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08/06/2020 12:01 AMThe year 2020 is turning out to be particularly good to get outside and observe the night sky, with great vistas for even the novice backyard observer.
In early July, the Comet NEOWISE delighted many as it graced our early morning and twilight skies. This year is also going to be a perfect time to locate our solar system’s two greatest planets, Jupiter and Saturn, and to observe them converging in the sky. August’s annual Perseid meteor shower will conveniently happen during the waning moon, providing improved viewing with less interference from the lunar brightness.
Find the Planets!
During August, Saturn and Jupiter are visually close to each other and already visible at dusk. They cruise the heavens nightly from east to west across the southern part of sky. These giant planets appear as nearby bright stars, Jupiter being the brightest on the right, and Saturn close-by to the left.
The summer constellations provide a perfect aid for finding these planets by following the sky’s “summer triangle.” Consisting of the three bright stars of Deneb, Vega, and Altair (the three points), this gigantic triangle appears essentially overhead, at the center of the August night sky. It points directly toward the two bright planets, making them easy to find (see the illustration included with this article).
Simply viewed with the unaided eye, the planets are a magnificent sight—especially when considering that you are viewing Jupiter from a distance of nearly 400 million miles, and nearly 800 million to Saturn!
Using a pair of decent binoculars can begin to reveal the four Galilean moons that closely orbit Jupiter, and a telescope can offer breathtaking details of the planets—including Saturn’s incredible rings.
Once familiar with these planets’ locations, you’ll be able to watch them slowly appear to move closer together throughout the rest of the year, seeming to join as one in a planetary conjunction on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21, 2020.
The Perseid Meteor Shower
Seen throughout the first two weeks of August, with best viewing on the nights of Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 11 and 12, the Perseid meteor shower is one of the year’s most reliable times to catch shooting stars, or meteors streaking across the night sky.
Named for the constellation Perseus, Perseid meteors appear to radiate outward from the constellation and can be seen all across the sky. Meteors happen when Earth plows into trails of small rocks and debris left behind by passing comets (in the case of the Perseids, Comet Swift-Tuttle).
At its peak, this shower can display between 50 to 100 meteors an hour. They can be seen throughout the evening hours, but typically become most prolific after midnight.
The best way to observe the Perseids? No equipment needed. Find a spot away from outdoor lights and just lay back on a blanket or comfortable lounge chair under a wide open sky and gaze generally upward. Meteors streaking anywhere in your peripheral vision will grab your attention, and your heart—especially when you catch a bolide (a really bright one).
To loosely quote Carl Sagan, under the stars we are reminded how all our worries, our triumphs, everyone and everything that we know and love exist merely on this tiny rock we call Earth.
Gazing out into the vast universe we can get lost in the wonder of our place in a much grander scheme—a perfect elixir to ease the burden of these challenging times.
So, turn down the outdoor lights, put on some pants and long sleeves for the cooling nighttime air, and get out under the starry night sky—and you might want to bring some mosquito repellent.
Bob Crelin is a life-long Connecticut native, designer, musician, educator, author of Faces of the Moon (Charlesbridge) and a longtime member of the Astronomical Society of New Haven: asnh.org.