Night sky, August 2024: What you can see tonight [maps] (2024)

The night sky tonight and on any clear night offers an ever-changing display of fascinating objects you can see, from stars and constellations to bright planets, the moon, and sometimes special events like meteor showers.

Observing the night sky can be done with no special equipment, although a sky map can be very useful, and a good telescope or binoculars will enhance some experiences and bring some otherwise invisible objects into view. You can also use astronomy accessories to make your observing easier, and use our Satellite Tracker page powered by N2YO.comto find out when and how to see the International Space Station and other satellites. We also have a helpful guide on how you can see and track a Starlink satellite train.

You can also capture the night sky by using any of the best cameras for astrophotography, along with a selection of the best lenses for astrophotography.

Read on to find out what's up in the night sky tonight (planets visible now, moon phases, observing highlights this month) plus other resources (skywatching terms, night sky observing tips and further reading)

Related: The brightest planets in August's night sky: How to see them (and when)

Monthly skywatching information is provided to Space.com by Chris Vaughan of Starry Night Education, the leader in space science curriculum solutions. Follow Starry Night on Twitter @StarryNightEdu and Chris at @Astrogeoguy

Editor's note: If you have an amazing skywatching photo and would like to share them with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Calendar of observing highlights

Thursday, Aug. 1 - Milky Way star clusters (all night)

With the moon out of the sky, this week's extra-dark evenings will be ideal for exploring the countless knots and clumps of stars distributed along the Milky Way, many of which were included in Charles Messier's list of bright deep sky objects.

Scan around the southern sky with binoculars first, and then take closer looks at them through a backyard telescope at low magnification. Particularly good clusters include Messier 39 and the Cooling Tower Cluster (Messier 29) in Cygnus, the Wild Duck cluster (Messier 11) and Messier 26 in Scutum, the Sagittarius Star Cloud (Messier 24), and Ptolemy's Cluster (Messier 7) and the Butterfly Cluster (Messier 6) in Scorpius.

Friday, Aug. 2 - crescent moon and Gemini's Twins (pre-dawn)

Early risers on Friday morning, Aug. 2 can see the pretty crescent moon shining low in the east-northeastern sky. Look a palm's width to the left (or celestial northeast) of the moon for Gemini's brightest stars Pollux and Castor.

Skywatchers in more westerly time zones will see the moon a little closer to Pollux, the lower, brighter, and more golden of the two stars. Watch for the bright planets Jupiter and Mars shining well off to the moon's upper right (or celestial west).

Sunday, Aug. 4 - New Moon

On Sunday, Aug. 4 at 7:13 a.m. EDT, 4:13 a.m. PDT, or 11:13 GMT, the moon will officially reach its new moon phase. At that time our natural satellite will be located in Cancer, 3.9 degrees north of the sun. While new, the moon is traveling in the space between Earth and the sun. Since sunlight can only illuminate the moon's far side, and the moon is in the same region of the sky as the bright sun, it becomes completely hidden from view from anywhere on Earth for about a day (unless there's a solar eclipse). In the evenings after the new moon phase, Earth's celestial night light will shine as a crescent in the western evening sky.

Monday, Aug. 5 - crescent moon joins Venus (after sunset)

Above the western horizon on Monday, Aug. 5, the very slender crescent of the young moon will appear close to the brilliant planet Venus. After the sun has completely set, look with your unaided eyes or use binoculars (orange circle) to spot the duo before they set about an hour after sunset.

Skywatchers in different time zones will see the moon and Venus arranged in various ways because the moon moves east by its own diameter every hour. In Europe, the moon will sit off to Venus' right. In the Americas, Venus will be located just below (or celestial south of) the moon. Sharp eyes might also spot Leo's brightest star Regulus just below them and Mercury off to their lower left.

Tuesday, Aug. 6 - bright clusters for Binoculars (evening)

Tuesday night, Aug. 6 will be a fine time to grab your binoculars and view three large open star clusters that occupy the southern sky between the bright stars Altair and Cebalrai. The Summer Beehive Cluster aka IC 4665 is a loose collection of stars centered just a finger's width above (or 1 degree northeast of) Cebalrai. Its white stars, which are spread across an area more than twice the diameter of the moon, host several reddish intruders. Next, aim your binoculars midway between Cebalrai and Altair and look for two patches of stars sharing the same binoculars field of view (orange circle). The smaller, but brighter Tweedledum Cluster (or NGC 6633) is centered several finger widths to the upper right (or celestial northwest) of the larger, but fainter Graff's Cluster (or IC 4756). It's fun to count each cluster's stars and note the various star colors and the patterns the stars are arranged in.

