Sky & Telescope - August 2020 - 44

AUGUST 2020 OBSERVING
Planetary Almanac

PLANET VISIBILITY (40°N, naked-eye, approximate) Mercury: visible at dawn to the 8th *
Venus: is the brilliant Morning Star all month * Mars: rises in late evening * Jupiter: visible at dusk and
sets around 3:30 a.m. local daylight-saving time * Saturn: visible at dusk roughly 8° east of Jupiter

Mercury

11

August Sun & Planets

31

21

Venus

Date

31

+8° 39′

-

-26.8

31′ 41″

-

1.009

1

7h 36.3m

+21° 29′

17° Mo

-0.9

6.1″

70%

1.096

11

8h 56.9m

+18° 47′

7° Mo

-1.6

5.2″

96%

1.293

21

10h

16.8m

+12° 31′

4° Ev

-1.6

4.9″

99%

1.365

31

11h

24.7m

+4° 54′

12° Ev

-0.7

5.0″

93%

1.345

1

5h 34.1m

+19° 16′

45° Mo

-4.5

27.2″

43%

0.613

11

6h 12.0m

+19° 58′

46° Mo

-4.5

24.1″

49%

0.692

21

6h 53.7m

+20° 06′

46° Mo

-4.4

21.7″

54%

0.770

31

7h

37.7m

+19° 31′

45° Mo

-4.3

19.7″

59%

0.847

1

1h

12.0m

+3° 29′

111° Mo

-1.1

14.6″

86%

0.642

16

1h 33.8m

+5° 22′

120° Mo

-1.4

16.5″

89%

0.566

31

1h 46.9m

+6° 29′

130° Mo

-1.8

18.7″

92%

0.500

1

19h 26.2m

-22° 20′

161° Ev

-2.7

47.2″

100%

4.180

31

19h

15.6m

-22° 43′

130° Ev

-2.6

44.4″

99%

4.436

1

19h

58.7m

-20° 54′

169° Ev

+0.1

18.4″

100%

9.012

31

19h

51.1m

-21° 17′

138° Ev

+0.3

18.0″

100%

9.233

Uranus

16

2h 32.6m

+14° 30′

103° Mo

+5.7

3.6″

100%

19.539

Neptune

16

23h 24.9m

-5° 00′

153° Mo

+7.8

2.4″

100%

29.021

Jupiter
16

Saturn

The table above gives each object's right ascension and declination (equinox 2000.0) at 0h Universal Time on selected dates,
and its elongation from the Sun in the morning (Mo) or evening (Ev) sky. Next are the visual magnitude and equatorial diameter.
(Saturn's ring extent is 2.27 times its equatorial diameter.) Last are the percentage of a planet's disk illuminated by the Sun and
the distance from Earth in astronomical units. (Based on the mean Earth-Sun distance, 1 a.u. is 149,597,871 kilometers, or
92,955,807 international miles.) For other dates, see skyandtelescope.org.

10"

PLANET DISKS have south up, to match the
view in many telescopes. Blue ticks indicate the
pole currently tilted toward Earth.

+40°

8h

+30°

Castor
Pollux

GEMINI

4h

6h

2h

22h

0h

14

Pleiades

TA U R U S

+10°

11

PISCES

8

EQUATOR

CANIS
MAJOR
8 am

0°

LIBRA
E R I D AN U S

10 am

Aug
22

Neptune
Jupiter

CETUS

Aug
3 -4

-20°
-30°

+20°

LEO

VIRGO

OPHIUCHUS
AQU AR IU S

Rigel

Sirius

Arcturus

HERCULES
AQU ILA

Mars

+40°
+30°

Uranus

Betelgeuse
ORION

12h

14h
BOÖTES

CYGNUS

ARIES

Procyon

-10°

16 h

18 h
Vega

PEGASUS

Venus

-40°

20 h

RIGHT ASCENSION

Mercury

0°

Distance

1.015

Mars

Neptune

Illumination

-

Jupiter

Uranus

Diameter

31′ 31″

31

16

Magnitude

-26.8

Venus

Saturn

Elongation

-

31

16

Declination

+18° 01′

Mars

1

45.5m
37.8m

Mercury
16

1

8h

10h

Sun

1

Right Ascension

Fomalhaut

LOCAL TIME OF TRANSIT
6 am
4 am
2 am

CAPR ICOR NU S 28
SAGITTARIUS

Midnight

25

Saturn

10 pm

E

Antares

SCORPIUS
8 pm

6 pm

PT
CLI

-10°

CORVUS

IC

H Y D R A
4 pm

2 pm

DECLINATION

Aug 1

The Sun and planets are positioned for mid-August; the colored arrows show the motion of each during the month. The Moon is plotted for evening dates in the Americas when it's waxing (right side
illuminated) or full, and for morning dates when it's waning (left side). "Local time of transit" tells when (in Local Mean Time) objects cross the meridian - that is, when they appear due south and at
their highest - at mid-month. Transits occur an hour later on the 1st, and an hour earlier at month's end.

44

AUGUST 2 02 0 * SK Y & TELESCOPE

-20°
-30°
-40°
http://www.skyandtelescope.org
Sky & Telescope - August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - August 2020
