StarWatch: Moravian University Astronomy

AUGUST 2026

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lunar phases

1563 AUGUST 1, 2026: Partial Solar Eclipse Visible on August 12: While the world's eyes focus on Europe's total solar eclipse, here in the Lehigh Valley, a minor partial eclipse occurs during the early afternoon of August 12. The eclipse's odd westward path stretches from far northern Siberia to the western Mediterranean. * Beginning in northern Siberia, the centerline scrapes south of the North Pole, missing it by less than three degrees, then dives southward across the eastern length of Greenland, rocketing past far western Iceland during the time of greatest duration, before again heading out into the Atlantic. Totality then misses Ireland and the United Kingdom, almost surgically encompasses Spain and a tiny part of Portugal to terminate at sundown in the western Mediterranean, just several hundred mile shy of the coastlines of Algeria and Tunisia. As the eclipse path moves into the eastern Atlantic, all of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, including eastern Canada, get to view a small slice of this event. Sydney, Nova Scotia is at 39 percent maximum obscuration at 2 p.m. Atlantic Daylight Time; Portland, Maine, 19 percent at 1:54 p.m., EDT; Wellfleet, Cape Cod, 17 percent at 1:57 p.m.; New York City, 10 percent at 1:54 p.m.; Lehigh Valley, 8 percent at 1:52 p.m.; and Virginia Beach, 2 percent at 1:59 p.m. Go here to get the specific times for your location, including the moments when the eclipse begins and ends. Hours are given in a 24-hour clock format (1:00 p.m. equals 13:00 hours) and in Universal Time. Subtract four hours to convert to EDT. Greatest obscuration for the Lehigh Valley is at 17:52 UT (17:52 UT – 4 hours = 13:52 EDT = 1:52 p.m., EDT). * A word to the wise regarding eclipse safety: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use sunglasses, multiple pairs of sunglasses, UV (ultraviolet) absorbing sunglasses, colored cellophane, colored filters, neutral density filters, polarizing filters, fully exposed color negatives or fully exposed black and white (silverless) photographic negatives, or glass smoked by the soot of a candle flame to make filtered, direct observations of the sun. All of the above can cause retinal burns and vision loss. * And NEVER use a dark absorbing filter attached to the eyepiece end of a telescope. A telescope’s main function is to gather light, to make objects appear brighter. Even small telescopes gather dozens to hundreds of times the amount of light that the eye normally receives. A telescope focuses the much brighter and hotter solar image at the eyepiece which is near the position of the dark absorbing filter. The focused sunlight will cause the filter to become very hot and can lead to breakage and almost certain permanent eye damage. * American Paper Optics Solar Eclipse Safety Glasses (4-pack) can be purchased from B&H Photo Video for $2.99 plus shipping by clicking here, or from Rainbow Symphony here. I believe Rainbow Symphony offers a better product, but B&H provides overnight delivery. Both are safe to use. Ad Astra

