Friday, August 6
Tonight, let’s try for an easy binocular object: the globular cluster M56, located in the constellation Lyra. This dense knot of stars sits about halfway from Sulafat (Gamma [γ] Lyrae) to Albireo, which denotes the head of Cygnus the Swan and lies to Gamma’s southeast. Both constellations will be high in the east by the time darkness falls, well out of the turbulent layer of atmosphere closest to the ground.
Through binoculars, M56 should be easy to spot with a magnitude of 8.3 and a span of 8.8′. M56’s core isn’t particularly bright and some may see it as a more uniform ball of fluff, but sharper-eyed or experienced observers may notice its denser core, which dissolves into a haze of stars at its edges.
While you’re in the area, go ahead and scan all the way to Albireo. This beautiful double star has components that appear yellow-orange and blue; they can typically be split by binoculars.
Sunrise: 6:03 A.M.
Sunset: 8:08 P.M.
Moonrise: 3:47 A.M.
Moonset: 7:23 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (4%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.
Saturday, August 7
If you’ve got a telescope and a hankering for a challenge, tonight is your night. It’s the perfect time to try for the Cat’s Eye Nebula, also cataloged as NGC 6543. This planetary nebula — created when a Sun-like star sloughs off its outer layers as it ages — sits about one-third of the way between Polaris at the end of the Little Dipper’s handle and the head of Draco the Dragon. The nearest bright signpost is Zeta (ζ) Draconis, a 3rd-magnitude star about 5° west-northwest of the nebula, which is located in a relatively empty region of sky. This can actually make it a bit harder to find, so be patient and take your time.
The Cat’s Eye is small — only about 16″ across — but this gives it a relatively high surface brightness that lets it be seen even with a small (4-inch) scope. But because it is so small, you’ll need to pump up the magnification to differentiate it from a star. This is where a larger telescope will help, and may even begin to show its complex shape and structure. In any scope, however, you may discern its blue-green color.
Sunrise: 6:04 A.M.
Sunset: 8:06 P.M.
Moonrise: 4:47 A.M.
Moonset: 8:04 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (1%)
Sunday, August 8
New Moon occurs at this morning at 9:50 A.M. EDT, leaving a perfectly dark sky and excellent observing conditions. That’s good news, because there’s an event occurring tonight that you won’t want to miss.
Jupiter’s four Galilean moons — Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto — circle the planet regularly, quickly changing positions over the course of a few hours. Sometimes, these moons cross in front of or fall into shadow behind Jupiter in transits and occultations. But special this year, thanks to the satellites’ orientation relative to our line of sight, are mutual events, in which the moons appear to eclipse or occult each other.
One such event occurs overnight tonight, as Ganymede’s large shadow crosses over Europa between 11:37 P.M. EDT and 12:44 A.M. EDT (on August 9). Turn a telescope toward the scene a bit early to find the two moons sitting west of Jupiter’s disk — Ganymede appears closer to the planet, with Europa farther out. Io (closest) and Callisto lie to Jupiter’s east.
Less than two hours later, the disk of Ganymede partially occults Europa as the two swap places between 2:17 A.M. and 2:46 A.M. EDT (again, on the 9th for those in the appropriate time zones).
Sunrise: 6:05 A.M.
Sunset: 8:05 P.M.
Moonrise: 5:52 A.M.
Moonset: 8:40 P.M.
Moon Phase: New
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