Abstract
MERCURY passes through superior conjunction on August 10, after which date the planet is once more an evening object. Venus attains its greatest brilliance on August 3, the stellar magnitude then being –4.2. The planet is now moving towards the sun, and will be difficult to pick up with the naked eye at the end of the month. Mars is still conspicuous in the evening sky, but is decreasing in brilliance, from +0.6m to +0.8m during the month. This planet is moving towards Jupiter, and will be in conjunction with it on August 27 at 23h., Mars being 2.2 ° S. Jupiter is much the brighter of the two, its stellar magnitude declining from –1.7m to 5m during August. Saturn is now rising before midnight, and will be in opposition to the sun on August 31. The stellar magnitude declines from 0.02m at the beginning of the month to 0.00m at the end of the month. It is interesting to inquire whether there is any prospect of seeing all five of the naked-eye planets this year. Venus and Saturn make their closest approach in Right Ascension on August 18, when the two planets are llh. 16m. 37s. apart. On account of their southerly declinations, they will not be simultaneously visible at Greenwich, or at any station north of terrestrial latitude 39 ° N. Observers at stations south of this limit will be able to see four of the five naked-eye planets at the same time. Venus goes off as Mercury comes on, but it may be possible to pick out both Mercury and Venus in the sunset at a southern station just after Saturn has risen, the best chance of success being right at the end of the month.
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The Sky in August. Nature 136, 140 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136140a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136140a0