Sunday, August 22
The Moon passes 4° south of Jupiter at 1 A.M. EDT. At that time, the two are some 35° high in the southern sky, impossible to miss. Jupiter, which appears directly above the Moon, is magnitude –2.9 — still visible even in the bright wash of moonlight nearby. Both straddle the border between Capricornus (to the west) and Aquarius (to the east). The star visible at a point west of a line drawn between them is Deneb Algedi, also known as Delta (δ) Capricorni. Look about 17.5° to the Moon’s lower left (southeast) to spot the star Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish.
If you’re able to zoom in on Jupiter with a telescope, you might spot its four Galilean moons, arranged with two on either side of the planet: Europa (farthest) and Ganymede sit nestled close to each other to the east, while Io and Callisto (much farther out) lie to the west. If you track the moons into the morning twilight, you’ll see them growing closer to the planet, as if pulled inward by strings. Their relative positions, however, don’t change.
Full Moon occurs about two hours after sunrise, at 8:02 A.M. EDT. It won’t be visible then, but you can catch it within an hour of sunset this evening. The August Full Moon is traditionally called the Sturgeon Moon. But this Full Moon is also a Blue Moon, as it is the third Full Moon in a season containing four total Full Moons. (Note that this is a different definition, first used in 1528 according to NASA, than the more popular — and much more recently coined — term, which refers to two Full Moons in a single month.)
Sunrise: 6:18 A.M.
Sunset: 7:46 P.M.
Moonrise: 8:24 P.M.
Moonset: 6:10 A.M.
Moon Phase: Full
Monday, August 23
The Moon passes 4° south of Neptune at 10 P.M. EDT. At that time, the pair are still relatively low in the east, both in southeastern Aquarius. The bright Moon, although beautiful, will make finding the distant ice giant more challenging.
Neptune glows just slightly brighter than 8th magnitude and can generally be seen with either binoculars or a telescope. It will appear as a slightly “flat” star sitting directly between two slightly brighter (magnitude 6.5 and 7) field stars. It also forms the apex of a triangle with the Moon and 4th-magnitude Phi (ϕ) Aquarii as its base.
Another 4° or so north of Neptune is the Circlet of Pisces — an asterism, or unofficial grouping of stars, that traces out the head of one of the two fish that make up the constellation. The Circlet contains Seven stars: Gamma (γ), 7, Theta (θ), Iota (ι), 19, Lambda (λ), and Kappa (κ) Piscium. Don’t mistake bright Beta (β) Piscium as one of the Circlet’s stars — it lies a little above the halfway point of a line drawn between Gamma and Theta, and is not part of the asterism.
Sunrise: 6:19 A.M.
Sunset: 7:45 P.M.
Moonrise: 8:52 P.M.
Moonset: 7:19 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (98%)
Tuesday, August 24
For amateurs with a 6-inch scope or larger and dark, country skies, Comet 4P/Faye is a tempting target as it slides past the Hyades. Rising around midnight, wait until an hour or two before dawn to give Taurus time to reach a better position higher in the sky. The gibbous Moon is unfortunately also hanging around, but will only draw closer over the coming days, so now is one of your last best chances to enjoy the comet amid the pleasantly crowded smattering of stars that mark the Bull’s face.
This morning, Faye’s 10th magnitude fuzz floats just 0.5° east-southeast of Epsilon (ϵ) Tauri, also called Ain. And about 2° west-northwest of the comet is Hind’s Variable Nebula (NGC 1554/5), which, between the bright moonlight and the need for a large telescope to see it, is likely off-limits to most observers. This unique nebula might appear under the careful attention of an experienced astrophotographer. Hind’s Variable Nebula and its associated young star, T Tauri, both vary in brightness irregularly with time. The nebula also varies in size and shape. If you’ve got a large amateur scope and some time on your hands, give it a try, especially after the Moon is gone. You may also want to come back to this spot later this year, ideally at a time when Taurus is even higher in the sky and there is no bright Moon.
Sunrise: 6:20 A.M.
Sunset: 7:44 P.M.
Moonrise: 9:17 P.M.
Moonset: 8:25 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (94%)