TEL
CrA
SGR
SCT
AQL SER
LY R
CYG
VUL
LAC
AQR
CAP
PsA
MIC
AND
TRI
ARI
PER
AUR
TAU
ORI
PEG
PSC
CET
PHE
FOR
HOR
COL CAE
ERI
LEP
LY N
GEM
CNC
CMa
MON
PUP
PYX
VEL
ANT
HYA
SEX
LEO
LMI
UMa
Celestial
equator
Path^ of^ the^ Sun (eclipt
ic)
Sun
Dawn Midnight
Moon phases
Uranus
Pluto
Saturn
Neptune
Jupiter
Merc
ury
Mar
s
Venus appears farthest from
the Sun in August’s morning sky
Dwarf planet Ceres reaches
opposition August 28
Asteroid Massalia reaches
opposition August 28
Flora Fortuna
Pallas
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
31 30 29 28
Mars
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Uranus
Saturn
Pluto
Neptune
Jupiter
Jupiter
Venus
Greatest western elongation
is August 12
Mercury
Superior conjunction
is August 17
Mars
Perihelion is
August 3
Ceres
Opposition is
August 28
40 ASTRONOMY • AUGUST 2020
THE PLANETS
IN THEIR ORBITS
Arrows show the inner
planets’ monthly motions
and dots depict the
outer planets’ positions
at midmonth from high
above their orbits.
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase shown for the day
straight up to the curved blue line.
Date
Magnitude
Angular size
Illumination
Distance (AU) from Earth
Distance (AU) from Sun
Right ascension (2000.0)
Declination (2000.0)
PLANETS
August 1
–0.9
6.1"
70%
1.096
0.316
7h36.3m
21°29'
August 15
–4.4
23.1"
51%
0.723
0.726
6h28.3m
20°06'
MERCURY VENUS
PATHS OF THE PLANETS
THE PLANETS IN THE SKY
These illustrations show the size, phase,
and orientation of each planet and the two
brightest dwarf planets at 0h UT for the dates
in the data table at bottom. South is at the top
to match the view through a telescope.