Night Sky: There's still time to spot some noctilucent cloud activity
The result is this stunning image incorporating long wispy white clouds tinged with blue. Taken from the Latin for 'night-shining', the clouds can be seen a couple of hours after sunset looking to the northwest.
One of the richest and most bountiful of the annual meteor displays is underway as the Perseids fire themselves up for another outburst in August.
While the shower will be covered in more detail as we head toward the night when maximum activity is expected, meteors from the display have already commenced as the Earth ploughs through a field of rocky debris left by a comet.
The densest part of the field will be encountered on the night of August 12 into August 13, when we could witness up to 150 meteors per hour. This is a perfect opportunity to see some celestial fireworks, all of which can be observed with the naked eye.
While the position of Mars in the evening sky hasn't made for the best of viewing, there's a chance to spot both the red planet and a crescent Moon on Monday July 28, low above the western horizon at around 10pm.
This will be one of the last opportunities to see Mars this year as during August it will slip into the twilight and won't be seen again until 2026. Meanwhile, the morning sky continues to be dominated by Venus.
Space news, and the Hubble Space Telescope has caught the first glimpse of 3I/Atlas, just the third object humanity has witnessed entering our solar system from beyond its limits.
The 12-mile-wide 'invader', larger than the asteroid that eventually led to the downfall of the dinosaurs, is due to pass Mars in October and Earth in December, both fly-bys posing no threat.
Thought to have been formed seven billion years ago, 3I/Atlas is currently speeding through our solar system at 150,000 mph.
Tuesday July 22 saw the Earth complete a spin on its axis at 1.34 milliseconds less than the standard 24 hours, making for the second fastest rotation since records began in 1973.
For a significant part of Earth's history a day on Earth was approximately 19 hours long, but over time, the day has become constantly longer due to affects such as the relationship with the Moon and the associated tidal forces. However, just to buck the trend!
Founded in 1975, Cardiff Astronomical Society currently has an exhibition running at Cardiff Museum.
One of the largest and most active astronomical societies in the UK, the event, which showcases the work of the society throughout the decades and its established links to the community, is free to enter, running until October 31.
Send your astrophotography pictures to: thenightsky@themoon.co.uk
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Scottish Sun
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Metro
2 days ago
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3 days ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
The astronomical sky over Edinburgh and Lothians in August
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Lunar perigee (closest to Earth) on 14 August at 7:07 pm finds the Moon some 369,254 km away from Earth—around 15,146 km closer than average—subtending an angle of 32.4 arc-minutes. The Moon enters last quarter on 16 August at 6:12 am in Aries (The Ram). The new Moon appears on 23 August at 7:07 am in Leo (The Lion) beginning a new synodic (Lunar) month which will last 29 days, 13 hours and 48 minutes. This is an astronomical 'Black Moon' being defined as the 3rd new moon within the same astronomical season. The second Lunar apogee occurs on 29 August at 4:38 pm and takes the Moon to 404,585 km away from Earth—around 20,185 km further than average—subtending an angle of 29.5 arc-minutes. Finally, the second first quarter (sic) of the new Lunar cycle shows up on 31 August at 7:25 am in Scorpius (The Scorpion). For the inferior planets: Mercury begins the month in Cancer (The Crab) and ends in Leo (The Lion) but recedes by 93,949,967 km and, contrarily, increases in magnitude from 5.41 to -1.35 (509.25 times in brightness) over the month. Mercury's see-saw orbit sees it return to a prograde path from retrograde on 10 August and reach greatest western elongation on 19 August. The 'Swift Planet' closes out the month with another perihelion passage on 27 August. Meanwhile, Venus begins the month in Gemini (The Twins) and ends in Cancer (The Crab) but recedes by 28,990,238 km. Venus decreases in magnitude from -4.00 to -3.95 (1.05 times in brightness) over August. Between 6–18 August, Venus and Jupiter will rise side-by-side around 3 am in Gemini (The Twins). The optimum day