A ‘Planet Parade,' A ‘Black Moon' And A Meteor Shower: The Night Sky In August 2025
1. A Full 'Sturgeon Moon'
When: dusk on Friday and Saturday, August 8-9
Where: eastern horizon
This month's full moon will occur early on Aug. 9, but both Aug. 8 and Aug. 9 will offer dramatic moonrises. Look east shortly after sunset to watch the sturgeon moon rise, appearing a lovely orange color.
2. A Conjunction Of Venus And Jupiter
When: before dawn on Tuesday, Aug. 12
Where: east-northeast horizon
In a rare planetary pairing, Venus and Jupiter will be separated by just one degree in the pre-dawn sky. This is a striking sight for the naked eye, with the two brightest planets close together, just above the eastern horizon an hour before sunrise.
3. Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks
When: around midnight, August 12-15
Where: northeast to overhead
The Perseids reach their maximum overnight on Aug. 12-13 evening, but a 91%-lit gibbous moon will wash out all but the brightest. For the best chance, head out before midnight and keep your back to the moon. Better still, wait until Aug. 15, when the night sky will be much darker, and there will still be an elevated rate of meteors.
4. A Planet Parade
When: one hour before sunrise, Sunday to Wednesday, August 17–20
Where: eastern sky
For four consecutive mornings, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury form a graceful arc in the pre-dawn sky. The waning crescent moon moves past them each morning, getting slimmer each day. The highlight comes Aug. 20 when a 9% crescent moon sits next to Venus.
5. Milky Way At Its Best
When: after astronomical twilight, all month
Where: southeast to the zenith
August's moonless evening sky — from Aug. 16-26 — brings some of the clearest views of the Milky Way for northern observers. On moonless nights, trace its arc through the Summer Triangle stars high in the southeast and down to the galactic core near the constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius in the south. Do whatever you can to escape light pollution, using a light pollution map or staying overnight in an International Dark Sky Place.
6. A 'Black Moon'
When: Saturday, Aug. 23
Where: all-sky
Today's new moon has a special name — a seasonal 'black moon,' the third new moon in a season of four. Although not visible itself, its presence means an entire night of dark, moonless night skies ideal for stargazing, astronomy and astrophotography.
7. Venus And The Beehive Cluster
When: before dawn on Sunday, Aug. 31
Where: east-northeast sky
Look east an hour before sunrise to find brilliant Venus. Nearby, through binoculars, you'll spot the faint but pretty Beehive Cluster (M44). This open cluster in the constellation Cancer is one of the most beautiful sights in the night sky — especially when paired with a bright planet.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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The meteor shower trio continues in our night skies
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The Hill
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NASA says it may be the first such event humans have witnessed with modern instruments. 'An asteroid this large passes this close to Earth only every few thousand years on average, so it's likely that an event like this has not happened at any time in recorded human history,' the organization stated. 'Without a doubt this is the first time it's happened when humans have had the technology to observe it.' How good is NASA at predicting impacts? Very good — and getting better. 'We had a few very small objects discovered before reaching Earth. They burn up harmlessly, but predicting their impacts and locations felt like a big accomplishment,' Farnocchia said. New observation tools and modeling techniques are making it possible to predict not only impact locations, but even recover fragments from impacts. 'Recently, we were able to predict impact locations and recover meteorites, which is kind of interesting because that's a final validation that you predicted the right impact point,' he said. 'One colleague was notified of an impact predicted in Canada, so he just went outside and set up a camera to observe it. That was really cool.' Why it matters While the moon isn't in any real danger, 2024 YR4 has become a key case study for NASA's planetary defense systems. It's the first object since Apophis to climb to a 3 on the Torino Scale, and the first ever tracked with the James Webb Space Telescope, which improved impact projections by nearly 20 percent. 'There is so much I could say about YR4 — it was really interesting to see the orbit behave exactly as we expected,' Farnocchia said. 'I like to see how the predictions evolve with each new set of observations. It's a sign that our models are working well.' NASA expects YR4 to reenter view in 2028 for another round of observations — and possibly another plot twist.
