By Sunil Kumar Behera
August is one of the best months for star gazing and astrophotography. The first half of August is a great time to enjoy the Milky Way Galaxy’s core, nebulae, and stars clusters in the evening after sunset.
On 1st August, waning Crescent moon met an old friend Uranus before dawn on the eve of International Friendship
Day.
On 2nd August, Saturn reached opposition. In opposition, Saturn was about 1.337 billion kilometers from the Earth, and it was the brightest for 2021. Generally, at the time of opposition planets look their brightest, and it is the best time for planetary imaging. On 6th August, Io, one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter, will cast its shadow near the great red spot 03:30am onwards. It will again cast a shadow on the 7th and 15th of August around 10:00pm to 00:15am IST, and 00:00am to 02:00am IST respectively.
On 8th and 23rd of August, we will witness a double shadow transit on Jupiter. Ganymede and Europa will
cast a shadow around 07:00pm to 07:45pm IST, and 00:10am to 02:00am IST respectively. Moon shadows
are easier to see on Jupiter because they present a dark point on a bright background.
On 10th August, 5% illuminated waxing crescent moon will shine near the red planet Mars right after sunset.
On 11th August, 10% illuminated waxing crescent moon will shine near Venus right after sunset.
On 15th August, we will witness a rare triple transit of Jupiter’s moons. Callisto will cast a shadow around 07:15
am, an hour later Ganymede, and then 40 minutes later Europa. On 20th August, Jupiter will be at opposition, and waxing Gibbous moon will shine near Saturn. On 22nd August, full green Corn moon will shine near Jupiter. From 31st August onwards, Orion constellation will rise from the eastern horizon.