Wednesday, Aug. 7 - double shadows cross Jupiter

From time to time, observers with good-quality telescopes can watch the black shadows of the Galilean moons travel across Jupiter's disk. On Wednesday morning, Aug. 7, for observers in most of the Americas, two shadows will cross the southern hemisphere of Jupiter simultaneously.

At 2:55 a.m. EDT (or 06:55 GMT), Europa's shadow will join the slightly larger shadow of Io that began its own crossing several minutes earlier. As the shadows cross the planet, Io and Europa themselves will approach and then move onto Jupiter. Io's shadow will complete its passage towards 4 a.m. EDT (08:00 GMT), leaving Europa's shadow to journey on alone until 5:20 a.m. (or 09:20 GMT).

Thursday, Aug. 8 - the teapot tilts west (evening)

With the crescent moon setting early on Thursday, Aug. 8, conditions will be ideal for viewing one of the best asterisms in the sky. The stars of Sagittarius, the Archer, form an obvious Teapot shape with a flat bottom formed by the stars Ascella on the left (east) and Kaus Australis on the right (west), a pointed spout on the right (west) marked by the star Alnasl, and a pointed lid marked by the star Kaus Borealis.

The stars Nunki and Tau Sagittarii form a handle on the left-hand (eastern) side. The name Kaus used for the bent, up-down line of three stars — Borealis (north), Meridianalis (center), and Australis (south) — refers to the archer's bow.

The center of our galaxy is only a palm's width to the right of Alnasl. When the asterism reaches its maximum height above the southern horizon, around 10:30 p.m. local time, it will be tilted west — the Milky Way evoking steam rising from its spout. The dwarf planet Ceres will be traveling through the teapot this summer.

Friday, Aug. 9 - crescent moon approaches Spica (evening)

As darkness falls on Friday evening, Aug. 9, look in the lower part of the southwestern sky for the pretty, waxing crescent moon shining to the lower right of Virgo's brightest star, Spica. In the Americas, the duo will be close enough to share the view in binoculars (orange circle).

Hours later, the moon's eastern orbital motion will cause it to pass in front of (or occult) Spica. For observers in parts of northeastern Europe, the western half of Russia, and most of Asia, the event will occur in daylight on Saturday, Aug. 10. Folks across northern Indonesia, southern Japan, and western Micronesia will see the occultation in a dark sky.

Sunday, Aug. 11 — Perseids meteor shower peak (overnight)

The spectacular Perseids meteor shower, which runs between July 17 and Aug. 24 every year, will peak after midnight in the Americas on Sunday night, Aug. 11. With a 44%-illuminated waxing crescent moon setting in the late evening, the best time for seeing Perseids meteors in North America will be between 11 p.m. on Sunday and dawn on Monday morning, while the shower's radiant in Perseus is high in the northeastern sky.

This is the most popular shower of the year, delivering as many as 100 meteors per hour at the peak. Derived from debris dropped by Comet Swift-Tuttle, many Perseids are extremely bright and leave persistent trails. To see the most meteors during any meteor shower, find a safe, dark location with plenty of open sky, get comfortable, and just look up.

Monday, Aug. 12 - First quarter moon

The moon will complete the first quarter of its journey around Earth on Monday, Aug. 12 at 11:19 a.m. EDT, 8:19 a.m. PDT, or 15:19 GMT. At that time, its 90-degree angle away from the sun will cause us to see the moon half-illuminated — on its eastern side.

At first quarter, the moon always rises around mid-day and sets around midnight, so it is also visible in the afternoon daytime sky. The evenings surrounding first quarter are the best ones for seeing the lunar terrain when it is dramatically lit by low-angled sunlight, especially along the terminator, the pole-to-pole boundary that separates the lit and dark hemispheres.

