\nMars on the 9th<\/sup>. The event is visible from parts of South\nAmerica, the southeast Pacific ocean, and Antarctica.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As this month begins, if you can see Comet C\/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), it will be in the west after sunset. You’ll need binoculars or a telescope. Say goodbye to this visitor which will not be back our way for approximately another 7,000 years. Never forget the wonder it brought to this summer’s already exciting night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-59","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":557,"href":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions\/557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skycaramba.com\/monthly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}