Tour of the Sky: Show notes for August 2006

Observations are for 10pm for the mid northern latitudes (around 35 deg N) and for 7pm for the mid southern latitudes (around 35 deg S).

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere June sky.

Key Dates for August

Days and Times in UT (help with time)

August
1	-Cross Quarter Day! (Aug 7th if you measure by degrees instead of time) Traditional first day of Autumn/Spring and half-way between solstice and equinox
2	-First Quarter Moon 8:46 UT
4	-Moon close to Antares, possible occultation
7	-Mercury at greatest elongation 19 deg West of the Sun (morning planet)
	-Full Moon 10:54 UT
9	-Saturn in conjunction with the Sun, moving to a morning planet
10	-Moon at perigee (the closest point in its orbit around Earth)
	-Mercury 2 deg away from Venus in the morning sky
11	-Moon very near Uranus in the morning sky. Viewers in South America have possible occultation.
	-Max libration 8.2 degrees (favors NW quadrant and craters Volta and Omar Khayyam, at full Moon)
12	-Peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower 23 UT. The meteors are dust particles spread out around the 130-year orbit of Comet Swift-Tuttle
16	-Last Quarter Moon 1:51 UT
	-Moon near the Pleiades occultations visable from Japan, Siberia and Alaska
20	-Proposed launch day for STEREO which will provide stereoscopic views of the sun!
	-Just before dawn, look to the east and see how many of these objects you can see: Saturn, Mercury, Venus, and the thin waning Crescent Moon
23	-New Moon 19:10 UT
26	- Moon at apogee (the farthest point in its orbit around Earth)
26	-Venus .08 deg from Saturn in the morning sky
29	-Jupiter above a waxing crescent moon
31	-First Quarter Moon 22:57 UT

...Did you know?
Aug 1,1818 Birthdate of Maria Mitchell first woman to be elected as an astronomer to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Aug 5 Neil Armstrong is 76 today.
Aug 7,1959 Explorer 6 returned the first ever images of Earth from space
Aug 11,1877 Mars's outer moon Deimos discovered. Asaph Hall, U.S. Naval Observatory, 1877. Aug 17 Phobos discovered.
Aug 14-26 IAU meeting in Prague will finally produce a definition of 'planet'!
Aug 19,1646 birthday of the first observer at the Royal Observatory, John Flamsteed
Aug 28,1789 William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus

Earth's major motions for 2006

Perihelion		Jan 4
Equinox		Mar 20 18:26(UT)
Solstice		June 21 12:26(UT)
Aphelion		July 3
Equinox		Sept 23 04:03(UT)
Solstice		Dec 22 00:22(UT)

Planet Positions for 2006

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Venus

Sgr

Sgr

Cap

Aqr

Psc

Ari

Tau

Cnc

Leo

Vir

Lib

Sgr

Mars

Ari

Tau

Tau

Gem

Gem

Cnc

Leo

Leo

Vir

Vir

Lib

Sco

Jupiter

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Sco

Saturn

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

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Music Alexye Nov -"Nightly Murmur of Crickets"
Josh Woodward "Mon Amie"
Corrinne May "Same side of the Moon"