Saturday: Saturn is one and a half fists held upright and at arms length above the southeastern horizon at 11:00 p.m.
Sunday: It is not winter yet. But Orion, thought of as a
winter constellation, is just above the east-southeastern horizon at 5:00 a.m.
By the actual winter, it will be visible in the evening sky.
Monday: The moon and Jupiter rise at about 11:30 p.m. By
midnight, they are just above the east-northeastern horizon. Jupiter is about a
finger-width below the moon.
Tuesday: The Gemini Twins are rising right before the Sun.
At 5:00 a.m., Pollux is one and a half fists above the east-northeastern
horizon. Slightly dimmer Castor is a half a fist above it. Pollux is the
brightest star, as observed from Earth, known to have a planet orbiting it. The
planet, creatively called Pollux b, has about twice the mass of Jupiter.
Wednesday: Mercury will be as far away from the Sun in the
sky as it will get this orbital cycle. This "farthest away" point is
known as the planet's greatest elongation. Since Mercury is in the evening sky,
it is east of the Sun so this occurrence is called the greatest eastern
elongation. This evening will be the best evening to observe Mercury for the
past few weeks. However, it is still very low in the sky, just above the western
horizon at 9:00 p.m. Mars is to the upper left of Mercury.
Over the next few weeks, Mercury will move toward the Sun in
the sky. By mid-September, it will be barely visible in the morning sky.
Thursday: If you want to show your loved ones a celestial sign
that they should hang up their clothes, show them Brocchi's Cluster, commonly
known as the Coat Hanger cluster because of its resemblance to an upside down
coat hanger. The cluster is six fists above due south at 11:00 p.m., midway
between Altair and Vega, the two brightest stars in the Summer Triangle. You'll
need binoculars to make out the shape. First find Altair five fists above the
southern horizon. Slowly move your binoculars up toward Vega. You will run into
the coat hanger along the way. And while you are at it, put away your shoes.
Friday: The Perseid meteor shower peaks over the weekend
with the peak of the peak coming Saturday night/Sunday morning. The moon will
be in the new phase early next week meaning even the dimmer meteors will
be visible. In case you decide to stay in bed this week, the shower is active
until about September 1 so you may still enjoy an increased number of meteors
later. The meteors appear to come from a point just below the W of the
constellation Cassiopeia. This point is about three fists above the northeast
horizon at 11:00 p.m. By dawn, this point is nearly straight overhead. For tips
about optimizing your viewing this year, go to https://earthsky.org/?p=165416
As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum
enjoyment. These meteors are sand to pea-sized bits of rock that fell off of
Comet Swift-Tuttle. They are traveling about 40 miles per second as they
collide with the Earth and burn up in the atmosphere.
The positional information in this column about stars and
planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information
about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
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