Sky Guide August 2015

What to look out, and up, for in August.


This month we take a look at the constellation of Cepheus the
King for the beginners guide – we have the first galactic tape
measure: the original Cepheid Variable, a red supergiant star:
Hershel’s Garnet Star and the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula.


Next we round up the planets that are visible in August: Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus & Neptune. We look at the month’s moon phases
and enjoy a supermoon (or perigee-syzergy) on the 29th. August
treats us to the best meteor shower of the year – the Perseids –
falling on the 12th August with no moon to dampen the show. We
also look forward to rare comet conjunction occurs in August with
Rosetta’s Comet 67/P and comet 141/P sharing the same field of
view in telescopes. For our deep sky challenge we look at the
constellation of Aquarius for a tour of globular clusters and
planetary nebulae.