Six-Planet Parade On Sunday: When And Where To See It By A Crescent Moon
From Aug. 17–21, a spectacular 'planet parade' (also called an alignment) will feature the moon and six planets. getty
About an hour before sunrise, a 36%-lit waning crescent moon will shine high above Jupiter and Venus in the eastern sky. Mercury will hug the eastern horizon and be easier to spot closer to sunrise, though it's on the cusp of reaching its farthest position from the sun from Earth's point of view.
Jupiter will be the highest of the visible planets, while Venus will blaze brightest between Jupiter and Mercury.
Saturn will be visible in the southern sky. The ringed planet is currently brightening as it nears its annual bright 'opposition' on Sept. 21, when Earth will be between Saturn and the sun.
The highlight of this week's 'planet parade' will arguably come on Wednesday, Aug. 20, when a slender crescent moon will shine very close to a brilliant Venus.
The next 'planet parade' isn't until October 2028, when five planets will be visible together before sunrise.
Sunday, August 17: A 'Planet Parade' Stellarium
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is hard to miss in this morning's sky. It will spend the rest of the year rising higher into the morning sky and won't come to a bright opposition this year. It's an occasional consequence of its 13-year orbit around the sun. Jupiter will next be at its biggest, brightest and best on Jan. 10, 2026. Through binoculars or a telescope, you can glimpse some of its largest moons — Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto — lined up like tiny stars.
The 'planet parade' will look much the same on Monday, Aug. 18, when a slimmer 26% crescent moon will glow near Venus and Jupiter. On Tuesday, Aug. 19, Mercury will be at its highest in the morning sky as the moon wanes to 16%-lit and forms a curve with Venus and Jupiter. On Wednesday, Aug. 20, a 9%-lit crescent moon will appear very close to Venus, with Mercury below and Jupiter above in what is perhaps the highlight of the week-long event. Come Thursday, Aug. 21, the slender 4%-lit waning crescent moon will be beneath Jupiter and Venus, close to Mercury. What's Next In The Night Sky
With the 'planet parade' over on Aug. 22 as Mercury sinks, Saturn and Jupiter will gradually brighten as Venus begins to fade. Before sunrise on Aug. 31, Venus will be positioned within the Beehive Cluster, a dense cluster of stars that looks great through binoculars. Further Reading Forbes 'Planet Parade' Myths Debunked And How To Truly See It — By A Stargazer By Jamie Carter Forbes Your Ultimate Guide To Meteor Showers And The Perseids — By An Expert By Jamie Carter Forbes NASA Urges Public To Leave The City As Milky Way Appears — 15 Places To Go By Jamie Carter
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
X-ray telescope finds something unexpected with the 'heartbeat black hole'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A black hole's bizarre "heartbeat" is forcing astronomers to reconsider how these cosmic heavyweights behave. Observations of IGR J17091-3624 — a black hole in a binary system roughly 28,000 light-years from Earth — were taken using NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). Nicknamed the "heartbeat" black hole for its dramatic, rhythmic pulses in brightness, the object feeds on matter stolen from a companion star. The black hole's pulses are the result of fluctuations in the superheated plasma swirling around it (also known as the accretion disk) and the inner region called the corona, which can reach extreme temperatures and radiate incredibly luminous X-rays. IXPE measured the polarization — the direction of the black hole's X-rays — to determine the alignment of its vibrations. The space probe recorded a surprising 9.1% polarization degree, which is much higher than theoretical models predicted, according to a statement from NASA. Studying the polarization degree offers insight about the geometry of the black hole and motion of matter nearby. Typically, such high readings suggest the corona is viewed almost edge-on, where its structure appears highly ordered. However, other observations of IGR J17091-3624 don't seem to match that picture, leaving scientists with a puzzling contradiction. Astronomers tested two different models to help explain the recent observations of IGR J17091-3624. One posits that powerful winds are being launched from the accretion disk, scattering X-rays into a more polarized state even without an edge-on perspective. The other suggests the corona itself is moving outward at extraordinary speeds, causing relativistic effects that amplify polarization. Simulations of both scenarios reproduce the IXPE results, but each model challenges long-held assumptions about black hole environments. "These winds are one of the most critical missing pieces to understand the growth of all types of black holes," Maxime Parra, co-author of the study from Ehime University in Matsuyama, Japan, said in the statement. "Astronomers could expect future observations to yield even more surprising polarization degree measurements." Their findings were published May 27 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hubble reveals new details about alien comet 3I/ATLAS
Hubble has captured the sharpest images to date of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, revealing new details about this icy alien traveller. The discovery of the third interstellar object passing through our solar system has the astronomy community fairly excited. Given the limited amount of time we have to observe 3I/ATLAS before it leaves our solar system, never to be seen again, astronomers want to find out as much as they can about it, while they have a chance. To this end, increasingly more powerful telescopes are being turned towards 3I/ATLAS. Ground-based observatories have been delivering images, so far, giving researchers a chance to make educated guesses at the nature of the object and how big it is. On July 21, astronomers got their first look at 3I/ATLAS using the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble's first image of Comet 3I/ATLAS. The streaks in the background are distant stars, drawn out into lines as the telescope tracked the moving object. According to NASA, a blue filter was used for these observations. (Image: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)) With 3I/ATLAS currently surrounded by a cloud of dust, ice, and gas (its 'coma'), the solid nucleus of the comet cannot be seen, even by Hubble. However, these observations give astronomers a better estimate of the size of this alien object, simply by comparing what they're seeing with the behaviour of 'home grown' comets. From ground observatories, based on its brightness, the original best estimate for the