Tuesday, Aug. 13 - moon crosses the scorpion's heart (evening)

On Tuesday, Aug. 13 the waxing, gibbous moon will rise in mid-afternoon. As the sky darkens after sunset, Antares, the bright, reddish, supergiant star in the heart of Scorpius, will appear just to the moon's upper left, close enough for the duo to share the view in binoculars (orange circle).

Due to the moon's continuous eastward orbital motion across the stars, it will pass closely below Antares for those viewing in westerly time zones. Observers in the South Pacific Ocean region, including the Galapagos Islands, can watch the moon occult Antares after midnight.

Wednesday, Aug. 14 — Mars meets Jupiter (pre-dawn)

On the mornings surrounding Wednesday, Aug. 14, the orbital motion of the red planet Mars will carry it very closely past brilliant, white Jupiter. The pair of planets will clear the eastern rooftops after about 2 a.m. local time and then remain visible in the southeast until sunrise.

Mars will approach Jupiter from the upper right (or celestial west) before Wednesday and then widen its gap to Jupiter's lower left from Thursday onward. The two planets will share the view in binoculars (orange circle) from Aug. 3 to Aug. 25 and will be cozy enough for telescope viewing as a pair from Sunday through Saturday.

Friday, Aug. 16 - catch the colors of stars (all night)

Bright stars can still be enjoyed on a moonlit night. Stars shine with a color that is controlled by their photospheric temperature, and this is captured in their spectral classification.

The three bright stars of the eastern sky Summer Triangle asterism, named Deneb, Vega, and Altair, are A-class stars that appear blue-white to the eye. They have temperatures in the range of 7,500 to 10,000 Kelvin. Arcturus, which is located in the western evening sky, is an orange, K-class giant star with a temperature of only 4,300 K. Reddish Antares, the heart of Scorpius, is an old M-class star with a low surface temperature of 3,500 K.

After midnight local time, look for very bright, yellowish Capella rising in the northeast. You can estimate the temperatures of fainter stars by comparing their color to these bright reference stars.

Monday, Aug. 19 - full Sturgeon Moon

The full moon of August will occur on Monday, Aug. 19 at 2:26 p.m. EDT, 11:26 a.m. PDT, or 18:26 GMT. In the Americas, the moon will look almost full on Sunday night and then ever-so-slightly less than full when it rises around 8 p.m. local time on Monday. It will hang unusually low in the sky because it will be traveling about 4 degrees below the already low summertime ecliptic.

The August full moon, colloquially called the "Sturgeon Moon", "Red Moon", "Green Corn Moon", and "Grain Moon", always shines among or near the stars of Aquarius or Capricornus. The indigenous Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes region call it Manoominike-giizis, the Wild Rice Moon, or Miine Giizis, the Blueberry Moon. The Cree Nation of central USA and Canada calls the August full moon Ohpahowipîsim, the Flying Up Moon. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) of Eastern North America call it Seskéha, the Freshness Moon.

Tuesday, Aug. 20 - bright moon shines with Saturn (all night)

After the very bright, almost full moon clears the treetops in the east around 9:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Aug. 20, it will be shining very closely below (or celestial south of) the bright, yellowish dot of Saturn.

Throughout the night, the pair will cross the sky together. Meanwhile, the moon's eastward orbital motion and the diurnal rotation of the sky will pull the moon farther from Saturn and rotate the ringed planet below the moon. Watch for them low in the southwestern sky before sunrise on Wednesday morning. Observers in a zone across northern South America and across the Atlantic Ocean to northwestern Africa and western Europe can watch the moon occult Saturn on Tuesday around 04:00 GMT.

Friday, Aug. 23 - small constellations on high (evening)

On late-August evenings, four small constellations sit high in the southeastern sky below the very bright star Vega. The easiest one to see is Delphinus, the Dolphin, which is composed of four medium-bright stars forming a small elongated diamond connected to a star extending to the lower right (or celestial southwest).

Equuleus, the Little Horse is positioned about a fist's diameter below Delphinus. Diminutive Equuleus is the second to last constellation by size, after Crux, the Southern Cross. Sitting a generous fist's width above Delphinus is the next smallest constellation by area, Sagitta, the Arrow. And sweeping a palm's width higher will bring you to the stars of Vulpecula, the Fox.

