THE FULL STURGEON MOON WILL BE ON FULL DISPLAY AUGUST 19.
August nights offer amazing stargazing opportunities, including a chance to observe the conjunction of Mars and Jupiter; these planets will be in close proximity in the constellation Taurus, with Jupiter appearing much brighter. They will be rising in the northeastern sky just before 1 a.m. Jupiter will overtake Mars in the apparent position on August 14.
August also offers the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. The Perseids are an annual meteor shower, known for their high rate of meteors – around 50 to 90 per hour under dark skies. This year, the peak is expected from August 11 to 13.
Also notable is the August full Surgeon Moon, the name given to the full moon named after the sturgeon fish, which were reportedly easily caught during this time of year in the Great Lakes by Native Americans. This month, the full Sturgeon Moon will be on August 19.
There is also the possibility of seeing the Milky Way’s core, offering a view of the galaxy’s dense star clusters, nebulae, and dust lanes during the month.
