Astronomers are predicting a Perseid meteor shower outburst with twice the normal rates on the evening of Aug. 11 into the morning of Aug. 12. The waxing gibbous moon sets about 2 a.m., and you may then see up to 100 meteors an hour under clear, dark skies.
Mercury and Venus are visible in the western sky in the evening twilight during August. A triple conjunction of Mercury, Venus and Jupiter occurs on the evening of Aug. 27, with the latter two planets shining together brilliantly on the horizon after sunset, only a tenth of a degree apart.
Mars appears to move from Scorpius into Ophiuchus for the fourth week of August, and then returns to Scorpius, setting about midnight.
On Aug. 24, Mars, Antares and Saturn form a straight line in the evening sky. In Greek, Antares means “rival of Mars” — “ant” meaning against, and “Ares,” Mars. In ancient Persia, Antares was seen as one of the four royal stars, and the Maori of New Zealand saw Antares as the chief of all the stars.
Jupiter is low in the west all month and Saturn in the south. Saturn, Mars, Antares and the waxing gibbous moon form a striking lopsided square on the evening of Aug. 11 in the south-southwest.
Q&A
Q: What were those really bright lights seen in California last week? It was reported that they could be seen as far away as Las Vegas! — F.B., Akron
A: Lots of photos and videos of this event showed up on the Internet, and most likely were not signs of alien life forms. It was at first assumed what was seen were the first of the Perseid meteors.
Soon thereafter, the United States Strategic Command confirmed that the object was the re-entry trail of the Chinese liquid-fueled carrier rocket Chang Zheng, launched June 25. So far there have been no reports of this space junk falling on anything or anybody.
Programs
The Universe at Large is presented at 1 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, with weekday shows at 1 p.m. through Labor Day. The planetarium is included with admission to the museum. Children must be 5 years or older to attend.
The planetarium also offers an astronomy program for adults only on the first Monday of every month at 2 p.m. The Night Sky show is presented, followed by a 30- to 45-minute open lecture/discussion, driven by the interests and questions of the audience.
For more information visit the planetarium’s blog on the museum’s website, or call 330-455-7043.
David L. Richards is director of the Hoover-Price Planetarium at the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, 800 McKinley Monument Drive NW, Canton, www.mckinleymuseum.org. He can be reached at 330-455-7043, email hooverpriceplanetarium@hotmail.com or read his blog at https://hooverpriceplanetarium.wordpress.com/.