Except for the slightly larger fox, each of these small constellations will fit within the field of view of binoculars. The Milky Way passes through Sagitta and Vulpecula, populating them with a variety of deep sky objects. The sky between those two constellations hosts a dark dust lane.

Saturday, Aug. 24 - double stars in Lyra's parallelogram (all night)

Each corner of Lyra's parallelogram is marked by a double star. Zeta Lyrae (ζ Lyr), the corner closest to the very bright star Vega, can be split with binoculars (orange circle).

Both components are white, with one star slightly brighter than the other. Each of these stars also has a partner that is too close together to split visually. Moving clockwise, the southwest corner star is Sheliak, the brightest of a tight little grouping of stars visible in a telescope.

Sheliak itself has a close-in, dim companion in an eclipsing binary system with a 13-day period. The hot, blue giant star Sulafat sits at the farthest corner from Vega. 620 light-years-distant Sulafat is much larger than Vega — an old star on its way to becoming an orange giant many years from now. Add the slightly dimmer stars Lambda Lyrae and HD 176051 to its south and west, respectively to form a naked-eye triple. Delta Lyrae (δ Lyr) marks the northeast corner of the parallelogram.

Sharp eyes and binoculars will easily split the double into one blue and one red star. The blue star is one hundred light-years farther away than the red one; they just happen to appear close together along the same line of sight.

Sunday, Aug. 25 - half-moon near the Pleiades (overnight)

Once the half-illuminated moon has cleared the eastern rooftops towards midnight on Sunday, Aug. 25, it will spend the rest of the night crossing the sky with nearby Uranus and the bright little Pleiades star cluster, aka the Seven Sisters and Messier 45.

Use binoculars (orange circle) to easily see the stars of the cluster arrayed to the upper right of the moon. The "sisters" will be farther from the moon for observers viewing them later or in more westerly time zones. The distant planet Uranus, which is visible in binoculars, will spend this year about a palm's width to the right (or celestial SSW) of the Pleiades.

Monday, Aug. 26 - Third Quarter Moon

The moon will complete three-quarters of its orbit around Earth, measured from the previous new moon, on Monday, Aug. 26 at 5:26 a.m. EDT, 2:26 a.m. PDT, or 09:26 GMT.

At its third (or last) quarter phase, the moon appears half-illuminated, on its western, sunward side. It rises around midnight local time and then remains visible until it sets in the western daytime sky in the early afternoon. Third quarter moons are positioned ahead of the Earth in our trip around the Sun. About 3.5 hours later, Earth will occupy that same location in space. The week of dark, moonless evening skies that follow this phase is the best one for observing deep sky targets.

Tuesday, Aug. 27 - crescent Moon above Mars and Jupiter (pre-dawn)

From the wee hours until dawn on Tuesday morning, Aug. 27, the pretty, waning crescent moon will shine above the planets Jupiter and Mars in the eastern sky, setting up a nice widefield photo opportunity. Brilliant Jupiter will be unmistakable — almost close enough to the moon for them to share the view in binoculars.

The reddish, medium-bright dot of Mars will be positioned a palm's width to the lower left (or 6 degrees to the celestial east) of Jupiter. Watch for the bright, reddish star Aldebaran, the angry eye star of Taurus, the Bull, sparkling off to the right of the group.

Thursday, Aug. 29 - watch Algol brighten

The star Algol (or Beta Persei) in the constellation of Perseus is among the most easy-to-monitor variable stars. During a ten-hour period that repeats every 2 days, 20 hours, and 49 minutes, Algol dims noticeably and then re-brightens when a companion star with an orbit nearly edge-on to Earth crosses behind the much brighter main star, reducing the total light output we perceive.

Algol normally shines at magnitude 2.1, similar to the nearby star Almach in Andromeda. But while dimmed to minimum brightness, Algol's magnitude of 3.4 is almost the same as the star Rho Persei (ρ Per), which shines just two finger widths to Algol's lower right (or 2.25 degrees to the celestial south).