will be 12 August when Venus will be 0.9 degrees south of Jupiter in the pre-dawn hours. For the superior planets: Mars remains in Virgo (The Maiden) all month but recedes by 21,598,312 km and maintains a steady brightness of 1.6 magnitudes. Jupiter remains in Gemini (The Twins) throughout August but comes closer by 43,919,235 km. The 'Red Giant' increases in magnitude from -1.92 to -1.99 (1.07 times in brightness) over the month. On 20 August, around 4:30 am, Jupiter, Venus and the waning crescent Moon will form a triangle in the eastern sky. Keen-eyed observers may also glimpse Mercury photo-bombing the event but much nearer the horizon! Turn around, roughly 140 degrees in azimuth, and, there, in Pisces (The Fishes) will be Saturn. Saturn remains in Pisces (The Fishes) but comes closer by 45,899,569 km and so increases in magnitude from 0.80 to 0.65 (1.15 times in brightness). Uranus remains in Taurus (The Bull) but comes closer by 77,262,177 km. Uranus maintains a brightness of 5.8 magnitudes and reaches western quadrature on 24 August. Neptune remains in Pisces (The Fishes) and comes closer by 46,820,627 km. Observing Neptune requires binoculars or a telescope but it will lurk very close to Saturn all month. Our skymap shows how close they are in the south-east. If you are still unsure of how to find the elusive 'Blue Planet', try using the waning gibbous Moon on 13 August at 1:30 am to find Saturn: Neptune will then be about 1 degree north. The Perseid (007 PER) meteor shower is one of the most active of the year and peak overnight on 12/13 August with up to 100 shooting stars per hour. The radiant point is close to the principal star, Mirfak. This year, however, the 82% illuminated waning gibbous Moon will hamper observing. The parent comet is 109P/Swift-Tuttle discovered in 1862 but last seeding the meteor shower in In the Catholic church they are called the 'Tears of Saint Lawrence' because mourners first saw these shooting stars when carrying the saint's body (after he had been martyred by roasting over hot coals). 10 August is also the saint's feast day. Within Perseus (The Hero) is the 3-solar radii star Algol—sometimes unfavorably named the 'Demon Star'—whose surface temperature is 12,500 Kelvin lying at some 90 light years. It was discovered to be variable in 1667 but the reason behind the variability was not explained until the late 19th century when it was discovered to be the first ever eclipsing binary. The companion star is slightly bigger but fainter and lies less than 10 million km away. As these 2 stars rotate around their barycentre, they eclipse each other with the larger occultation dimming the magnitude from 2.1 to 3.4 over a 10-hour period. This eclipse takes place every 2.867 days but the secondary eclipse is too faint for the naked eye. Today, we know that Algol is actually a triple star system but the third companion is much fainter and much further away from the 2 principal components. You may read about the newly discovered comet 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1) which is designated as an 'interstellar object' (ISO). It is the fastest ISO ever discovered and, being an interstellar object, it comes from another planetary system inside our galaxy. By studying this comet in detail in the coming months, astronomers will get a fix on the chemistry and physics in potential exoplanet systems. Although it is moving fast, around 68 km/s, it will not come anywhere near Earth but will fly-by tantalizingly close to Mars. It emanates from Sagittarius (The Archer) and appears as if he has aimed a 'free sample return mission' our way! At the time of our sky map, some constellations visible are Cepheus (The King) at zenith, Lynx (The Lynx) in the north, Andromeda (The Chained Maiden) in the east, Corona Borealis (The Northern Crown) in the west (which contains our, so far, elusive recurrent nova known as the Blaze star) and Microscopium (The Microscope) in the south. The ecliptic hosts Taurus (The Bull), Aries (The Ram), Pisces (The Fishes), Aquarius (The Water Bearer), Capricorn (The Sea Goat) and Sagittarius (The Archer). The 'Summer Triangle'—Vega in Lyra (The Lyre), Altair in Aquila (The Eagle) and Deneb in Cygnus (The Swan)—is prominent at high altitude in the south. Also, highly visible in the east is the great square of Pegasus (The Winged Horse) with the sentinel stars Scheat, Alpheratz, Algenib and Markab. Circumpolar constellations—always above the horizon—include Camelopardalis (The Giraffe), Cassiopeia (The Seated Queen), Draco (The Dragon) and Ursa Major (The Great Bear). Like this: Like Related
