Date: July 31, 2011
Title: Observing With Webb in August of 2011
Podcaster: Rob Webb
Organization: Physics department at Pequea Valley High School
Link: mrwebb.podbean.com
Description: This podcast discusses the events, planets, and constellations that can be seen in the night sky during the month of August.
Bio: Rob Webb is a physics, astronomy, and sustainability teacher at Pequea Valley High School in Pennsylvania. His passions include teaching, astronomy, astrophotography, planetariums, running, reading, and learning.
A proud graduate of Dickinson College in 2005, he will be graduating with a Master’s Degree in Science Education from Penn State University this August, after conducting research in regards to the current state of planetariums in Pennsylvania. Feel free to contact him at rob_webb@pequeavalley.org.
Sponsor: This episode of “365 Days of Astronomy” is sponsored by — NO ONE. We still need sponsors for many days in 2011, so please consider sponsoring a day or two. Just click on the “Donate” button on the lower left side of this webpage, or contact us at signup@365daysofastronomy.org.
Transcript:
Observing With Webb in August of 2011 Podcast for 365 Days of Astronomy
Hi everybody. My name is Rob Webb and I am a high school physics and astronomy teacher at Pequea Valley High School in Pennsylvania. Every month I put together an email and podcast talking about the events, planets, and constellations of the night sky that can be seen that month. Here is a shortened version of the podcast.
August is another month just like July, in that there is not much going on since the planets are well spread out. The Perseid Meteor Shower will be a pleasure for those patient enough to stay out and wait for the big meteors, but it is a great time to be outside and watching the skies.
EVENTS…
3rd, 4th – Close Encounter – Saturn, Moon, Spica
3rd – Saturn, the Moon, and Spica (Virgo’s brightest star) make a nice triangle, Saturn up top
4th – Now the Moon is just below Spica, with Saturn a bit higher and to the right
First Quarter Moon – 6th (Visible until midnight)
12th-13th – Perseid Meteor Shower – This would be “super” cool, but will only be “pretty” cool this year, since the Full Moon will drown out most of the meteors, except the really bright ones. However, considering the weather is still pretty warm, it’s easier to be patient and watch the sky.
Some advice for watching:
Find a dark location and lie down in a reclining chair or swimming pool floaty
Look toward Perseus (In the NNE around 9pm, rises throughout the night until sunrise where it will be almost directly above.) That is where the radiant is – where the meteors will appear to be coming from
The strategy to observe this one is to start watching in the evening of the 12th and continue until daylight on the 13th. Morning hours are the best, and even the night/morning before should be good. The shower is usually active from mid July to late August, so you may see some Perseids in the days leading up to and after the peak as well.
Check the weather to see if the skies will be clear (weather.com has a good map here)
Adapt your eyes to the dark by staying away from light sources or using a red light if you need to look at a star chart or not trip over something.
If you’re feeling extra nerdy, do a scientific meteor count. More info at S&T and IMO.
Full Moon – 13th (Visible all night – East around sunset, West around Sunrise)
19th, 20th – Close Encounter – Moon & Jupiter – Look to the East around midnight on the 19th and you’ll see Jupiter only 4˚ below the Moon. As the night of the19th turns into the morning of the 20th, you’ll see them both moving up and toward the South.
Last Quarter Moon – 21st (Visible from midnight, and into the morning)
25th – Close Encounter – Moon & Mars – Go out early in the morning before sunrise and find the thin Moon in the East. Mars is only about 2˚ to the left of the Moon.
27th – Close Encounter – Moon & Mercury – Go out early in the morning before sunrise and find the VERY thin Moon in the East. Mercury is about 7˚ below the Moon.
New Moon – 28th (darkest skies)
PLANETS…well, the ones visible with your naked eye
Planets you can see around Sunset – Saturn (S)
Saturn – Saturn will continue to fade from view in the coming month, since it’s lower in the sky at sunset (20˚) and setting sooner and sooner every day (around 10pm). Close to the moon on the 3rd and 4th. Extra Challenge! If you have binoculars or a telescope, see if you can see the rings of Saturn, as Galileo first saw them, though he interpreted them as “ears”.
