Celestial Events in August (Patreon)

Howdy Patrons! Been 2 months since my last one of these, thankfully I can relax a bit since I'm no longer in the midst of house showings, etc for my upcoming move. Who would have thought switching states would be so HARD! There's some good stuff coming this month I really wanted to talk about, and hopefully you'll see my pics shared if I'm successful in capturing these!

August 1st/2nd (Tonight) SATURN AT OPPOSITION!
This only happens once a year, but Saturn will be rising the same time the sun sets, and be in the sky all night. This is the closest approach for Saturn for the  year, so it will appear the largest and brightest it has been since last opposition. Get out those telescopes! The best time to view it will probably be several hours after sunset. I plan on shooting it a little after midnight tonight.

August 8th: New Moon
The moon will be gone this evening, so it will be a great night for stargazing. If you can get to dark skies, the milky way will be high in the sky after it gets dark (I usually allow 2 hours after sunset. Try and see how many nebulas you can spot with your naked eyes! I can usually spot the Lagoon, Eagle, and Omega nebulas. If you have binoculars, it is much easier. 

August 12/13: Perseids Meteor Shower
One of the best showers of the year, this is timed nicely with the lunar schedule, leaving dark skies not long after sunset to observe the meteors all night long. I will be trying to capture some if I can get to dark skies this evening. 

August 18th: Mars/Mercury Conjunction
Mercury and Mars just barely miss eachother in the night sky. This event will require a clear view of the horizon to the West, and require a keen eye. Only visible shortly after sunset, you will be able to see both planets in the same field of view even at high magnification, as they are only going to be 9 arcminutes away from eachother (about a third the width of the full moon). Mercury will be much brighter than Mars, as Mars will be quite far away during this conjunction.

August 19th: JUPITER AT OPPOSITION
This only happens once a year! Much like Saturn earlier in the month, Jupiter will rise at sunset and set at sunrise, meaning it is high in the sky all night and will give you the brightest and best views of the gas giant and its moons. Get those telescopes out!

August 22nd Full Moon/Blue Sturgeon Moon:
This moon is the 3rd out of the 4 full moons this season, which means it is considered a blue moon. Unlike the one that happened last year which was the second during a calendar month, (and much less rare) this event only happens every few years. 

I hope you can see some of these events, and I'll look forward to seeing pictures or hearing about them if you do! Now to get my planetary scope set up for tonight....