What’s Up in the Night Sky – August 2026
from In-The-Sky.org
Moon Phases
Last Quarter – August 5
New Moon – August 12
First Quarter – August 19
Full – August 27 – The Sturgeon Moon
Close Encounters
August 2 (morning) – Mercury is at greatest separation from the Sun in the predawn sky, shining at magnitude 0. It is only 16° above the horizon at sunrise.
August 3 (morning) – The 20-day-old Moon and Saturn pass within 6° of each other in the post-Midnight hours.
August 5 (morning) – Mercury is at its highest altitude in the morning sky.
August 7 (morning) – The waning crescent Moon visits the Pleiades in the early morning sky, separated by about 1°.
August 9 (morning) – The thin crescent Moon and Mars will pass about 4° from each other in the predawn sky.
August 12 – A total solar eclipse is visible from eastern Greenland and Spain. A partial solar eclipse will be visible for the New England area of the US. Visible in the early afternoon.
August 12 (evening) – Venus reaches dichotomy (last quarter phase). A good telescope or binoculars can see the Venusian disk cut in half.
August 12/13 (all night) – The Perseid Meteor Shower. See Major Meteor Shower section below for details.
August 14 (all night) – The globular cluster Messier 15 in Pegasus is visible all night.
August 15 (all night) – The globular cluster Messier 2 in Aquarius is visible all night.
August 16 (evening) – The 4-day-old Moon and Venus are in conjunction 2° from each other in the western sky at sunset.
August 27 – Mercury is at superior solar conjunction, ending the current evening apparition and beginning the upcoming morning apparition.
August 27/28 – Deep partial lunar eclipse for our hemisphere. The Moon passes through Earth’s shadow from 8:25pm on the 27th until 2:02am on the 28th. Maximum eclipse is at 11:14pm, when 93% of the lunar disk is in shadow.
August 31 (early morning) – The 19-day-old Moon and Saturn pass about 7° from each other.
Major Meteor Showers – from https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/
The Perseid meteor shower starts activity around July 17 each year and will peak the night of August 12-13. The Moon will be new on August 12 (Wednesday night) so no interference from the Moon as we look for the normal zenithal hourly rates of 30-50.
Planet Watch for August 15, 2026
Mercury is soon to pass behind the Sun (superior conjunction) and is a difficult target in the morning, separated from the Sun by 8°.
Venus is visible in the western sky shining at magnitude -4.3. It sets about 1h 45m after the Sun.
Mars rises above the eastern horizon around 2:05am. The magnitude 1.3 spark is visible until the Sun washes out the sky around 5:25am.
Jupiter recently passed behind the Sun in superior conjunction is no higher than 7° above the horizon at daybreak.
Saturn is a morning object, becoming accessible around 11pm, reaches maximum altitude in the south around 4:20am, and fades from view as the Sun rises around 5:40am. It brightens to magnitude 0.4 in Pisces.
Uranus rises in the east around 12:20am and reaches an altitude of about 52° before the eastern horizon brightens with the arrival of dawn. Uranus shines at magnitude 5.7 in Taurus.
Neptune becomes accessible around 11:30pm reaches maximum altitude in the south at 3:40am. Neptune shines faintly a magnitude 7.8 in Pisces.
