August 2017

Sky Report - August 2017

By Dr. Bob Doyle, Emeritus Faculty
Dr. Doyle taught and was Planetarium Director at Frostburg State University for over 40 years

First Quarter of August (Aug 1-7)

Sunrise is about 6:17 a.m. with sunset about 8:25 p.m. Sunlight each day lasts about 14 hrs. and 8 minutes. On August 1, the evening moon is just past half full, offering fine viewing of the lunar craters through a telescope. The moon will appear close to the planet Saturn on August 2nd and 3rd in the southern evening sky. The Frostburg State Planetarium will have a free public program on Saturday, August 5 at 8 p.m. The Planetarium is in room 186 of the Gira Center. The moon grows to full on August 7, rising about sunset and staying in view all through the night.

Second Quarter of August (Aug 8-15)

Sunrise is about 6:23 a.m. with sunset about 8:17 p.m. Sunlight each day lasts about 13 hrs. and 54 min. The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the evening of August 12 and the early morning of August 13. These meteors or shooting stars will appear to come out of the star group Perseus in the northern sky. Moonlight will be present in the early morning hours, making the meteors less striking than those in the evening sky.

Third Quarter of August (Aug 16-22)

Sunrise is about 6:31 a.m. with sunset about 8:07 p.m. Sunlight each day lasts about 13 hrs. and 36 min. The moon will appear half full in the southern dawn sky on the 16th. The crescent moon will appear near the brilliant planet Venus in the eastern dawn on August 19. The best sky event of the summer is the partial solar eclipse in the early afternoon hours of August 21. Looking directly as the sun during the eclipse could cause permanent damage to your eyes. There are modestly priced eclipse viewers available in stores such as Lowes and Wal-Mart. These glasses allow only a thousandth of one per cent of the sunlight to come through. So you could safely take a peek at the eclipse with these viewers. If you can’t go to these stores, you can always make an eclipse projector with an empty shoe box. At one end of the shoebox, make a round hole with a nail or thick needle. Hold the shoe box upside over your head with your back to the sun. You will eventually spot the sun’s image on the other end of the box. It will be about 1/8th of an inch wide and quite bright. Even if it’s partially cloudy, you may catch sight of the eclipse through breaks in the clouds. The middle of the eclipse when the moon covers up about 80 per cent of the sun is about 2:40 p.m. The next partial solar eclipse for this area will be on April 8 in 2024.

Last Quarter of August (Aug 23-31)

Sunrise is about 6: 37 with sunset about 7:56 p.m. Sunlight each day lasts about 13 hrs. and 19 min. On August 25, the crescent moon will appear near the bright planet Jupiter in the western dusk. On August 29, the evening moon will appear half full in the western dusk, another good opportunity to see the moon’s craters with a telescope. On August 30, the moon will appear near the planet Saturn in the southern evening sky. In September, the FSU Planetarium will resume its free public Wednesday evening programs about every other week. The dates and times will be announced on this radio sky report.

Contact Us

Dr. Jason Speights

Director of the MLC
Associate Professor of Physics

Email (preferred): jcspeights@frostburg.edu
Phone: 301.687.4339
Office: Gira CCIT 189

Send Mail To

Department of Chemistry and Physics
Frostburg State University
101 Braddock Road
Frostburg, MD 21532-2303

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