August Has 7 Major Astronomical Events Including Meteor Showers and a Mercury Sighting

Travel + Leisure

4 days ago

It's hard to beat a summer night beneath the stars, especially in August, when the shimmery Milky Way core is at its brightest. Late August also brings the return of the year's stronger-than-average northern lights season to high-latitude destinations like Iceland and Greenland, not to mention meteor shower peaks and striking planet-moon sightings.
Here are the top sights to watch for in August's night sky, and don't forget to head to a dark-sky park or stargazing hotel for the best view.
The Eta Eridanid meteor shower will peak overnight from Aug. 7 to Aug. 8. While this isn't the most prolific meteor shower, it's worth watching for in the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 8, especially since it coincides with the active Perseids. The spectacle produces about three meteors per hour; look for its shooting stars near the Eridanus constellation, which hangs low in the southeast sky
August's full sturgeon moon will glow in the southeast skies on Aug. 9, with Saturn nearby to the east. Native American fishing tribes gave this moon its name, according to Royal Museums Greenwich. While you can see it throughout the night, it's best to watch during moonrise — roughly an hour after sunset — when the lunar orb appears larger than normal thanks to the moon illusion.
Around 11 p.m. local time, the waning gibbous moon and Saturn will inch above the eastern horizon, then tango together through the sky until dawn. Neptune, which hovers just above Saturn, is joining the fun, but you'll need a telescope to see it.
Early the mornings of Aug. 11 to Aug. 13, Venus and Jupiter—two of the night sky's brightest planets—will appear within roughly one degree, or about a pinky-finger distance, of each other. The planets will pair up in the eastern sky around 3 a.m. local time; they'll continue to climb heavenward until sunrise.
The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most celebrated astronomical events, and this year, it will reach its peak overnight from Aug. 12 to Aug. 13, according to stargazing app SkySafari. The luminous waning gibbous moon will make viewing tricky, but it's still worth heading out. The Perseids is known to produce bright meteors and even fireballs that will shine through the bright lunar light. For optimal viewing, watch above the eastern sky after midnight into the early morning hours.
Mercury orbits close to the sun, so it's typically tough to view the swift planet, but that changes come Aug. 19. This morning, Mercury will reach its farthest distance from the sun, giving stargazers around an hour of spectacular planet-gazing before sunrise. Watch for Mercury, as well as Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent moon, above the eastern horizon. You can catch the trio aligned in the morning sky for about a week after Aug. 19, too.
See the sliver of a crescent moon and orange-tinged Mars couple up near the western horizon in the evening hours of Aug. 26. You won't have much time to admire the duo—they set around an hour after sunset—but if you do stay out for all-night stargazing, you'll be treated with more planet alignments just before dawn.