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.