What's Up In The Sky Now?

Jupiter and one of its moons casting a shadow on Jupiter. Photo by DMAS member Scott Dearinger, 2021

August, 2026

Our Solar System - notes by JoAnn Cogil, President of the Des Moines Astronomical Society

This year’s 2026 Total Solar Eclipse is set to be one of the most spectacular space events of the year. Unfortunately for us here in the United States we are not able to view this great happening. The eclipse is slated for Spain, Egypt, Greenland & Iceland. This happens to be Europe’s first total solar eclipse since 1999. So, pack your bags and passport if you can make this trip!

Mercury

MERCURY - should be visible all month as it reaches its greatest western elongation on the 2nd and will be high in the east about 1 hour before sunrise, just right of the bright star Pollux. On the 11th, this tiny planet will be south of the Moon. It reaches solar conjunction on the 27th.

Venus

VENUS - our ‘Evening Star’ sets about 90 minutes after sunset with the moon close by many nights. It reaches dichotomy, when the planet shows a 50% lit phase, on the night of 11th & 12th. On the evening of the 31st, Venus will be SW of Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, showing a smaller phase of 39%.

Earth

EARTH - the ‘Dog Days of Summer’ are upon us from July 3rd to August 11th when Sirius the Dog Star rises and sets right alongside of the Sun.

Mars

MARS - still in our early morning skies as it rises about 2 AM this month. This small red planet is between the horns of Taurus the Bull & will pass another red object which is Aldebaran, a bright star in the Taurus constellation. What a sight, 2 pretty red objects in the same area of the sky. On the 9th, it joins the Moon for a time, but you will have to get out of bed early for this pairing at about 4:30 AM to find the Moon positioned between the Twins of Gemini and Mars in Taurus.

Jupiter

JUPITER - this planet is a ‘no-show’ the first half of August as it is moving towards our morning skies. By the 15th, it rises about 1 hour before sunrise, but with possible clearer skies that time of day, it makes for a nice morning view! On the 16th, it meets with Mercury.

Saturn

SATURN - is quite bright as it positions itself in Pisces this month, but best time to see our ringed planet is after midnight. On the 4th, it is south of the Moon with these 2 starting the show low in the east then continue to rise higher the rest of the night.

Uranus

URANUS - may make for a nice binocular target this month in our predawn sky as it rises by 1:30 AM. Mid-month finds it near the Pleiades.

Neptune

NEPTUNE - this lovely blue planet starts to rise about 10:30 PM as the month begins, and almost 8:30 PM by month’s end. Still best to see it after midnight with darker skies. And could be nice binocular target.

The Moon

05 – 3rd / Last quarter
12 – NEW Moon at 12:36 PM CDT
19 – 1st quarter
27 – FULL Moon at 11:18 PM CDT.

August’s full moon is known as the Sturgeon Moon, Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon.

On August 7th, watch the Moon as it passes in front of the Pleiades in the eastern sky with the best time to observe the fun after midnight.

August 20th enjoy the Moon as it sits next to Antares, the bright red star in Scorpius, about 9:30 PM above our southern horizon.

Partial Lunar Eclipse happens this month on the 27th-28th!! This event will create a ‘Blood Moon’ with its deep red hue. In our location, the Moon may be about 96% covered by Earth’s shadow. It is expected to begin about 8:22 PM CDT with the maximum moment slated for 11:13 PM. The eclipse ends about 2:03 AM, making the total eclipse event about 5 hours and 38 minutes.

Meteor Shower

Perseids Meteor Shower – This should be an excellent time to view this meteor shower as the peak of the shower coincides with a new Moon, giving us very dark skies. The shower runs from 7/14 – 9/1 and will peak the night of 8/12-13 but keep watching as you may see meteors beyond mid-month. We may enjoy up to 90-100 meteors per hour due to the darkness of the night sky, but 50 per hour may be more realistic. As always with meteor showers, best viewing time is usually from midnight to dawn hours. Some of these meteors may be “fireballs” which are exceptionally brilliant meteors with fluorescent trails called “persistent trains”. This meteor shower comes from the Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle which has an orbital period of 133 years. The Perseids are definitely a favorite of many observers!!

See a calendar of meteor showers this year

Comet Watch

Comet 10P/Tempel 2 – reaches perihelion on the 2nd with its closest approach to the Sun. The comet rises above the horizon after midnight and may have a magnitude of about 8. You may see this in binoculars but is best in a dark sky location. Tempel 2 was discovered in July 1873 and has a size comparable to the city of Boston, giving it about a 7-mile-wide diameter. It is not classified as potentially dangerous to Earth as it does not get close enough. It has an orbital period of about 5.5 years and scientists expect this to be its best return to our area since the 1960's.