Focus on the planets

Mercury is at superior conjunction, meaning that it is behind the sun for Earth viewers, during August. Mercury will reappear low in the evening sky next month.

Venus is well up on the eastern horizon at dawn, where it cannot be mistaken for any other heavenly object, as it easily outshines them all. The two stars to the immediate left of Venus are the twins Castor and Pollux. Far to the lower right of Venus is Procyon.

Mars continues to dominate the southwestern horizon at dusk and, while gradually losing its luster of the past two months, still provides an excellent chance to view its surface.

Jupiter, having wrested honors for second-brightest planet from Mars, passes by Venus on the eastern horizon during August. On Aug. 6, check out the extremely close meeting between the two planets about an hour before sunrise.

Saturn rises shortly after midnight well to the upper right of Jupiter and Venus. For early risers, the best chance to view Saturn’s rings is when it is high in the southeast just before dawn. The extreme tilt of Saturn’s rings makes this a good time to check them out.

Uranus can be found on the southeastern horizon among the stars of Capricornus during the late night hours. Uranus is at opposition, that is, Earth lies on a line between it and the sun during August and is easily seen with binoculars.

Neptune passed through opposition in July and also may be found in Capricornus on the southeastern horizon with Uranus. Both planets look like blue-green dots through binoculars with Uranus the brighter of the two.

Our celestial neighborhood

Mars, the fourth planet out from the sun, has always captured the public’s imagination. Although only about one-half the size of Earth and with a less than hospitable temperature range of minus 123 to 26 degrees Celsius, Mars is still considered to have the best chance, after Earth, of harboring life in the solar system.

A wealthy Bostonian named Percival Lowell first drew the public’s attention to Mars with a series of books published between 1895 and 1908 in which he claimed to have seen canals, cities, and other signs of life on Mars through his telescope located near Flagstaff, Ariz.

In 1938, H.G. Wells threw the entire country into a panic with a dramatic radio presentation, “The War of the Worlds,” in the form of a newscast reporting a Martian invasion of the United States.

Scientists hoped to find that life existed at one time on Mars because of surface features indicating water once ran on the surface of the planet and still might be locked in the subsoil. The 1976 Viking lander found no sign of life but 1996 reports of microbial fossils in a Martian meteorite sparked renewed hope. This finding has since been thrown into question but NASA plans new expeditions to the mysterious Red Planet looking for signs of water and life.

August events

1 Sunrise, 5:21 a.m.; sunset, 8:02 p.m. Lammas, a cross-quarter day marking the midpoint between the summer solstice and autumn equinox.

4 Full moon, 1:56 a.m. The full moon of August is called the “green corn moon” or “grain moon.”

6 Look for the close pairing of Jupiter and Venus on the eastern horizon just before dawn.

10 Sun enters the constellation of Leo on the ecliptic.

12 The Perseid meteor shower peaks around this date but will be diminished this year by moonlight. Look for occasional, fast-moving meteors that often leave persistent trails. Moon in last quarter, 3:54 a.m.

14 Saturn, the moon, Jupiter and Venus form a diagonal line in that order, from upper right to lower left, in the east at dawn.

19 New moon, 10:55 p.m. The moon is also at perigee, or closest approach to the Earth, tonight, and the combination of these two events may produce abnormally high tides.

23 The sun enters the astrological sign of Virgo but astronomically is still in Leo.

25 Moon in first quarter, 3:54 p.m.

26 Mars is to the moon’s lower left on the western horizon at dusk. Antares is to the Red Planet’s lower right.

31 Sunrise, 5:56 a.m.; sunset, 7:15 p.m.

Send astronomical queries to Clair Wood at cgmewood@aol.com or in care of the Bangor Daily News, Style Desk, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402.