1 00:00:08,980 --> 00:00:11,320 Your guide to constellations, 2 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:15,020 deep-sky objects, planets, and events: 3 00:00:15,020 --> 00:00:21,900 Tonight’s Sky. Highlights of the August sky: 4 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:46,260 Bright Venus hangs low in the western sky at nightfall. 5 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,760 A backyard telescope reveals the sunlight 6 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:04,960 reflecting off the clouds of Venus’s thick atmosphere. 7 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:17,920 Jupiter, largest of the planets, shines in the southwest. 8 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:22,600 On the 15th, Jupiter, Venus, and the crescent moon 9 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:28,900 form a beautiful arc in the sky. 10 00:01:28,900 --> 00:01:45,020 A small telescope reveals Jupiter’s major cloud bands. 11 00:01:45,020 --> 00:01:47,640 In the southeast, Mars and Saturn 12 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:53,500 shine on either side of Sagittarius. 13 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,380 Telescope views show two very different planets— 14 00:02:03,380 --> 00:02:07,460 one a gas giant with rings, the other 15 00:02:07,460 --> 00:02:15,020 a much smaller terrestrial, or Earth-like, world. 16 00:02:22,500 --> 00:02:25,100 Stargazing on a hot August night 17 00:02:25,100 --> 00:02:31,780 reveals a multitude of wonders. 18 00:02:31,780 --> 00:02:37,600 Lyra, the Small Harp, lies high in the late evening sky. 19 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,340 Its main star is the great Vega, 20 00:02:40,340 --> 00:02:43,040 one of the brightest in the sky. 21 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,600 Look for Lyra by locating Vega and then 22 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,900 the parallelogram of stars nearby. 23 00:02:50,900 --> 00:02:54,220 Epsilon Lyrae, the bright star near Vega, 24 00:02:54,220 --> 00:02:58,220 is actually a wonderful quadruple-star system, 25 00:02:58,220 --> 00:03:04,840 known as the Double-Double. 26 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:06,880 In the parallelogram of Lyra 27 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,280 lies the dramatic Ring Nebula. 28 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,700 It is an expanding shell of glowing gas 29 00:03:13,700 --> 00:03:20,820 expelled by the dying star at its center. 30 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,200 The great constellation Cygnus, the Swan, 31 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:34,140 flies high through the August night. 32 00:03:34,140 --> 00:03:37,200 Using bright Vega as your guide star, 33 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,820 look for the cross just to the east. 34 00:03:40,820 --> 00:03:45,340 Cygnus is also known as the Northern Cross. 35 00:03:45,340 --> 00:03:48,180 Albireo, at the head of the Swan, 36 00:03:48,180 --> 00:03:51,800 is a showpiece for small telescopes. 37 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,880 This spectacular pair of stars features 38 00:03:54,880 --> 00:04:00,200 contrasting colors of sapphire and golden topaz. 39 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:05,099 Deneb, the Swan’s tail, is a supergiant star. 40 00:04:05,100 --> 00:04:07,960 If Deneb replaced the Sun in the center of our 41 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:13,520 solar system, it would engulf Mercury and Venus. 42 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,560 On a clear night, hazy patches of nebulae can be seen 43 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,660 by casually panning across the Cygnus area 44 00:04:20,660 --> 00:04:24,660 with binoculars. 45 00:04:24,660 --> 00:04:28,080 The most prominent is the North America Nebula, 46 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:32,100 an area of gas and dust illuminated by the nearby, 47 00:04:32,100 --> 00:04:36,960 brilliant star Deneb. 48 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,700 Cygnus also hosts several clusters of stars. 49 00:04:44,700 --> 00:04:50,120 The easiest to find are M29 and M39. 50 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:54,540 M29 is found near the center of the Northern Cross. 51 00:04:54,540 --> 00:04:56,680 When viewed in a small telescope, 52 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,880 it resembles a small square. 53 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:02,820 Best seen in binoculars, 54 00:05:02,820 --> 00:05:07,900 M39 is a loosely bound cluster of about 30 stars, 55 00:05:07,900 --> 00:05:12,760 just to the north of Deneb. 56 00:05:15,220 --> 00:05:19,100 Just south of Cygnus lies the small constellation 57 00:05:19,100 --> 00:05:23,940 Vulpecula, the Little Fox, first charted by Polish 58 00:05:23,940 --> 00:05:30,780 astronomer Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century. 59 00:05:32,060 --> 00:05:35,120 Vulpecula hosts the Dumbbell Nebula, 60 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:39,460 which can be seen as a faint smudge in binoculars. 61 00:05:39,460 --> 00:05:46,420 A small telescope reveals its double-lobed shape. 62 00:06:06,020 --> 00:06:09,620 Aquila, the Eagle, was known to the ancient Greeks 63 00:06:09,620 --> 00:06:13,620 as the great bird of Zeus. 64 00:06:13,620 --> 00:06:16,760 Altair, the brightest star in Aquila, 65 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:22,780 is only 16 light-years from Earth. 66 00:06:34,100 --> 00:06:38,560 The bright stars of the summer night sky, Vega, Altair, 67 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:43,580 and Deneb, make up the Summer Triangle. 68 00:06:43,580 --> 00:06:46,380 Use binoculars to look for the Coathanger, 69 00:06:46,380 --> 00:06:53,340 located halfway between Altair and Albireo. 70 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,840 This remarkable little group of stars 71 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:03,840 forms a familiar pattern from our point of view. 72 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,860 Comet Giacobini-Zinner may become visible this month 73 00:07:21,860 --> 00:07:27,720 as it approaches the Sun in its 6-and-a-half-year orbit. 74 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:32,360 Its path will take it past Cassiopeia and Perseus during 75 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:38,100 August, and then past Auriga in early September. 76 00:07:38,100 --> 00:07:42,100 Use binoculars to look for its fuzzy glowing head 77 00:07:42,100 --> 00:07:46,880 and short, dim tail. 78 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:51,900 On August 11, skywatchers in remote northern Canada 79 00:07:51,900 --> 00:07:54,300 and Russia will be able to witness 80 00:07:54,300 --> 00:07:56,300 a partial solar eclipse 81 00:07:56,300 --> 00:08:04,340 as the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun. 82 00:08:04,340 --> 00:08:07,360 Shortly after, the Perseid meteor shower— 83 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,280 an always-anticipated feature of the August night sky— 84 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,360 will peak. 85 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,420 Look for meteors during the early morning hours 86 00:08:17,420 --> 00:08:21,820 of August 12 and 13. 87 00:08:21,820 --> 00:08:25,180 With the Moon out of the way, the sky will be dark, 88 00:08:25,180 --> 00:08:27,900 and several dozen meteors per hour 89 00:08:27,900 --> 00:08:32,760 may be seen under good conditions.