size of its nucleus was anywhere from 10-20 kilometres in diameter. New data from Hubble has significantly reduced that, putting an upper limit on the comet's size of 5.6 kilometres wide. That's still substantially larger than both 2I/Borisov and 1I/'Oumuamua, which were estimated at being roughly 500 metres wide and 100 metres wide, respectively. Still, the researchers who took the Hubble observations believe it's possible 3I/ATLAS's nucleus could be as small as just 320 metres across. Hubble's view of 3I/ATLAS. The comet is travelling from left to right in this field of view, with the Sun generally located off the right edge of the image. (Image: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)) The image captured by Hubble also reveals more detail, confirming 3I/ATLAS's cometary nature. As seen above, the solid nucleus is located within the bright region on the left side of the fuzzy 'teardrop'. The diffuse region on the right appears to be a plume of dust being ejected from it, as sunlight warms the nucleus' surface. Comets produce tails of dust and ionized gas, which both generally point away from the Sun. However, this kind of dust plume being generated in the direction of the Sun is apparently common in comets when they are farther out in space and first begin to feel the Sun's heat. Additionally, according to NASA, the researchers report seeing the hints of a dust tail streaming away from the nucleus. We still have roughly a month before most telescopes will lose sight of comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes around the other side of the Sun. At that time, orbiters around Mars might get a better look. Then, starting in early December, astronomers will pick up observations of it again, and have at least until early 2026 before it gets too far away to see. "Observations from other NASA missions including the James Webb Space Telescope, TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, as well as NASA's partnership with the W.M. Keck Observatory, will help further refine our knowledge about the comet, including its chemical makeup," says NASA. Watch below: August Sky Guide — Watch for a six planet parade Click here to view the video Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
12 hours ago
- USA Today
A 'groundbreaking' ocean discovery may be a clue about extraterrestrial life
Scientists say the findings help explain how life can exist in extreme environments using the chemical compound methane instead of sunlight. Strange animals that get their energy from chemical reactions instead of the sun have been discovered at the bottom of ocean trenches up to 31,000 feet deep in the northwest Pacific between Russia and Alaska, a new study reports. Scientists say the findings shed new light on the potential for life to exist in extreme environments using the chemical compound methane instead of sunlight. The animals were discovered by researchers using a human-crewed submersible vehicle. "What makes our discovery groundbreaking is not just its greater depth – it's the astonishing abundance and diversity of chemosynthetic life we observed," said marine geochemist Mengran Du of the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of the authors of the research published July 30 in the peer-reviewed British journal Nature. The authors suggest that similar communities may be more widespread than previously thought, and their findings challenge views about how the ecosystems might be supported. "Even though living in the harshest environment, these life forms found their way in surviving and thriving," Du said. To some, the findings prompt questions about the potential for finding life on other planets. Marine geologist and study co-author Xiaotong Peng said "we suggest that similar chemosynthetic communities may also exist in extraterrestrial oceans, as chemical species like methane and hydrogen are common there." Could this kind of life be found on other planets? Du told USA TODAY that similar chemosynthetic life forms could exist on Jupiter's moon Europa, or even Saturn's moon Enceladus. Europa might be the most likely: "Europa's ocean is considered one of the most promising places in the solar system to look for life beyond Earth," according to NASA. "There is very strong evidence that the ingredients for life exist on Europa," said planetary scientist Bonnie Buratti of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who was not part of this study. At the bottom of Europa's ocean, where the water meets the rocky mantle, there may be thermal vents where heat releases chemical energy. "They may be similar to thermal vents in the deep oceans of the Earth where primitive life exists and where life may have originated on the Earth," Buratti said. Europa Clipper will tell us more NASA hopes the Europa Clipper spacecraft will help "determine whether (Europa's) subsurface ocean harbors a habitable environment," Buratti said. She added that the current thinking is that life arose in the depth's of the Earth's oceans, so seeking a similar environment on Europa is the first step to answering questions about undersea life on other planets or moons. "Europa is the first ocean world to be studied in detail. Other bodies in the Solar System, such as Titan, Enceladus, possibly Ganymede and even Pluto, as well as many exoplanets or exomoons could also harbor habitable environments similar to those on Earth," she told USA TODAY. "We'll know much more after we get some results from Europa Clipper, starting in 2030." More: NASA's Europa Clipper launches in search for 'ingredients of life' on Jupiter's icy moon On Earth, amazing deep sea tube worms and clams Researchers found animal communities – dominated by tube worms and clams – during a series of dives to the bottom of the Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian trenches. The ecosystems were discovered at depths greater than the height of Mount Everest, Earth's tallest peak. The deepest one was 31,276 feet below the ocean surface in the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. This was almost 25% deeper than such animals had previously been documented anywhere on Earth. This environment harbors "the deepest and the most extensive chemosynthetic communities known to exist on our planet," said marine geologist and study co-author Xiaotong Peng. The study reported that organisms such as these that live in extreme environments need to adapt to produce energy in different ways. Known as "chemosynthesis-based communities," they derive their energy from chemical reactions rather than from photosynthesis, which requires sunlight. Such communities can be found in deep sea habitats where chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide and methane seep from the sea floor, according to the study. Contributing: Reuters
