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When you look
directly overhead, in the direction of the constellations of Scorpius
and Sagittarius, you are looking towards the centre of our Milky Way
Galaxy. The luminous band arching across the night sky is the combined
light of millions of stars in our galaxy that are too distant to be
seen as individual stars.
Antares in Scorpius is high overhead and lower to the West is
Spica in Virgo. The Southern Cross and Pointers lie in the South and
Altair, Vega and Lyra in the North.
Currently planets Mars, Saturn and Venus appear in Virgo. Watch
them change position relative to each other throughout the month.
Mercury is the innermost planet and thus it is usually too close
to the Sun to be seen. This month (until 27 August) presents a good
opportunity to see it low above the western horizon just after
sunset (before 21:00). Those with access to a telescope can observe
how both Venus and Mercury show phases similar to that of the Moon.
The Moon is in the evening sky from 12 August until 26 August.
 Download High Resolution Image:
Evening
sky in August 2010 [271 KB] |
