Now we are already in August 2020 and I publish the eighth issue of the series "Heaven in… "
I am pleased that the sky in August 2020 also has some highlights in store and that the planet, moon and constellations are so wonderful to observe in summer.
Neowise leaves our skies in August 2020
Comet NEOWISE was already fainter and weaker in July. I myself said goodbye to this great spectacle in the sky on holiday in the Bavarian Forest. Now the clump of dust, ice and rock is leaving our inner solar system. When he leaves us, he gets the well-deserved fireworks that the Perseids give him.
The Perseids in the sky in August 2020
The annual meteor shower, also called Perseids , is the best seen shooting star rain of the year. I have already written in various places that only space debris is disposed of quite unromantically. But I openly admit that I can't deny the romance of shooting stars. It just looks fantastic when it seems to rain stars and they burn up with sometimes longer or shorter tails above us. In the sky in August 2020, debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle burns up in this spectacular way. This comet was last seen in 1992, but we enjoy its legacies year after year.
The Perseids already appear in the sky in the first days in August 2020, but are difficult to see due to the moon phase. The good news is that at the peak of the Perseids on the night of August 11-12, there is not quite as much moonlight. like on a moon in the last quarter (a crescent). From midnight until dawn, the Perseids are best observed in the sky in August 2020. At its peak, up to 50 shooting stars per hour can be seen. So don't make the wish list too short.
The radiant of the Perseids lies in the constellation of Perseus. This is a good reference point for observation. However, the shooting stars can appear anywhere in the sky – so keep your eyes open.
Planets in the sky in August 2020
In the evening sky in August, Jupiter and Saturn appear as the cat's eyes. Only the moon and the ISS shine brighter as it moves across the night sky. In the southeastern sky, the journey of the two planets, which are very visible to the naked eye, begins.
The planet Mars also shows up in the sky in August 2020. Our neighboring planet is on the rise in the evening sky. The red planet rises at midnight in the first half of the month, is not quite as bright as Jupiter, but definitely brighter than Saturn.
Stargazers will be greeted in the early morning in August 2020 by the exceptionally bright Venus , which shines in the twilight before morning in the lower east. Our neighbor is even brighter than Jupiter. There are two reasons for this brightness. Venus is not only very close to Earth in August 2020, but also has a very reflective cloud cover. Through binoculars, Venus will appear crescent-shaped in the sky in August 2020. Both Venus and Mercury go through phases like our moon because their orbits around the sun are in Earth's orbit. On August 15, there is a thin, waning moon in the upper left corner of Venus. This will be a special heavenly embrace worth setting the alarm for!
Summer constellations in the sky in August 2020
Summer constellations, commonly referred to as constellations, are now in full bloom.
In the low southern sky, the scorpion appears, which really resembles a scorpion. Next door, just to the left of Scorpius, the archer dances across the sky in August 2020. For some, the constellation is more like a teapot. By the way, Jupiter and Saturn both show themselves to the left of the constellation of Sagittarius.
In the northwestern sky, the big dipper hangs from its handle. On the right is the much weaker little car with Polaris, the North Star, at the end of the handle. In the northeast it is very easy to find a huge "W", also known as the constellation Cassiopeia . This W outlines a throne of Queen Cassiopeia. She is said to have been bound to it forever as punishment for insulting Hera, the queen of the gods of Olympus.
Almost above us is the Summer Triangle, which consists of three bright stars: Vega, Altair and Deneb. All three stars are the brightest in their respective constellations Lyra the harp, Cygnus the swan and Aquila the evil eagle. The Summer Triangle is a great tool for finding these constellations and many other surrounding celestial portraits.
Moon phases in the sky in August 2020
The sky in August holds two full moons for us. In the following table I have recorded the monphases of the current and upcoming lunation.
| Lunar phase | Date | Time |
| Full moon (harvest mom, sturgeon moon) | 03 August 2020 | 5:58 pm |
| Waxing Crescent | August 11, 2020 | 6:44 pm |
| New Moon (Blackmoon) | August 19, 2020 | 04:41 hours |
| Waxing Crescent | August 25, 2020 | 7:57 pm |
Harvest moon or sturgeon moon? What does that mean.
- German: Around August, the grain harvest is brought in. The old German term Erntemond refers to this fact. In some dialects, August was also referred to as harvesting .
- Algonquian: Does a bright full moon disturb the night sky, especially in August? May be – but the term sturgeon moon refers to the sturgeon , a genus of fish that increasingly fidgeted on the hook of Algonquian anglers at this time of year. In English, the sturgeon moon is referred to as Sturgeon Moon .
- Other names: Grain Moon, Barley Moon, Ear Moon, Crescent Month, Red Moon, Fruit Moon, Lightning Moon, Green Corn Moon, Bisemond.
Black Moon in the sky in August 2020
The new moon is called a black moon when, as in August 2020, it is the third new moon within a season. It is invisible because the moon disappears in the shadow of the earth.
Black moon is also referred to as the second new moon within a month or when there is no full moon or new moon in a month. That can only be in February.
I wish you a lot of fun looking at stars, counting shooting stars and constellations. Follow me on one of my channels, leave a comment or a question and tell others about this page.