The End of Summer, Fall Comes Creeping

The Night Sky of August

Starwatch August Photograph: Graphic

All the naked-eye planets are on show this month, but none is in the sky at our sky chart times. As so often happens, though, August's highlight is the Perseids meteor shower which is already under way, albeit at a low level, and builds to a peak on the 12th before petering out by the 24th. Its bright swift meteors, some leaving glowing trains in their wake, streak in all parts of the sky but diverge from a radiant point in Perseus which climbs through our NE and E sky overnight.

The shower's peak, when up to 100 Perseids per hour might be seen under ideal conditions, is due during daylight in Europe. Even so, we can expect lower but respectable rates on the nights of 11th/12th and 12th/13th. The Moon is a not-too-obtrusive waning crescent during the latter half of the night.

Saturn, mag 0.8, stands above Spica in Virgo low in the WSW at nightfall, its altitude one hour after sunset falling from 11° to only 4° during the month. Mars is mag 1.1 and 8° right of Spica at present, gliding to pass directly between Saturn and Spica on the 14th.

Jupiter, mag -2.1 to -2.3, rises in the NE at our map times to be conspicuous in the E before dawn where it stands above-left of Aldebaran in Taurus. Venus, below-left of Jupiter and more brilliant at mag -4.4 to -4.2, rises at about 02:15 and tracks from Taurus to Gemini. Catch the Moon close to Jupiter as the Perseids fly on the 12th, and alongside Venus on the 14th.

Venus is farthest W of the Sun on the 15th, as is Mercury a day later. Between the 14th and the 25th, the small inner planet brightens from mag 0.4 to -1.0 and climbs to stand 4° or 5° high in the ENE one hour before sunrise. Use binoculars to glimpse it in the twilight almost in line with Jupiter and Venus.

August diary

2nd 04h Full moon

3rd 06h Jupiter 5˚N of Aldebaran

6th 06.31 Curiosity rover to land on Mars

9th 20h Last quarter

11th 21h Moon 0.1˚S of Jupiter

12th 14h Peak of Perseids meteor shower

13th 01h Mars 1.9˚N of Spica; 21h Moon 0.6˚N of Venus

15th 10h Venus farthest W of Sun (46˚)

16th 06h Moon 4˚S of Mercury; 13h Mercury farthest W of Sun (19˚)

17th 10h Mars 3˚S of Saturn; 17h New moon

21st 23h Moon 1.0˚S of Spica

24th 14h Neptune at opposition; 15h First quarter

31st 15h Full moon

* Times are BST

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jul/29/starwatch-perseids-meteor-astronomy


August Fog

A friend called earlier today, and announced "fall is here." When I asked how she knew, she shared a with me a Pennsylvania legend about the moon and the fog.

The first full moon of early harvest and the river fog following mark the beginning of the dinosaur migration. Now, these are not the great leviathans of yore--'bout 1/3 sized brontos. They summer up river--the ancient Susquehanna (about 200-300 MILLION years old) about 12 miles from us on an island off the village of Mocanaqua (Leni Lenape for 'little bear). Used to be, the Grampa Dino would bellow from time to time--silly folks said it was 'jake brakes' on 18 wheelers, but we knew better--had him some arthur in his hips and that's a BIG hip for arthur. Now, Gramps stays South in the hidden cuts of the Chesapeake Bay--Susquehanna is the biggest water source for the Bay. But the younguns still make the trip up in Spring mists--not long after the Chickadee goes from 'dee,dee,dee' to 'my tree"--and back down in Autumn. You can tell for sure if you're on one of the river bridges early on a foggy morn--that little shiver you feel is one of their backs just grazing the bottom of the bridge. Love living in the country and only having 4.5 channels--keeps one in touch.

MJ's folk lore brings to mind the very important role the planetary movements and the earthly elements play in our awareness of the seasons and the state of well-being our planet is enjoying. Things are still more or less in place in Pennsylvania, but here in the midwest and Indiana, rain and temperatures have gone haywire, leaving many of us feeling just a bit out of synch and slightly bewildered. Here in the breadbasket of the country, where corn and soybeans are the staple of the harvest and for food and feed diets the world over, everything has gone off-center. There has been no rain at all for many weeks, and in the previous years, rainfall was significantly below normal; now, with crops withering in the field, and corn and beans bearing no fruit, we begin to wonder. Is this the result of global warming, are we going to wither and die like the dust bowl, spreading out east and west across the country the way the Sahara grows in Africa. Perhaps the Mayans knew what they were seeing when they calculated their calendars ... and so, here in the middle of the country, we wait to see what will happen. Farmers have begun to simply grind their corn crops as they stand in the fields, to produce silage as feed for their livestock. Pastures are dead as well, and animals need to eat, and if they can't be fed will be slaughtered early; there is little hay to bale, we will wait to see how the drought plays out before we know what animals will be held to winter over. All this is particularly apparent, because before time was even recorded the days and the planets and the sun told our ancestors that the day was here - Lammas, the first harvest.




The first fruits of harvest should be ready now, it should be hot, humid and just close with heavy, damp air; the kind of stuff that makes corn and beans, and hay and fruit and vegetables are getting heavy and ripe and ready to harvest. The air now, is dry and burns the skin and is very quiet ... there is no song of summer ... even the rivers are quiet ... it is not first harvest as we've come to know and welcome it over the decades and centuries ... harvest has been celebrated and welcomed and nurtured for centuries if not milena.