For observers in the eastern half of North America, fully dimmed Algol will sit in the lower part of the northeastern sky on Thursday morning, Aug. 29 at 12:02 a.m. EDT or 04:02 GMT. Five hours later the star will shine at full intensity from a perch nearly overhead in the eastern sky. Observers in more westerly time zones will see most of the brightening process.

Friday, Aug. 30 - the crescent moon aligns with Gemini's Twins (pre-dawn)

On Friday morning, Aug. 30, early risers can see the waning crescent moon forming a line below Gemini's two brightest stars in the eastern sky. Pollux, the lower star is brighter and more yellowish in color than its "twin", the double star Castor, above it. Even as the sky begins to brighten ahead of sunrise, the bright stars of winter will sparkle off to the right of Gemini and the moon.

Visible planets in August

Mercury

For the first few evenings of August, Mercury will appear low above the western horizon after sunset, with far brighter Venus gleaming off to its right. The speedy planet will be descending daily in preparation for its meeting with the sun at inferior conjunction on Aug. 18. After solar conjunction Mercury will rapidly climb away from the sun in the eastern pre-dawn sky — and brighten — making it easily visible in the closing mornings of the month.

Viewed in a telescope (before the sun rises) at month's end, magnitude 0.95 Mercury will exhibit a waxing crescent phase and an apparent disk diameter of 8.6 arc-seconds.

Venus

Venus will spend August increasing its angle from the sun from 16 to 24 degrees, but the shallow angle of the ecliptic after sunset will keep the brilliant, magnitude -3.85 planet lurking just above the western horizon for mid-northern latitude observers.

Venus will spend Aug. 1 to Aug. 23 traveling across Leo, after which it will enter next-door Virgo for the balance of the month. Skywatchers in the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere will see Venus higher in the sky, allowing a backyard telescope to show its nearly fully illuminated disk spanning 10.5 arc-seconds.

For the first few days of August, Venus will shine almost a fist's diameter to the upper right (or around 8 degrees to the celestial northwest) of Mercury. It will also pass closely above (north of) the bright star Regulus on Aug. 3-5, and pose just south of the young crescent moon on Aug. 5.

Mars

During August, Mars will rise soon after midnight, and climb to a high position in the southeastern sky before dawn.

The reddish planet will be creeping east through the stars of Taurus, passing less than a palm's width to the upper left (or 5 degrees to the celestial north) of its doppelganger, the bull's very similar appearing star Aldebaran, on Aug. 5.

At the same time, Mars will be rapidly approaching ten times brighter Jupiter. The two planets will reach a tight conjunction, only 0.3 degrees apart, and appear together in a backyard telescope, on Aug. 14. Mars will also pass just 1.1 degrees north of the Crab Nebula, aka Messier 1, on Aug. 26-27.

Over the month, Mars will brighten a bit from magnitude 0.89 to 0.74. In a telescope, it will show a rusty-colored, 89%-illuminated disk that will expand from 5.9 to 6.5 arc-seconds in diameter. The waning crescent moon will drop past Mars and Jupiter on Aug. 27-28, setting up some nice photo opportunities.

Jupiter

In the same corner of the sky as Mars, bright, white Jupiter will rise during the wee hours of the morning and dominate the southeastern sky before sunrise during August.

The giant, magnitude -2.2 planet will be creeping slowly eastward between the horns of Taurus, slow enough to be overtaken by Mars in a very close conjunction on Aug. 14. The two planets will share the view in a telescope for several mornings and shine only 0.3 degrees apart at minimum.

On any morning, binoculars will reveal Jupiter's four large Galilean moons flanking the planet. A backyard telescope will show its equatorial bands, while a better quality instrument will reveal the Great Red Spot every 2nd or 3rd night, Jupiter's Galilean satellites frequently eclipsing and occulting one another, and times when they cast their round, black shadows on the planet — in pairs on Aug. 3, 7, 9, 10, 14, 17, 21, and 26. Each of those events is visible in only certain longitudes on Earth. The waning crescent moon will drop past Jupiter and Mars on Aug. 27-28, setting up some nice photo opportunities.

Saturn

Saturn is approaching opposition next month, so it will be rising shortly after dusk during August, crossing the night sky, and then shining in the southwest before dawn.

