What’s Up in the Night Sky – August 2025
from In-The-Sky.org
Moon Phases
First Quarter – August 1
Full – August 8 – Full Sturgeon Moon
Last Quarter – August 16
New Moon – August 23
First Quarter – August 31
Close Encounters
July 28: The Piscis Austrinid meteor shower reaches peak activity in the early morning.
*The 4-day-old Moon visits Mars low in the evening western sky.
July 30: Both the Southern delta-Aquariid and alpha-Capricornid meteor showers reach their peak in the early morning hours.
July 30-31: The Moon and Spica have a close encounter around Midnight local time. The Moon occults Spica for portions of Antarctica.
August 1: Venus reaches its highest altitude at 32° above the horizon at sunrise.
August 3: The Moon and Antares have a close encounter in the evening sky. The Moon occults Antares for parts of the southern hemisphere.
August 6: Saturn and Neptune are in conjunction 1° apart in the early morning before sunrise.
August 9: Asteroid 2 Pallas is at opposition in Delphinus, glowing at a dim magnitude of 9.4.
August 12: In the early morning, Venus and Jupiter are in conjunction less than a degree apart. Venus will be at magnitude -4.0 and Jupiter at magnitude -1.9.
*The Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak in the early morning hours.
*The Moon and Saturn are in conjunction, 4° apart in the evening.
August 19: Mercury will be at its greatest separation from the Sun (16 degrees at sunrise) in the early morning and shining at magnitude -0.2.
*The Moon and Jupiter are in conjunction in the morning sky.
August 20: The Moon and Venus are near conjunction in the morning sky.
August 21: The Moon and Mercury are near conjunction in the morning sky.
Major Meteor Showers – from https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/
The Southern Delta Aquariids is best seen from the southern tropics this shower is active from July 18 through August 12 and peaks for a week near the middle of this time (end of July). Not known for persistent trains of fireballs, the median rate of 25/hour consists mainly of faint meteors. Parent body is believed to be comet 96P/Machholz.
The Alpha Capricornids are active from July 12 through August 12 with a peak centered around July 30. Known for producing bright fireballs but the rate is only 5 per hour. Parent body is Comet 169P/NEAT.
The Perseids are active from July 17 to August 23 with a peak near August 12 and are one of the best-known meteor showers. Hourly rate at the peak is near 100 per hour but a bright Moon in the sky this year will reduce the number of visible meteors to maybe 25%. Parent body Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
Planet Watch for July 26, 2025
Mercury soon passes between the Earth and the Sun and no longer be visible in the evening sky for this apparition. It will be visible in the morning sky in mid-August.
Venus rises at 3am and is magnitude -4 for most of the month.
Mars is in Leo and ending its most recent apparition. Mars sets at 10:40pm tonight and by 9:10pm by the end of August. Mars reaches superior conjunction (when Mars is on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth) on January 9, 2026.
Jupiter rises in the morning sky around 4am (about 2 hours before the Sun) in late July and around 2:30am by the end of August.
Saturn rises in the east around 10:45pm at the end of July and around 9:45pm by the end of August. Opposition for Saturn is September 21. The southern faces of the rings are coming into view, even if only at about a 4° tilt from our vantage point.
Uranus rises around 1:20am late July and before Midnight by late August. It is currently in the constellation Taurus.
Neptune rises about 11:10pm in late July and around 8:45pm by late August. It is currently in the constellation Pisces.
