What’s Lighting Up the Night Sky This August? Here Are the Top 7 Astronomical Events
August is here, and with it comes the bittersweet feeling of summer winding down. But before we trade warm nights for cooler ones, the sky has a few spectacular reminders of why this season is worth staying up late for. This month, the sky is unusually busy, showcasing rare planetary alignments, a beloved meteor shower at its peak, and several planetary “close encounters” that promise more than just wishful thinking.
Here are the top seven celestial spectacles you won’t want to miss as summer makes its graceful exit.
9 August: Full Moon
Summer nights are slowly getting shorter, but August still holds its ground as one of the best months for skywatching. On 9 August, the Full Moon, traditionally known as the Sturgeon Moon, will light up the sky. It rises and bathes the UK’s night in silvery drama from sunset until dawn with peak illumination at 07:55 GMT (08:55 AM in the UK).
The name “Sturgeon Moon” comes from Indigenous North American traditions, marking the time of year when giant sturgeon were most readily caught in the Great Lakes. While this year’s Sturgeon Moon isn’t a Supermoon, it still makes a striking appearance, especially when it rises low on the horizon just after sunset — that’s when it looks largest and most golden thanks to an optical illusion.
Did you know this is also prime time for hearing an owl’s call or spotting bats darting against the bright backdrop?
Full Moon Astrophotography Tips
If you’re planning to photograph it or just soak it in, aim for moonrise. Check your local time (for London, it’s around 08:55 AM). And if you’re out by the water or in the countryside, you might just catch the moon mirrored on a calm surface, a classic summer-night sight.
11-12 August: Perseid Meteor Shower Peak
If you see just one meteor shower this year, make it the Perseids. Peaking overnight from 11 to 12 August, this is the summer sky’s main event — fast, bright meteors streaking across the heavens, sometimes leaving glowing trails in their wake. Under dark skies, you could spot up to 100 meteors an hour. No telescope needed, just your eyes and a clear view of the stars.
Three Active Meteor Showers, One Epic Night
The Perseids are the last and brightest of three meteor showers active in August. The Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids will both fizzle out by the 12th, but only the Perseids will peak mid-month. Active until 23rd August, they’re fragments of Comet Swift-Tuttle, burning up in Earth’s atmosphere at around 59 km/s — nearly 60 times faster than a bullet.
Credit: @latestinspace via X
This year’s peak comes with a slight challenge: an 84% full Moon. But don’t let that stop you. The Perseids are known for producing fireballs that punch right through the moonlight. The best viewing time is after midnight and before dawn, when the radiant in Perseus rises high. In the UK, that means staking out a dark spot around 1 to 3 a.m. BST and letting your eyes adjust.
Fun fact: the Perseids have been enchanting skywatchers for over two millennia, making this one of the longest-running celestial traditions on record. For pure magic, find a spot away from city lights, wrap up warm, tilt your head back, and prepare to catch these brilliant reminders that, even as summer slips away, the night sky still holds endless wonders.
12 August: Venus-Jupiter Conjunction
On the morning of 12 August, just before sunrise, two of the brightest objects in our sky will appear to nearly touch. Venus and Jupiter, the Roman god and goddess of love and power, will align in a close conjunction, separated by less than half a degree, it’s about the width of a pinky held at arm’s length.
Specifically, aim to look towards the eastern horizon about 90 minutes before sunrise, that’s roughly from 3:45 to 4:45 a.m. BST.
Though these planetary pairings aren’t rare, this one stands out for falling during a month that already feels heavy with celestial activity. Think of it as a quiet, golden moment amid August’s flashier events like meteor showers and full moons. And here’s a bonus: you might also catch Mars lurking nearby, adding a subtle red spark to the mix.
Fun Fact
Ancient skywatchers often interpreted such planetary alignments as omens – some of love, others of war. You don’t need to believe in signs to enjoy the view, but there’s something undeniably special about watching two worlds brush past each other in the twilight silence of a late summer morning.
18 August: Rare Six-Planet Parade
Mid-August delivers one of those rare mornings when the universe seems to put on a show just for early risers. On 18 August, six planets — Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune — will line up in the predawn sky. It’s what’s known as a planetary alignment, and while not all will be visible to the naked eye, the sense of scale is something you can feel just by looking up.
About 45 minutes before sunrise, a stunning arc of planets will stretch across the eastern sky — Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and a delicate crescent Moon. Venus blazes bright, Jupiter follows close, and Mercury, low near the horizon, will be trickier to catch. Uranus extends the arc even higher, nestled between the Pleiades and Hyades clusters.
Over in the southwest, Saturn and Neptune hover side by side, adding depth to the show. Want the best view? Find a dark spot with a clear horizon, and bring binoculars if you’ve got them.
19 August: Mercury at Greatest Elongation West
It’s your best shot to catch the elusive planet! Mercury isn’t shy, it’s just fast — zipping so close to the Sun that it rarely pulls far enough away to be easily visible. But on 19 August, it reaches greatest elongation west, meaning it’s at its furthest point from the Sun from our perspective and finally steps into view.
This is your best chance all summer to spot the innermost planet, hanging low in the eastern sky just before sunrise. Look up around 45–60 minutes before dawn. Mercury will appear as a tiny but surprisingly bright dot, just above the horizon. It’s a moment of celestial geometry: elongation happens when the angle between the Sun, Earth, and Mercury hits its peak — in this case, about 18 degrees.
Use binoculars to help pick it out of the morning twilight, and get to a spot with a clear, unobstructed view to the east. In a month packed with planetary lineups and meteor fireballs, this quiet Mercury moment might just be the most rewarding one to chase.
21 August: Conjunction of the Moon and Mercury
Just two days after Mercury’s greatest elongation, the tiny planet gets a rare cameo with a familiar companion – the Moon.
On 21 August, head out just before sunrise, and look low in the eastern sky to catch the Moon-Mercury conjunction. The slender waning crescent Moon will hover right next to Mercury, both sharing the same patch of sky in a subtle but beautiful pairing. These two won’t blaze like Venus or Jupiter, but the scene has its own quiet charm — the faint glow of Mercury beside the delicate crescent, both bathed in pre-dawn light. If skies are clear and your view of the horizon is unobstructed, this is one of the more poetic moments of August’s sky calendar.
23 August: New Black Moon
August wraps up with a shadowy twist. On 23 August, skywatchers will experience a Black Moon — not a spooky omen, but a rare lunar quirk that skywatchers love.
There are two types of Black Moons. The more common calendar Black Moon happens when two New Moons fall in the same month. But this one is the rarer kind: a seasonal Black Moon.
That means we’re seeing the third New Moon in a season that somehow squeezed in four. Normally, each astronomical season — the stretch between solstice and equinox — gets three New Moons. But this summer, we get four: June 28, July 29, August 23, and September 22. That makes this Black Moon something special, popping up only once every 2.5 to 3 years.
You won’t actually see the Moon (New Moons are invisible), but you’ll feel it. With no moonlight to wash out the sky, it’s the perfect night to spot faint objects like the Andromeda Galaxy, Neptune, or late Perseids still lingering near the horizon. This night offers some of the clearest, darkest skies of the season.
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