Planets you can see throughout the night – Jupiter (ES)
Jupiter – Rises around 11pm in the East and makes its way up and to the South throughout the night. Brightest object in the East in the morning for right now. Will be about 60˚ above the S horizon before sunrise. Close to the Moon on the 19th and 20th.
Planets you can see in the Morning – Jupiter (S), Mars (E), Mercury (E)
Mercury – At the end of the month, look about 10˚ above the E horizon before sunrise and you might just catch a glimpse of Mercury. Close to the Moon on the 27th.
Mars – The dimmest of the morning planets for now. Look to the east before sunrise, and it will be about 35˚ or so above the horizon, in the “middle” of Gemini. It will be a reddish hue – use a star chart to help. Close to the Moon on the 25th.
CONSTELLATIONS… (see sky map link at the bottom for a Star Map for this month – or ask Mr. Webb) Look straight up and you’ll see…
Just after Sunset (around 8:30pm) – Hercules. Hercules has an Extra Challenge! Look for M13, the Hercules Cluster in between two of Hercules’ “keystone” stars. It known as the best globular cluster in the northern skies. It will be a fuzzy spot in binoculars and will be even cooler through a telescope
Midnight – Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila (a little to the south) – These are the Summer constellations, and since they are visible right above us around midnight (and to the east after sunrise), it’s now summer! More details below in the “General Constellation Finding Tips” Extra Challenge! Look for M57, the Ring Nebula in between two of Lyra’s stars.
Early Morning – Pegasus, Andromeda Extra Challenge! Using your naked eye (dark-adapted and in a dark area) or binoculars under normal conditions and a star chart, try finding our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy. It’ll be a faint, but bigger, fuzzy in the constellation Andromeda.
GENERAL CONSTELLATION FINDING TIPS:
Summer Constellations: Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, Delphinus
Look to the east after sunset or straight up around midnight and you’ll be able to see Lyra (the Harp), Cygnus (the Swan), Aquila (the Eagle), (and Delphinus the Dolphin.) These three constellations have the three brightest stars of the summer constellations (Vega, Deneb, Altair – respectively.) Those bright stars create the summer triangle. Off to the east of this is the small but beautiful constellation of Delphinus.
Don’t forget to look to south to find Sagittarius and Scorpio, which is where the center of the Milky is. It is a beautiful section of sky that is magnified using binoculars. Extra Challenge! Use binoculars (or even a telescope) and a star chart to scan through the southern constellation of Sagittarius. There are at least 7 easily visible clusters and nebulas up and to the right of the “teapot” of Sagittarius.
Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.
A lot of credit for this information goes to:
SkyMaps.com – Download the monthly sky map here in many formats including Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, and Equatorial
Sky & Telescope Magazine
…and various sky programs such as Starry Night.
Some other great sites to find more information and multimedia:
Cherry Springs State Park – the darkest skies in PA, camping, friendly astronomers that will let you look through their telescopes
How-To videos on observing
ISS flybys for your area
Astronomy Enthusiasts of Lancaster County – Local club with more a detailed list of things to find in the night sky
Clear Dark Skies Clock Grundy Observatory (Lancaster, PA)
Clear Dark Skies Clock Any Location
http://clearskyalarmclock.com/v2/ – sign up to get an email whenever skies are clear
http://skytips.mcdonaldobservatory.org/2007/11/
http://stardate.org/nightsky/weekly.php
http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/tonights_sky/
http://www.look-to-the-skies.com/sky_this_month.htm
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Space Weather – Updates on meteor showers, comets, auroras, and other ephemeris
http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/index.html
If you would not like to receive this “newsletter” please reply to this email and say so. Also, if anyone would like to be put on this list, have them email me and say so.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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