Planets seen in Night Sky - August?

Question

I read somewhere that we can see 5 planets with our naked eyes at night in august. Every day I see a bright object right above moon. This object is in North West direction. I am from UK so I am not sure if you can see in the same direction. But does anyone know what planet it is?

Answer 1

August isn't a particularly good month for observing planets. Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn are all visible in the west just after sunset, but not particularly easy to see. Jupiter has been close to the Moon on two evenings (12th and 13th) and is low in the south at about 10.30 p.m. each evening. In the early hours of the morning, it sets in the south west, rather than the north west.

Answer 2

This is true;  You can see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.  As for which planet you saw, the source has the direction of each Planet.

Answer 3

Hi Hitman!

I saw four of the five in July.  I couldn't spot Mercury, because it is poorly positioned to be seen on August evenings in the Northern Hemisphere.

Jupiter is the one that will stand out for you.  You'll find it at eye-level in the southern sky after sunset.  This month, Jupiter is the brightest object in the English night skies except for the moon.  You can't miss it on any clear evening.

Venus is just returning to Northern Hemisphere evening skies, after its eight-month stint as a morning star.  It's not easy to spot yet, especially from England.  After sunset, you have about a half-hour to see it low in the western sky.  If you were to look right at it, you'd see it easily if the sky is clear, but a bit of ground haze may be enough to blot it out.  

Venus will begin coming into its own by the second half of October, when it will become once again the brightest object in the evening skies (except for the moon).  For now, though, it's too low in the sky in our hemisphere to see its real splendor.  If you were in the Southern Hemisphere, you could see Venus in all its glory this very evening.

Mercury, Mars and Saturn are by now too close to the horizon for us in the Northern Hemisphere to see.  They set less than an hour after the sun, and with the evening twilight and their closeness to the horizon, I could not see them the last time I looked.  You might have less haze in England than I do in the New York area, but I have a better latitude than you for seeing them this month.   Those in the Southern Hemisphere could see them easily, though, for the rest of this month, and this evening (Saturday the 16th) Saturn, Venus and Mercury will be bunched close together in the western sky for those south of the equator (and for us north of it too, except that they will be low in the sky for us).

The next time you can get a good look at these three planets will be in the early morning skies of October for Saturn and Mercury, and not until June for Mars, when it finally begins to climb high enough for us in the north temperate zone to see.

Answer 4

Jupiter is the bright "star" in the sky at night-- just download a free star chart at    http://www.skymaps.com  

and install Stellarium a free planetarium program on your computer to find out  WHAT"S UP!  :)

http://www.stellarium.org/

My weekly astronomy blog:

http://www.neighborsgo.com/boatman1

Answer 5

So you're seeing Jupiter in the South - lately near the Moon.

Mars and Saturn are setting with the Sun.  We'll loose them soon, if not already.  My western horizon is terrible, and i haven't looked it up lately.

Mercury and Venus are on the other side of the Sun.  But Mercury zips around so fast that i have to look it up all the time.

There's a Planet summary data link on Heavens-above that tells you with numbers.  When a planet rises and sets, for example.  There's lots of other cool stuff there.  Register - it's free.  It just lets you enter where you live, so you get data that's relevant.  They don't spam you.

You could get a planetarium program for your computer.  There are several free ones.