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August 1999 Events

All times in 24 hour format (EDT = Eastern Daylight Time, UT = Universal Time) Subtract 1 hour for Central Time, 2 hours for Mountain Time, and 3 hours for Pacific Time. Add 4 hours to EDT for Universal Time.

EVENTS
Aug. 3 - The moon passes 4° south of Jupiter, 10 p.m. EDT
Aug. 4 - Last quarter moon is at 1:27 p.m. EDT; The moon passes 3° south of Saturn, 8 p.m. EDT
Aug. 6 - The moon passes 0.8° north of Aldebaran, noon EDT
Aug. 7 - Uranus is at opposition, 3 p.m. EDT; The moon is at perigee (227,860 miles from Earth), 7:36 p.m. EDT
Aug. 9 - The moon passes 1.2° north of Mercury, 11 p.m. EDT
Aug. 10 - Venus passes 8° south of Regulus, noon EDT
Aug. 11 - New moon is at 7:08 a.m. EDT; total solar eclipse
Aug. 13 - Perseid meteor shower peaks
Aug. 14 - Mercury is at greatest western elongation (19°), 10 a.m. EDT
Aug. 18 - The moon passes 7° north of Mars, 8 a.m. EDT; First quarter moon is at 9:47 p.m. EDT
Aug. 19 - The moon is at apogee (251,197 miles from Earth), 7:27 p.m. EDT
Aug. 20 - Venus is in inferior conjunction, 8 a.m. EDT
Aug. 24 - The moon passes 0.7° north of Neptune, 10 a.m. EDT
Aug. 25 - Jupiter is stationary, 8 a.m. EDT; The moon passes 0.6° north of Uranus, 9 a.m. EDT
Aug. 26 - Mercury passes 10° north of Venus, 8 a.m. EDT; Full moon is at 7:48 p.m. EDT
Aug. 30 - Saturn is stationary, noon EDT
Aug. 31 - The moon passes 4° south of Jupiter, 5 a.m. EDT

METEOR SHOWERS
ALPHA-CAPRICORNIDS - This shower is caused by Periodic Comet Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova. Meteors from this shower may be visible from July 15 through Aug. 25 with the peak on Aug. 2/3. The meteor hourly rate may be about 8. The meteors will appear to originate from a point in the constellation of Capricornus (RA 20 hrs 36 min, Dec -10°).

KAPPA CYGNIDS - Meteors from this shower may be visible from Aug. 18 through Aug. 22 with the peak on Aug. 20. The meteor hourly rate may be about 5. Meteor speeds average 20 kilometers per second, one of the slowest moving streams. The meteors will appear to originate from a point west of the star Kappa Cygni in the constellation of Cygnus (RA 19 hrs 20 min, Dec -55°).

PERSEIDS - This shower is caused by Periodic Comet Swift-Tuttle, discovered on July 16, 1862 by Lewis Swift and then independently discovered three days later by Horace Tuttle. Meteors from this shower may be visible from July 25 through Aug. 21 with the peak on Aug.11/12. The meteor hourly rate may be about 75. The meteors will appear to originate from a point in the constellation of Perseus (RA 03 hrs 04 min, Dec +58°).

OBSERVING: Meteors are best viewed from a dark-sky location. Observers in for the duration of the evening, or at least for several hours, should bring along a few things: a sleeping bag or blankets for warmth, a recliner or lawn chair, a hot beverage to help cut the chill, and binoculars to view the smoke trails of just-past meteors.


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