BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Start observing - look up!

Have you seen Jupiter yet? It's at opposition tonight, which is when it's closest to us, but it's been beautifully visible for some while and will continue to be. It rises in the east around sunset and moves westward across the southern sky - it's visible all night long (weather & local obstacles permitting). You should be able to pick out Jupiter quite easily because it's amazingly bright. Or if you can find the constellation Leo, that's where you'll see Jupiter.

Steve Caridi of the Year in Space has some hints on

The Sky this Week
Jupiter shines steadily in the eastern sky as night begins. The Moon passes by on Monday evening. Don't confuse Jupiter with similarly bright Sirius, which is farther west (right) and closer to Orion. Mars and Saturn rise around midnight local time. Look for them in the south before sunrise, about 11° apart (Mars on the right, Saturn on the left). The star Antares is below them, forming the apex of an inverted triangle. Antares is dimmer than the Red Planet, but shines with a similar reddish hue.

Mars is still a bright object in the night sky - it definitely has a reddish color to it. But have a look out for Saturn too, which is also quite bright. You may see it with a slightly yellowish tinge. Brian Ventrudo tells you how to find it. The planet is closer than usual and even a small telescope should let you see its rings.

Brian Ventrudo tells us about celestial sights for August.

He points out that August is possibly the best month for sky-watching because


And of course the big treat of August is the Perseid meteor shower, expected to peak on the night of August 11-12. There will be more about the Perseids in a separate forum thread. But in fact the Perseids are already active now, so if you have a nice dark sky - I wish I did! - you might see a few if you're outdoors at night.

Come on, everybody. August is a great time to look at the sky - and you won't get as cold as you do in winter. In this video Jane Houston Jones of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory gives you the lowdown on what you can see in August.

If you want a transcript or download of the content, here is the page for What's up - August 2018.

There are five planets planets and the Moon in the evening sky from August 7th-11th. How much of this alignment you can see depends on things like what time the Sun sets, how much light pollution you have and of course, how clear the sky is.

Yuri Beletsky's photo caught three planets and the Moon over the bright lights of Santiago, Chile on August 6. He could also see Saturn and Mars, but not get them in the frame.

SpaceWeather.com has a sky map showing tonight's alignment.

Beautiful photo over Santiago, Chili.

Angie, have you been able to see any of this planetary alignment. A friend in London reported seeing a nice little grouping with the Moon. I have a nice view to the southwest, but alas all I see each evening is the clouds rolling in to hide it. Sigh.

The sky has been very dark here at night - It has been overcast and showery.

Mona, Tonight we had a heavy shower but this evening the sky is not cloudy. The moon doesn't have a halo so I know it was clear. I could see the moon and to the south there were two bright lights (Mars and Saturn?) and to the northwest (I'm guessing my directions) a very bright start which I would guess is the North Star?

{They aren't labeled like on the photo. }