1564

AUGUST 2, 2026: A No Moon Year for the Perseids

Tuesday morning through Friday morning, August 11-14, offers a wonderful opportunity to view the 2026 Perseid Meteor Shower. Unlike last year and next year when the moon was, and will be near its full phase, visible for most of the night, the thin waxing crescent moon will not hinder observations. * Often astronomy enthusiasts call the Perseids the best shooting star event of the year, and for good reason. The Perseid shower combines relatively high meteor rates, warm summer evenings, and relatively short nights. * Meteor showers are the result of debris released by comets as they orbit the sun. If a comet’s orbit crosses the plane of Earth’s orbital path, a meteor shower will most likely be the result. The progenitor of the Perseids is Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle which last returned to the sun in 1992 and is expected to debut again in 2125. As a result of its many passages around Sol, debris has been spread fairly uniformly across all of its orbit, enhancing the reliability of the Perseids to produce a consistent showing year after year. * The best advice for observers is not to start too early. Midnight is normally a good time to begin watching because in the early evening, the Earth is in the way. The analogy is similar to raindrops hitting a vehicle moving through a downpour. The precipitation is preferentially striking the car's front windshield, while the rear window receives only a few droplets because it is in the automobile's rain shadow. Likewise in the early evening, the Earth shields us, and as a result, meteor activity is reduced. However, as local midnight approaches, we begin to rotate into the meteoroids, allowing Earth to sweep up more of these particles, resulting in an upsurge in activity. * Occasionally in the midnight hour, some of the colliding Perseids will be skimming the top of the Earth’s atmosphere. These grazing events can create long bright trails, sometimes fireballs, as the tiny meteoroids are ablated (destroyed) more slowly by the thinner layers of air at high altitudes. * This year, Europe is the favored location for peak rates that could be as high as a meteor per minute for an observer with keen vision who views from a rural locale. According to one forecast published by the International Meteor Organization, the East Coast could see peak rates between 3 p.m., August 12, and 4 a.m., August 13, EDT. That would make the morning of the 13th more favorable. The official IMO forecast indicates that maximum activity will occur between 10 p.m. and midnight on the evening of August 12. * Perseids are easily recognizable because they will appear to diverge from a vanishing point, similar to how a long, straight stretch of roadway appears to narrow and converge at some far-off vanishing point. Perseids will radiate from the top of the sideways, V-shaped constellation of Perseus. Left click to view a map. Perseid meteors will trace back to this region of the sky. * This is the week before maximum night, so don’t expect to see many Perseids cascading across the heavens, but those that are witnessed will have a tendency to be brighter than average. Proportionately, observers see more fireballs before maximum night than on or after maximum activity. * This was the case for the times that I observed Perseid maximums on the banks of Flathead Lake in northwestern Montana in 2016 and from Guernsey State Park in Wyoming in 2018. Rates will also drop to about half of maximum numbers on the nights before and after greatest activity. That again is very consistent with normal Perseid encounters. * Meteor rates will climb steadily this week and next; just don’t expect to see a Perseid every couple of minutes. Observing on August 2, two to five Perseids can be anticipated in the predawn hours. By August 10 suburban rates should have climbed to 5-10 meteors each hour. Read below for more information. Think clear skies for this type of shower. Rain showers are unwelcome. Ad Astra!

Observe Perseid meteors after midnight when rates should increase. Light from the thin crescent moon will not dampen rates the year. This map is set for 4 a.m., August 13. Gary A. Becker graphics using Software Bisque's The Sky.

1565 AUGUST 9, 2026: Perseid Meteors on Tap This Week: A meteor sparked my interest in astronomy, and the Perseid Meteor Shower of 1964 clinched the deal. Sixty-two years later, meteor showers still excite my interest in viewing them, especially the Perseids. Get out that chaise lounge or folding recliner and face it to the northeast. You’ll probably also want to have a sleeping bag or bedroll, a pillow for comfort, a light tarp in the event of dew, and perhaps a caffeinated beverage or energy drink to keep you alert. This is the week, Wednesday through Thursday mornings, August 11-14, when Perseid meteors will be "flying" in their greatest numbers. Essentially, the moon will be invisible on these evenings. You will still see Perseids, even from suburban locales, but in reduced numbers. * Right after dark is not the best time to observe meteors, but it may be the only available opportunity for you depending upon work schedules. Perseid meteors rates are normally suppressed at this time of the evening because the Earth physically blocks much of the activity. In addition, the radiant, the location where the meteors seem to diverge, is much closer to the horizon, making it impossible to capture any activity except for those shooting stars streaming above this area. Focus your attention on the zenith, regardless of what time you observe because that area of sky is normally the darkest, especially from locales where significant light pollution exists. * The radiant will be close to the NE horizon during the early evening hours and nearly 70 degrees in altitude by 5 a.m. Perseids will appear to diverge from just below the constellation of Cassiopeia the Queen; however, the radiant is within the star pattern of Perseus the Hero, hence the name, Perseid Meteor Shower. Any shooting star that traces back to this zone counts as a Perseid. * Both of these constellations will be difficult to spot at 10 p.m., but by 1 a.m. they will be much higher in the heavens, visible even from suburbia if sky conditions are clear enough. Cassiopeia will be easier to visualize, partly because of its higher elevation, and partly because it has brighter stars. It has a distinct "W" appearance. Earlier in the evening, Perseus will appear as a sideways "V," opening to the right, with the radiant near the vertex of the "V." A map can be found above this StarWatch blog. By 3 a.m. the top of Perseus will be above mid-sky, and observers will be encountering activity below the radiant as well, helping to increase meteor rates. * Perseids are fast! Meteoroid dust enters the Earth’s atmosphere at 36.6 miles/second (59 km/s) and is vaporized, causing half-mile-wide columns of air to glow, creating the meteor phenomenon. * Perseids will also appear to bunch. You might witness two or three meteors in a half-minute’s worth of time, then have to wait another five minutes before you see the next shooting star. My record is six Perseids in a 15-second interval. * A Perseid meteor may be visible for only a tenth of a second, a momentary blip on the "radar" of your eyes. Others will last longer, causing the atmosphere to ionize so completely that the glow of their tracks will be visible for several seconds after their initial light. These are called "trains" if they persist for more than a second and "wakes" if they are shorter than a second of time. Sometimes you will see bright meteors blink from the corner of your eye, and at other times, you will observe an extremely faint event because you are staring directly at it. You might even witness a "point meteor," a shooting star coming straight at you from the radiant, a "star" that will appear to brighten slowly, then fade precisely at the location where all of the other meteors appear to be diverging. * However most of all, you will have a memorable experience. Several of the brighter fireballs seen that evening will be etched into your psyche for the rest of your life, instantly available to regale others with the wonderful encounter that you had on the night when the Perseids "flew." Ad Astra!

