Wolverhampton Astronomical Society

Established 1951

This Months Planets & Deep Sky Tour August 2010

Planets for August 2010 for previous months click here to select a month.

The Planets

Mars and Saturn put on a show this month as they appear in conjunction with brilliant Venus, low down in the west after sunset.  However, August brings the current observing window for these two fantastic planets more or less to an end.  The king of planets, Jupiter is now established itself in the latter part of the night through to morning, and here you'll find more than enough interest to keep you entertained.  Jupiter also conveniently points the way to the more distant and distinctively green world Uranus.

MERCURY 

BEST TIME TO SEE: 1st August, 21:15 BST

ALTITUDE: 3° (low)

LOCATION: Virgo

DIRECTION: West

Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation on 7th August, separated from the Sun by 27°.  The planet is currently visible in the western sky after sunset, but its altitude isn't great and it'll be quite tricky to spot low on the horizon.  Your best chance will be at the very start of the month.  On 1st August, at 21:15 BST (20:15 UT) it'll appear as a mag. +0.3 dot slightly north of west, embedded in the evening twilight 3° above the horizon.

VENUS

BEST TIME TO SEE: 1st August, 21:40 BST

ALTITUDE: 5° (low)

LOCATION: Virgo

DIRECTION: West

Like Mercury, Venus also reaches greatest eastern elongation this month, separated from the Sun by 46° on 20th August.  It's currently visible low down in the west following sunset, and intensely bright at mag. -4.2.  Through a telescope on 1st August, Venus appears a little over half illuminated with a phase of 57% and an apparent diameter of 20 arcseconds.  By the end of the month the phase drops to 47% with an increase in size to 28 arcseconds. Half phase (50% lit) occurs a few days earlier than it should due to a phenomenon known as the Schroter Effect.

MARS

BEST TIME TO SEE: 1st August 21:40 BST

ALTITUDE: 5° (low)

LOCATION: Virgo

DIRECTION: West

The current observing period for Mars is coming to an end and through a telescope it's a bit of a struggle to see much detail on it's tiny 4-arcsecond disc.  To the naked eye mars appears like a reddish mag. +1.5 star, low in the western evening twilight after sunset. It starts the month 2° south of Saturn but by the 20th has shifted loyalties, appearing 2° north of Venus.

JUPITER

BEST TIME TO SEE: 31st August, 02:30 BST

ALTITUDE: 36°

LOCATION: Pisces

DIRECTION: South

Jupiter steals the planetary show this month and is now a magnificent sight, visible all night long.  At the start of the August, it rises at around 22:30 BST (21:30 UT) and looks like a brilliant mag. -2.6 star close to the eastern horizon.  It's rising time gets progressively earlier throughout the month and by the 31st August, it's up just after 20:30 BST (19:30 UT).  The best views are to be had when it's at its highest point in the sky, due south.  Through a telescope, Jupiter looks fantastic.  Small 4 inch scopes will easily show its large disc, slightly flattened by the planet's rapid rotation.  At the start of August, Jupiter is 45 arcseconds across, growing to just under 50 arcseconds by the end of the month.  A dark band representing the North Equatorial Belt should be obvious but its southern counterpart, the South Equatorial Belt, is currently missing.  Keep a look out for the Great Red Spot, a huge anti-cyclonic storm visible in the planet's southern hemisphere.

SATURN

BEST TIME TO SEE: 1 August, 21:20 BST

ALTITUDE: 12°

LOCATION: Virgo

DIRECTION: Just South of West

Saturn is in conjunction with Mars and Venus throughout August and visible low down in the west after sunset.  The planet is now well past its best despite the fact that its ring system is starting to open out again.  By the end of the month, the rings will have opened to nearly 5°.  To the naked eye it looks like a mag. +0.8 star embedded in the western evening twilight.

URANUS

BEST TIME TO SEE: 31st August, 02:20 BST

ALTITUDE: 36°

LOCATION: Pisces

DIRECTION: South

Uranus lies 3° to the west of Jupiter at the start of the month and at a mag. +5.8 is on the threshold of the naked eye visibility given good, dark skies by 31st August, giant Jupiter will have moved slightly closer to Uranus in the sky, the pair being separated by just 2° at this time.  Through a 6-inch scope, Uranus's small 3.7 arcsecond disc looks distinctly green.

NEPTUNE

BEST TIME TO SEE: 20th August, 01:00 BST

ALTITUDE: 24°

LOCATION: Capricornus

DIRECTION: South

Neptune's reaches opposition on 20th August when it can be found 2° northwest of the mag. +4.3 star Iota Aquarii. At mag. +7.8, you'll need at least a pair of binoculars to see it.  A 6-inc telescope will show the planet's tiny, 2.4 arcsecond disc to have a distinctly blue colour.

DEEP SKY TOUR

Seek out some of the smaller constellations deep-space gems

THE DUMBBELL NEBULA

NGC 6791

M71

COLLINDER 399

GAMMA DELPHINI

NGC 6934

BARNARD'S E

The Wolverhampton Astronomical Society is affiliated or a member of the following organisations: 

British Astronomical Association, The Society for Popular Astronomy, the Federation of Astronomical Societies and the West Midlands Federation of Astronomical Societies.