The yellowish planet will be travelling retrograde across the stars of eastern Aquarius and brightening from magnitude 0.8 to 0.6. Far fainter Neptune will be following Saturn across the sky, lurking about 11 degrees to Saturn's left (or celestial east).

In a telescope, Saturn will sport a globe about 19 arc-seconds wide. Its rings, which will become edge-on to Earth next March, already appear very narrow. Earth's edge-on views of the Saturn system this year and next will produce frequent transits of Saturn's moons and their shadows across its face. The waning gibbous moon will pass closely south of Saturn on Aug. 20 in the Americas, generating an occultation for observers in a zone across northern South America and across the Atlantic Ocean to northwestern Africa and western Europe.

Uranus

During August, magnitude 5.7 Uranus will rise around midnight and remain visible in the southeastern sky through binoculars and telescopes of any size until dawn. The planet will be shifting slowly eastward through the stars of western Taurus, less than a palm's width below (or 5.5 degrees to the celestial south of) the Pleiades Star cluster and two fist diameters to the upper right (or 21 degrees to the celestial west) of Jupiter. In a telescope, Uranus will display a blue-green, 3.5 arc-seconds-wide disk.

Neptune

Neptune will continue to follow far brighter Saturn across the sky during August. The distant, magnitude 7.8 planet will be creeping retrograde westward in western Pisces — about 12 degrees to the ringed planet's left (or celestial east) and within a binoculars' field of view to the upper left of the medium-bright stars 20, 24, 27, and 29 Piscium.

While it will be rising an hour or so after dusk, the best viewing time for Neptune's tiny, 2.3 arc-seconds-wide, blue disk in a telescope will run from late evening until the sky begins to brighten. The bright, waning gibbous moon will shine to the east of Neptune on Aug. 21.

Skywatching terms

Gibbous: Used to describe a planet or moon that is more than 50% illuminated.

Asterism: A noteworthy or striking pattern of stars within a larger constellation.

Degrees (measuring the sky): The sky is 360 degrees all the way around, which means roughly 180 degrees from horizon to horizon. It's easy to measure distances between objects: Your fist on an outstretched arm covers about 10 degrees of sky, while a finger covers about one degree.

Visual Magnitude: This is the astronomer's scale for measuring the brightness of objects in the sky. The dimmest object visible in the night sky under perfectly dark conditions is about magnitude 6.5. Brighter stars are magnitude 2 or 1. The brightest objects get negative numbers. Venus can be as bright as magnitude minus 4.9. The full moon is minus 12.7 and the sun is minus 26.8.

Terminator: The boundary on the moon between sunlight and shadow.

Zenith: The point in the sky directly overhead.

Night sky observing tips

Adjust to the dark: If you wish to observe fainter objects, such as meteors, dim stars, nebulas, and galaxies, give your eyes at least 15 minutes to adjust to the darkness. Avoid looking at your phone's bright screen by keeping it tucked away. If you must use it, set the brightness to minimum — or cover it with clingy red film.

Light Pollution: Even from a big city, one can see the moon, a handful of bright stars, and the brightest planets - if they are above the horizon. But to fully enjoy the heavens — especially a meteor shower, the fainter constellations, or to see the amazing swath across the sky that is the disk of our home galaxy, the Milky Way — rural areas are best for night sky viewing. If you're stuck in a city or suburban area, use a tree or dark building to block ambient light (or moonlight) and help reveal fainter sky objects. If you're in the suburbs, simply turning off outdoor lights can help.

Prepare for skywatching: If you plan to be outside for more than a few minutes, and it's not a warm summer evening, dress more warmly than you think is necessary. An hour of winter observing can chill you to the bone. For meteor showers, a blanket or lounge chair will prove to be much more comfortable than standing, or sitting in a chair and craning your neck to see overhead.

Daytime skywatching: On the days surrounding first quarter, the moon is visible in the afternoon daytime sky. At last quarter, the moon rises before sunrise and lingers into the morning daytime sky. When Venus is at a significant angle away from the sun it can often be spotted during the day as a brilliant point of light - but you'll need to consult an astronomy app to know when and where to look for it. When large sunspots develop on the sun, they can be seen without a telescope — as long as you use proper solar filters, such as eclipse glasses. Permanent eye damage can occur if you look at the sun for any length of time without protective eyewear.