All_About_Space_-_Issue_94_2020

LEO

CANCER

LY N X

URSA

MAJOR

COMABERENICES

CORVUS

CRATER

VIRGO

Ve nu s

Mars

ARIES

PISCES

TRIANGULUM

ANDROMEDA

PERSEUS

AURIGA AQUARIUM

Eris

Neptune

Uranus

LIBRA

SERPENS

OPHIUCHUS

AQUILA SCUTUM SERPENS

DELPHINUS

EQUULEUS

SCORPIUS

LUP

JupiterCeres

Saturn

Pluto

AURIGA

LY N X

MAJOR

LEO

MINOR

LEO

VIRGO

CORVUS

CR T

SEXTANS

COMA

BERENICES

Mercury

Sun

Ve nu s

AURIGA

LY N X

LEO

LEO MINOR

CANCER

SEXTANS

VIRGO

CRATER

Sun

Mars

Mercury

Constellation:Cancer

Magnitude:-0.5

AM/PM:AM

Atthestartofourobservingperiod

youmightbeabletosneaka sighting

ofMercury,butitwillbevery

challenging:theclosestworldtothe

Sun,whichswoopsarounditoncein

just 88 days,istechnicallya morning

object,butissoclosetotheSun

thatitwillbeverylowintheskyat

aroundfourinthemorning.

Constellation: Leo

Magnitude: -3.9

AM/PM: PM

Venus is not visible because it will be

too close to the Sun. By the second

week of September this deadly world

will be an ‘evening star’ very low in

the west after sunset. By then, if you

have a pair of binoculars you’ll be

able to see Mercury close to brighter

Venus, but you must wait until the

Sun has set to protect your eyes.

Venus 19:00 BST on 19 August

W WNW NW WSW W WNW

Mercury 18:15 BST on 20 August

Constellation:Sagittarius
Magnitude:0.2
AM/PM:PM
Saturnbecomesvisibleintheeast
aftersunsetassoonastheskybegins
todarken,andthenwillarcacrossthe

skythroughthenight,fadingas

dawnapproaches.Tothenakedeye

itwilllooklikea warm,yellow-white

starlowinthesky,somedistance

overtotheleftofmuchbrighter,blue-

whiteJupiter.

Constellation:Aries

Magnitude:5.7

AM/PM:PM

Uranusisthemostdistantplanetin

ourSolarSystemvisibletothenaked

eye– butonlyjust.Atmagnitude5.7it

istechnicallyjustbrightenoughtobe

seenwithoutassistance.Atthestart

ofourobservingperiodUranuswill

riseintheENEaround22:30,then

slowlycrossthesky,fadingfromview

astheskybrightensbeforesunrise.

SE SSE S ENE E ESE

Saturn20:00BSTon 15 August Uranus22:30BSTon7 September

Constellation: Leo

Magnitude: 1.8

AM/PM: PM

Thisisgoingtobea poormonthforyou

ifyou’rea Marsobserver.Allthroughour

observingperiodthefamousRedPlanetis

justtooclosetotheSuntobevisible,and

notevencarefullyscouringthepre-sunrise

orpost-sunsetskywithbinocularsora

telescopewillhelp.IfyouwanttoseeMars

thismonthyou’llhavetodoitthrough

theunblinkingeyesofNASA’sCuriosity

rover,whichtakesgorgeouspicturesof

therollingplains,water-tumbledrocks

andlayeredmountaininsideGaleCrater

everydayandbeamsthembacktoEarth

foreveryonetoseeonlineonthemission’s

website,forfree.

W WNW

Mars 18:00 BST on 11 September

This month’s planets

STARGAZER

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