9 night sky events to see in August, from a total solar eclipse to the return of the northern lights
Pre-dawn planet gathering—All August
August brings a spectacular morning planet parade, with Mars, Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune visible for roughly several hours before sunrise. You’ll need a telescope or strong binoculars to spot Uranus and Neptune. Around an hour before dawn, Mercury and Jupiter join the show, just above the east horizon.
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For the best view, head out on August 4 to watch the moon and Saturn travel close together; they’ll be visible soon after twilight. Soon before sunrise from August 8 to 11, another spectacle begins: a tight planet alignment above the east horizon, with Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and the moon appearing in a diagonal line. It’s a visual representation of the ecliptic—the plane all planets follow around the sun.
Mercury at greatest western elongation—August 2
Speedy Mercury is often too close to the sun to spot easily. On August 2, the view improves as it hits its greatest western elongation, or its farthest apparent separation from the sun. The timing coincides perfectly with August’s early morning planet parade. Watch for the swift planet, along with many of our other interstellar neighbors, in the pre-dawn hours—especially early in the month.
Moon occults Pleiades—August 7
After midnight on August 7, many U.S. stargazers can watch the waning crescent moon cross over several of the Pleiades star cluster’s blue dots. It’s known as the lunar occultation of the Pleiades, and the entire spectacle lasts roughly an hour, starting around midnight when the moon and the star cluster rise. Viewing varies based on your coordinates. You’ll see the most dramatic show, with several of Pleiades’s pinpricks disappearing as the moon slides across, in the eastern U.S.
