The Sky This Week - Thursday August 1 to Thursday August 8

The New Moon is Thursday, August 1, the first quarter Moon is Thursday, August 8. Mars is lost in the twilight but dedicated viewers may see it with binoculars close to the Moon on the 2nd. Jupiter is easily visible as the brightest object in the evening skies. Saturn, just past opposition, is high in the late evening skies.

The New Moon is Thursday, August 1, the first quarter Moon is Thursday, August 8. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to Earth, on the 2nd.

Evening sky on Friday, August 2 as seen looking north-west from Adelaide at 18:02 ACST (30 minutes after sunset). Mars is close to the horizon with the thin crescent Moon close by. You will need a clear level horizon and binoculars to see Mars, using the Moon as a signpost.

 Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Sky at 19:02 ACST (90 minutes after sunset) on Saturday, August 3 looking east as seen from Adelaide. Jupiter is past opposition, and high above the eastern horizon. Saturn is below and just past opposition.

The left upper insert inset shows the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time. The left lower insert is the telescopic view of Saturn at the same magnification.

Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia 90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen.

The whole sky at 22:00 ACST on Saturday, August 3 as seen from Adelaide. The Southern Cross is beginning to leave the zenith. However, the galactic core (and the celestial emu) is at the zenith and there are numerous clusters and nebula high in the sky in the tail of the Scorpion and the lid of the teapot of Sagittarius  that will be a delight to explore while the Moon is new.

Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time, click to embiggen. 

Venus is lost in the morning twilight and will return to the evening sky in September.

Mercury is lost in the twilight returning to the morning sky next month.

Jupiter Jupiter is now well past opposition. However, it is still well worth observing. Jupiter is easily visible as the brightest object in the north-eastern/northern sky (aside from the Moon) and is located just below the distinctive constellation of Scorpius and the bright red star Antares. It is visible all evening long and is a good telescope target in the evening, being highest above the northern horizon around 8:30 pm local time.

Mars is lost in the twilight. However, on the 2nd it is close to the thin crescent moon, and those with a clear level horizon can spot it in binoculars.

Saturn was at opposition on July 10th, when it was visible all night long. Saturn is below Jupiter and just below the “handle” of the “teapot of Sagittarius. It is best for telescopic viewing from just around 9 pm local time until the early morning and is highest above the northern horizon when it is ideal for telescopic imaging, around 10:30 pm local time.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what’s up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/