The Night Sky in August

THE constellation Centaur is one of the largest and most prominent constellations of the southern sky.

In Greek mythology, centaurs were beings half human and half horse. The brightest star in this constellation, Alpha-Centauri, is the closest star to our sun with a distance of 4,3 light years.It is also the third brightest star in the sky.Alpha-Cen is a double star with the two components orbiting each other within 80 years.In Centaur, we also find Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), which is the biggest globular star cluster in the sky.Indeed, it is visible to the naked eye as a nebulous object and was already known to the ancients.Some 6° to the North, the famous active galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is discernible with binoculars.During the first half of the month we see the planet Mercury in the evening sky.On August 23, this quick planet stands in lower conjunction to the Sun and hence is invisible to us.Immediately after sunset we can find the planets Mars and Jupiter above the western horizon in the constellation Lion.The planets Saturn and Venus can be found in the morning sky.The course of the Moon in AugustAug. 2: Last quarter, the Moon stands in the RamAug. 16: New Moon. Moon in the LionAug. 23: First Quarter. Moon in the BalanceAug. 30: Full Moon. Moon in Water BearerRising and setting times on August 15:Mercury sets at 18h38, Venus rises at 03h18, Mars sets at 18h20, Jupiter sets at 19h39, Saturn rises at 04h24.Sunrise at 06h16 and Sunset at 17h36.Eberhard v. Grumbkow, Phone 064-402 025.E-Mail:grumbkow@iway.naThe brightest star in this constellation, Alpha-Centauri, is the closest star to our sun with a distance of 4,3 light years.It is also the third brightest star in the sky.Alpha-Cen is a double star with the two components orbiting each other within 80 years.In Centaur, we also find Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), which is the biggest globular star cluster in the sky.Indeed, it is visible to the naked eye as a nebulous object and was already known to the ancients.Some 6° to the North, the famous active galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is discernible with binoculars.During the first half of the month we see the planet Mercury in the evening sky.On August 23, this quick planet stands in lower conjunction to the Sun and hence is invisible to us.Immediately after sunset we can find the planets Mars and Jupiter above the western horizon in the constellation Lion.The planets Saturn and Venus can be found in the morning sky.The course of the Moon in AugustAug. 2: Last quarter, the Moon stands in the RamAug. 16: New Moon. Moon in the LionAug. 23: First Quarter. Moon in the BalanceAug. 30: Full Moon. Moon in Water BearerRising and setting times on August 15:Mercury sets at 18h38, Venus rises at 03h18, Mars sets at 18h20, Jupiter sets at 19h39, Saturn rises at 04h24.Sunrise at 06h16 and Sunset at 17h36.Eberhard v. Grumbkow, Phone 064-402 025.E-Mail:grumbkow@iway.na