STAR GAZING : Meteor shower comes again this month
Posted on Wednesday, August 6, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/hl/Lifestyles/25257/
As August begins, four planets will be observable shortly after sunset, low in the west. The four planets, all potentially visible to the dedicated observer, will be Venus, Mercury, Saturn and Mars.
I use the word “ dedicated” because each of these planets is quite low to the horizon. To see them, one needs a flat, even descending and unobscured western horizon and a good pair of binoculars. Saturn, Mars, and Mercury will soon disappear for a time behind the Sun, from our perspective, but will re-appear some weeks later in the early morning sky.
Giant Jupiter is that bright star-like point of light in the southeast, observable when the sky becomes black enough after sunset. These days, in high summer, the night sky really doesn’t become black enough to really see anything faint until after 10 p. m. If you live in a fair-sized city, the problem of seeing faint things in the sky is compounded by the bright lights of the city. I fear that if we humans don’t manage our lights at night in large cities, the deep beauty of the night sky will be lost to very many people. Luckily, Jupiter, as big and bright as it is, shines through the twilight and man-made glow rather well and repays repeated examination with binoculars or a small telescope.
In August, an eclipse of the Sun will be visible from many points in Asia. Of course, we who live in Arkansas will not see it but we may see news reports and images of this eclipse and those are interesting. The eclipse will last about 2. 5 minutes — there have been shorter and longer eclipses in history and this one is a bit on the short side.
Again, even though we won’t see this in Arkansas, I can never know who among my readers just might be traveling in Asia on that date and could possibly witness this eclipse, certainly one of nature’s most beautiful sights.
On the nights of Aug. 12 and Aug. 13, one can see the annual Perseid meteor shower, perhaps the best chance all year long to see a major shower. This shower of rocky debris is the remnant of a former comet, the debris being in a yearly orbit around the sun.
Each year on this same night, the Earth literally runs into this traveling rocky debris, many of the stony bits entering the atmosphere and burning up harmlessly. Visually this can be quite a show. To see these meteors at their best, get to a dark sight, away from interfering city lights, and start looking after 1 a. m. Look to the northeast in the sky, as this will appear to be the place on the celestial vault where the meteors have their origin. If you have a camera that takes time exposures, aim it in that direction and keep the shutter open for at least 3 minutes with the ISO set at 400 or faster. You might record a nice fire ball and trail.
The night of Aug. 16, the moon will be full and there will be a partial lunar eclipse. The whole moon will not be eclipsed as in a total eclipse, but a significant crescent chunk of the moon will be darkened. The moon will enter Earth’s shadow, caused by the sun lighting us and casting a crescent of darkness on the surface of the moon. This will be best seen with ordinary binoculars and it is interesting to watch the crescent sliver of the shadow come on and then disappear over some two hours.
Every month of the calendar presents new and interesting things for the night sky observer. August has planets to the west, the giant planet Jupiter to the southeast, a total eclipse of the sun visible in Asia and a partial eclipse of the moon. Of course, the Milky Way can be nicely seen and perhaps many meteors during the Perseid meteor shower. Wow — what more could an August observer want ! Keep looking up …