The Northern
Hemisphere
Heading into August, there's an impressive array of targets suitable for
observers armed with binoculars, telescopes of any size or of which are just
content with gazing upon the night sky with the unaided eye.
Galaxies and star clusters are abundant, but it’s the nebulae within
constellations such as Cygnus and Lyra that are the objects to look to this
month. The Ring Nebula (M57), the Pelican Nebula, young and dense
planetary nebula NGC 7027, ref lection nebula NGC 6914 and the ‘blinking
planetary’ NGC 6826 are particularly impressive, providing observing and
imaging opportunities for astronomers and astrophotographers alike.
Galaxies, nebulae and star clusters grace the
August skies, offering an exquisite selection for
stargazers and astrophotographers
Using the sky chart
This chart is for use at 22:00 (BST)
mid-month and is set for 52° latitude.
Hold the chart above your
head with the bottom of the
page in front of you.
Face south and notice
that north on the chart
isbehind you.
The constellations on the chart
should now match what you
seeinthesky.
01
02
03
Sirius(-1.4)
-0.5to0.0
0.0to0.5
0.5to1.0
1.0to1.5
1.5to2.0
2.0to2.5
2.5to3.0
3.0to3.5
3.5to4.0
4.0to4.5
Fa in te r
Variablestar
Magnitudes
O-B
A
F
G
K
M
Openstarclusters
Globularstarclusters
Brightdiffusenebulae
Planetarynebulae
Deep-sky objects
Galaxies
Observer’snote:
Thenightskyasitappears
on 17 August 2019 at
approximately22:00(BST).
NE
EA
ST
SE
M31
M33
Double
M34 Cluster
Pleiades
Saturn
Nebula
M15
M39
M2
NebulaHelix
ECLIPTIC
ANDROMEDA
AQUARIU
S
ARIE
S
AURI
AG
S DALI
CAPRI
CORNU
S
AC
SS
IOPEIA
EPHEUC
S
CETU
S
DELPHIN
EQUULEU
S
LA
C
ERTA
MICRO
SCOPIUM
PE
G
AS
US
PER
EUS
S
PI
SC
SE
PISC
AUSTRINUIS
S
TRIAN
ULUMG
apellaC
D
Algol
URANUS
NEPTUNE
Aug
16
Aug
21
Spectral types
STARGAZER