Astronomy - USA (2020-08)

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.