Some highlights for the night sky in August 2004

Sunday 1 August 2004

• About 45 minutes after sunset look for Mercury near horizon in West and Jupiter not far behind
• Watch for launch of MESSENGER to Mercury

Tuesday 3 August 2004

• About 1.5 hours before sunrise, look Venus in Gemini's feet in the East and Saturn low in ENE near Pollux
• If you live in the right state, you may look for Mercury, low on horizon shortly after sunset

Saturday 7 August 2004

• Last quarter Moon
• Mars at aphelion (furthest from Sun)

Monday 9 August 2004

• About 1.5 hours before sunrise look for waning crescent Moon between Pleiades and Hyades
• Consortium for Undergraduate Research and Education in Astronomy Conference at Mount Wilson Observatory

Wednesday 11 August 2004

• About 1.5 hours before sunrise look for Venus near Gemini twin Castor's foot and Saturn not too far from Pollux
• Look for the Perseid meteor shower

Friday 13 August 2004

• About 1.5 hours before sunrise look for waning crescent Moon between Pollux and Saturn
• Look for Venus before sunrise
• Don't forget the Perseid meteor shower

Saturday 14 August 2004

• About 1 hour before sunrise look for Procyon, Venus, Castor, Pollux, Saturn, and thin waning crescent Moon
• 5th anniversary of Callisto flyby by Galileo spacecraft

Tuesday 17 August 2004

• With low horizon look for Procyon low, and Venus high, about 1.5 hours before sunrise
• Asteroid 9769 Nautilus closest approach to Earth at 1.44 AU

Friday 20 August 2004

• About 1 hour after sunset, look for waxing crescent Moon near Spica
• Happy Birthday Richard Geller

Monday 23 August 2004

• First quarter Moon near Antares
• Cassini spacecraft due for orbital maneuver

Friday 27 August 2004

• About 1.5 hours before sunrise look for Venus near Saturn (about 4.5 degrees of separation)
• Uranus at opposition

Sunday 29 August 2004

• Full Moon
• Look for full Moon near delta Aquarius 1.5 hours after sunset

Tuesday 31 August 2004

• About 1.5 hours before sunrise look in the East for Castor, Pollux, Saturn, Venus and Procyon in a line (almost)
• Mars conjunction

Good skywatching resources

• The Messier Objects list
• Abrams Planetarium Skywatcher's Diary (source of the daily events)
• SkyMap software (used to make the maps)
• The Nearest Stars
• The Brightest Stars
• Skymaps dot com (free monthly star maps)
• Planetarium Software
• About the GMU observatory

John Avellone's provided web sites

• FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial Web Cam at TJHSST Planetarium
• EarthDial Project Beta test webpage