1566 AUGUST 16, 2026: Follow the Moon to Eclipse: This issue of StarWatch is being brought forward a day early to take advantage of the Venus-moon conjunction low in the west during evening twilight on August 15.
The total solar eclipse that swept across Western Europe is over. Still, the enjoyment continues as the moon heads for another rendezvous, this time with Earth's shadow on the evening of August 27 into the morning of August 28. Follow Luna's path across the evening sky as it waxes to full and enters Earth's shadow on the 27th. * The moon was new on the 12th of August, but you may not have seen it for a couple of days after the eclipse. As Earth approaches the autumnal equinox, the angle that its orbital plane makes with the horizon becomes less steep. After its new phase, the moon moves away from the sun at its regular pace, about 13 degrees per day, but it does not gain much altitude. The Earth's rotation rapidly brings Luna to the horizon and into a setting position. For the East Coast on August 13 at sundown, Luna was only five degrees above the horizon; August 14, ten degrees; and August 15, fourteen degrees where this blog begins. Follow the moon.
Saturday, August 15, 2026: Thirty minutes after sundown, look for a 13 percent sunlit waxing crescent moon under and to the right of the planet Venus. This will be the last opportunity for over a year to witness Venus and the moon in proximity in the evening sky. The next time this occurs will be October 31, 2027, and that will be a more difficult observation. Venus will pass between the Earth and the sun (inferior conjunction) on October 24. An unobstructed WSW horizon is necessary because both are low to the horizon. Binoculars will help locate objects in early twilight.
Sunday, August 16, 2026: Tonight around 9 p.m. a slightly fatter crescent moon is positioned between Venus and the bright supergiant star, Spica of Virgo the Virgin. Venus will shine about five degrees above the WSW horizon, the moon two degrees higher, and Spica at 12 degrees above the horizon. Again, similar to last evening's view, an unobstructed WSW horizon is necessary.
Wednesday, August 19, 2026: The moon is at first quarter in the evening sky, half on, half off, with its light to the right, but only about 14 degrees above the horizon in the south during deep twilight.
Thursday, August 20, 2026: The waxing gibbous moon rests below and to the right of the red supergiant Antares, of Scorpius the Scorpion, 90 minutes after sundown, low in the SSW. Antares' reddish hue will be revealed easily through binoculars. Without optical aid, you will easily see Antares if you view with one eye and block the moon with your thumb held at an arm's length.
Friday, August 21 through Wednesday, August 26: The brightening waxing gibbous moon marches across Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer on the 21st, passes through Sagittarius the Centaur on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, and into Capricornus the Sea Goat on the 25th and 26th. Luna succumbs to Earth's shadow the following evening in Aquarius the Water Bearer.
Thursday, August 27-Lunar Eclipse Night: This is a deep partial lunar eclipse, which means not quite total. Luna enters the main shadow of the Earth, called the umbra, at 10:34 p.m., EDT, reaches greatest eclipse (93 percent obscuration) at 12:13 a.m. on Friday, August 28, and leaves Earth's main shadow by 01:52 a.m. You will find more information about this eclipse in the next StarWatch 1566.
Clear skies to all. Ad Astra!

