• Welcome August, month of shooting stars.
  • Mark Lovewell

Wish Upon a Shooting Star

August is shooting star month. Why? For one, more people are outside stargazing in August because it is comfortable to be outside at night. Good thing because there are two meteor showers this August.

The Perseid Meteor Shower takes place in the second week of this month, with a peak on August 12. But the full moon on August 10 and 11 are going to make it difficult to see anything other than the brightest of meteors.

Better perhaps to put one’s hopes on the Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower, a less familiar, but also a productive shower which peaked last night and continues for the nights ahead.

How do you tell the difference between the two meteor showers, which may overlap? Perseid meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus which is rising in the east late in the evening. The Delta Aquarid meteors appear to radiate from a more southern constellation, the constellation Aquarius. Aquarius is a zodiacal constellation appearing in our southeastern sky early in the evening.

Moon and Planets

The thin crescent moon appears near two planets this weekend. Tomorrow night, the moon is near the red planet Mars. On Sunday night, the moon strikes a pose in between Mars and Saturn. All three appear low in the southwestern sky, soon after sunset.

 

Sunrise and Sunset
Day Sunrise Sunset
Fri., August 1 5:35 7:59
Sat., August 2 5:36 7:58
Sun., August 3 5:37 7:57
Mon., August 4 5:38 7:56
Tues., August 5 5:39 7:55
Wed., August 6 5:40 7:53
Thurs., August 7 5:41 7:52
Fri., August 8 5:42 7:51
Temperatures and Precipitations
Day Max (Fº) Min (Fº) Inches
July 25 80 61 0.00
July 26 77 61 0.00
July 27 78 63 0.00
July 28 78 68 0.05
July 29 80 63 0.03
July 30 80 57 0.00
July 31 81 58 0.00

 

 

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 75º F

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