Monthly Highlights
Compiled by John Panek
Monthly Highlights
PERFECT PERSEIDS!!! Ideal conditions for the August 12-13 shower, with a new moon unable to spoil the fun. Parent comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle left enough dust for a peak hourly rate of about 100.
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE August 12 the sun disappears along a path from Greenland to northern Spain. Totality duration peaks at 2 minutes 18 seconds near the west coast of Iceland. Watch online at the NASA Live Stream: https://www.nasa.gov/live
DEEP PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE on August 27/28, just after midnight the moon will be 93% covered by the Earth's umbral shadow.
LUNAR IMPACT OF ROCKET STAGE: On August 5, a Falcon 9 upper stage, left over from a lander mission to the moon in January 2025, will impact the moon near the Einstein and Bell craters near the western limb. Unfortunately since it will occur against the illuminated portion of the moon, it will not be detectable to the naked eye. LRO will image the impact site a week before and a week after the event.
Skywatching
Lunar Phases:
Third Quarter on August 5
New Moon on August 12
First Quarter on August 19
Full Moon on August 28
Planets:
Evening Skies
Venus: Brilliant in the west after sunset, moving slowly through Virgo, reaches greatest eastern elongation on August 15. Joined by a thin waxing crescent moon August 14/15.
Saturn: Rises near 11PM early in the month, moving earlier toward 9PM by late August in the the constellation Pisces
Neptune: Rises in Pisces around 10PM
Uranus: Rises in Taurus near midnight
Pluto: In Capricornus, visible all night with a large enough telescope
Morning Skies
Saturn: High in the South-Southeast by dawn
Mars: Rises a few hours before sunrise, moving through Taurus and Gemini
Mercury: Low in the east-northeast during the first half of August. On August 11, a 2% crescent moon sits right next to Mercury an hour before sunrise.
August 8-11: Very photogenic alignment of Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and a waning crescent moon just before sunrise.
August 15 Very close pairing of Mercury and Jupiter, right before dawn.
Comets:
Catch 10P/Temple in large binoculars in early August, very low above the southern horizon in Capricornus
Meteor Showers
The Big One! Perseids peak August 12/13 with no lunar interference!
ISS Passes
| Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | |||||||
| Date | (mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. |
| 13-Aug | -1.9 | 5:50:04 | 10° | S | 5:52:53 | 27° | SE | 5:55:45 | 10° | ENE |
| 14-Aug | -1.1 | 5:04:42 | 13° | SE | 5:05:09 | 13° | SE | 5:06:50 | 10° | E |
| 15-Aug | -3.7 | 5:52:10 | 27° | WSW | 5:53:45 | 63° | NW | 5:57:03 | 10° | NE |
| 16-Aug | -2.7 | 5:06:35 | 44° | E | 5:06:35 | 44° | E | 5:09:09 | 10° | NE |
| 17-Aug | -1.8 | 5:53:51 | 15° | WNW | 5:54:48 | 17° | NW | 5:57:04 | 10° | N |
| 18-Aug | -1.8 | 5:08:05 | 23° | N | 5:08:05 | 23° | N | 5:09:47 | 10° | NNE |
Space Agency News
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope continues to march smoothly through final launch preparations. On July 25, technicians loaded 290 gallons of hydrazine fuel into the observatory, enough for ten or more years of operation at the L2 orbit. Next the observatory heads to launch vehicle adapter integration and fairing encapsulation, on its way to a launch no earlier than August 30. https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman/2026/07/27/nasa-fuels-roman-space-telescope-for-late-august-launch/
JAXA: Japan’s Hayabusa2 set the record for closest approach for an asteroid flyby - only 744m away from 98943 Torifune. https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/07/20260730-1_e.html. The pass included laser ranging via the LIDAR used during the Ryugu sample return portion of the mission. https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/07/20260730-2_e.html
CNSA: China will launch an ambitious lunar mission sometime before the end of the year. Comprised of an orbiter, lander, and rover, it targets a landing zone on the illuminated rim of Shackleton crater at the South Pole. https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202605/23/content_WS6a118ca1c6d00ca5f9a0b33c.html