1567 AUGUST 23, 2026: Umbraphiles Rejoice! Yet Another Eclipse!: It is a fact that when a solar eclipse occurs it guarantees at least one lunar eclipse, approximately two weeks before or two weeks after the sun's darkening. However, there is no guarantee that your local sky will host the event. That is not the case later this week. Umbraphiles, those individuals who love eclipses, rejoice! The full moon will be darkened on Thursday evening through Friday morning. The total solar eclipse that swept through Western Europe on August 12, and was seen as a partial eclipse from New England and the Mid-Atlantic, will be complemented by a deep partial (nearly total) lunar eclipse this coming Thursday, August 27. * The word "eclipse" means to hide or cover, and the type of eclipse describes the object to be hidden. When the moon hides the sun, the eclipse is solar, but when the moon is darkened in the shadow of the Earth, a lunar eclipse takes place. * Most individuals think that total lunar eclipses are far more common than central solar eclipses, which include both total and ringed (annular) events, but just the opposite is true. For a total lunar eclipse to happen, the moon must immerse itself completely within the Earth's umbra (primary shadow), which has an average diameter of 5,700 miles at the distance of the moon. However, when a central solar eclipse transpires (total or annular), the moon's umbra must point towards or reach the surface of a 7,918-mile-in-diameter target, the Earth. The Earth's larger physical size is easier for the moon's shadow to intersect than for the moon to enter fully into the projected and narrowing shadow cone of the Earth at the moon's distance. This makes central solar eclipses more common. The reason why most individuals get this concept confused is that most likely, they witnessed more lunar than solar eclipses. * The path of a central solar eclipse is very narrow. To be in "the sweet spot," where totality or annularity are occurring, means virtually always traveling to that location. In the case of a total lunar eclipse, anyone who can see the moon sees the eclipse. Immediately, that includes half of the planet. During the totality portion of the eclipse, part of the Earth will rotate observers away from totality because the moon will set in those locations. In contrast, an equal amount of the Earth's surface will spin into totality as the moon rises. More than half of the world's surface and its inhabitants who live there get to witness the eclipse. * Although Thursday into Friday's lunar eclipse is a deep partial, you can include all lunar eclipses into the same category because the same concept holds. Half of the world's surface is always facing the lunar eclipse at any one moment. * At the time of greatest eclipse, just after midnight Friday morning for East Coast observers, the moon will be 93 percent immersed into Earth's umbra, similar to the November 18-19, 2021 deep partial lunar eclipse, where Earth's primary shadow blanketed 97.4 percent of the moon. Here are the particulars of this week's partial lunar eclipse.
August 27, 9:24 p.m., EDT: The moon makes contact with the Earth's penumbra. Essentially, this is a non-event until the moon travels a substantial distance into Earth's secondary shadow. A location in the penumbra means that from the moon's perspective, part of the Earth is hiding part of the sun, so as the moon penetrates deeper into the penumbra, the area of the moon closest to the umbra will begin to appear dusky. This grayish appearance should be noticeable by 9:50 p.m.
August 27, 10:34 p.m.: The moon begins to enter the umbra or primary shadow of the Earth. Through a telescope, observers can witness the minute-by-minute progression of the shadow sweeping across the moon's surface, gobbling up lunar craters and seas.
August 28, 12:13 a.m.: Nearly 13 minutes after midnight, the moon reaches its deepest incursion into the Earth's umbra, with 93 percent of its surface shadowed. Take note of how dark and starry the sky has become, as well as the surrounding landscape. The moon should also have a reddish hue.
August 28, 01:52 a.m.: Luna departs the Earth's umbra and is completely inside of the penumbra or secondary shadow of Earth. The limb closest to the umbra will appear dusky and gray.
28, 03:01 a.m.: The moon exits the penumbra. The partial lunar eclipse is officially over.
Bedtime everyone... Ad Astra!

1568

AUGUST 30, 2026: