The nearby summer sky features Perseids, a blue moon, planets, and the Milky Way

Perseid meteor shower – August 11 and 12

In my experience, the highlight of each summer is the annual Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on the evenings of August 11 and 12 this year. This is consistently the best meteor show of the year, and the fact that it usually occurs on balmy nights makes it one of the most comfortable to watch.

At this time every year, Earth passes through debris streams of particles that litter the path of periodic comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun on a long, repeating path every 133 years. Discovered in July 1862 by astronomers Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle, the comet was linked to Perseids in 1866 by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. Subsequent research into ancient records mentions bathing for the first time in the year 36.

Perseids are active from mid-July to the end of August. Their name is derived from the point in the sky from which the members of the shower appear to radiate in the constellation Perseus, which ascends into the northeastern sky after midnight.

Perseid meteors are fast and often leave continuous lines of “trains” for a few seconds after flashing across the sky. A single observer in a dark location can expect to see up to 100 Perseid meteors at peak time early on the morning of the 12th. The moon will set by 1 a.m. local time, giving you a few hours of good darkness.

Return of the planets

It's been a long time since we've seen bright planets decorating our skies, but that's about to change. Late evening and early morning skywatchers will have a number of our fellow solar system rovers to keep track of.

For most of July and August, the action takes place in the morning sky, where you'll find Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter. Saturn rises first, peaking on the southeastern horizon at about midnight in mid-July and by 9 p.m. in mid-August. Saturn reaches opposition, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise on September 8.

Saturn is approaching one of its equinoxes, which occurs every 15 years, and its famous rings are now tilted at a very small angle relative to Earth. They will appear as two forks framing the planet's disk.

Red Mars and bright Jupiter greet early risers in the morning twilight throughout July, but they will be well placed in the eastern sky for viewing by people who want to hunt Perseids. On the morning of August 14, the two planets will pass in close conjunction, only a third of a degree apart.

Venus enters the action by mid-August, gradually appearing in the west as evening twilight begins. As we move into September, the dazzling planet will gradually move in front of the Sun. With the onset of fall, it will ascend to a prominent position in the evening sky for the rest of the year.

Don't forget the Milky Way!

Our stargazing backdrop all summer long is the luminous band of the starry Milky Way, the brightest parts of which arch majestically as summer winds down. This amorphous glow you see from dark sky locations is the combined light of some of the hundreds of billions of stars that accompany our sun in a great cosmic spiral.

Three bright stars, Vega, Deneb, and Altair, make up the Summer Triangle cluster, which is divided by some of the brightest star clouds in the galaxy. Binoculars or a small, low-powered telescope will begin to break these clouds down into individual stars and clusters as well as show the glowing emission nebulae.

There will be four full moons between the summer solstice and the fall equinox. This will occur on Saturday (Strawberry Moon), July 21 (Full Buck Moon), August 19 (Full Sturgeon Moon), and September 17 (Harvest Moon).

Having four full moons in one season is unusual; Usually there are only three. This leads to one definition of a “blue moon,” in which, according to an account in the 1937 edition of the Maine Farmer's Almanac, the third full moon of the season is called a “blue moon.” The most common definition is that the second full moon in a calendar month is called the “blue moon.” This last happened in August 2023.

Partial lunar eclipse – September 18

Summer brings us one last treat before the autumnal equinox. The full moon on September 17 will look a little strange, as Earth's shadow touches the northern polar regions in a small partial lunar eclipse. The middle eclipse will occur at 10:44 p.m. ET in Washington, at which time about eight percent of the moon will be obscured.