Backyard Stargazer
By Francis Parnell
August will be a great month for planetary conjunctions and a few close pairings, so get ready for some neat naked-eye, binocular, and telescopic sky views.
At dusk on the 5th, spot Jupiter less than 2-degrees above the waxing crescent moon.
In the south-southeast at sunset on the 11th, the moon forms a large equilateral triangle with red Mars and yellow Saturn in Scorpius, the Scorpion.
It’s also time again for the annual Perseid Meteor Shower on the night of the 11th and 12th. The Perseids usually average 85 or 90 meteors per hour. But according to astronomers, because of Jupiter’s gravitational influence, this year the rate may reach 160 per hour under dark, non-light polluted skies. The best time to observe is after moonset at 1 a.m. and dawn on the morning of the 12th. Optical aid isn’t needed for observing meteor showers. Just scan the sky in all directions and see how many you can count!
About 30 minutes after sunset on the 23rd look south-southeast to see bright Mars forming a vertical line about 6-degrees long with Saturn and the Red Supergiant Antares, the Heart of the Scorpion. Mars is 4-degrees below ringed Saturn and 2-degrees above Antares.
If the South Carolina weather will cooperate, remember to “Keep looking up!”
Francis Parnell of Darlington has been an amateur astronomer for over 46 years, and was on the staff and helped out at the Francis Marion University Observatory from 1982 until 2006 by showing visitors “what’s out there.” With the help of a friend, Mr. Ernest Lowry, he built his own telescope in 1986. And, because of light pollution, for the last 31 years he has been advocating for the advantages of using fully-shielded lighting at night.