August skies

- By James Edgar

July 24, 2025

key points from this story:

• First quarter Moon starts August
• Perseid meteors peak August 12
• Venus and Jupiter meet in Gemini
• Antares close to the Moon twice
• Saturn and Neptune in conjunction
• Mercury visible after mid-month

The Moon at the beginning of August is at first quarter and reaches apogee of 404,161km. On the 3rd, Antares, the bright red star in Scorpius, is 0.6 degrees north of the Moon. Full Moon is on the 9th. August 12 finds both Saturn and Neptune 4 and 3 degrees south of the waning gibbous Moon, respectively. On the 16th, the last-quarter Moon is 0.9 degrees north of the Pleiades (M45). The 19th has Jupiter 5 degrees south of the waning crescent orb, while Venus takes up that post on the following day. The Moon and Mercury hover around the Beehive Cluster (M44) on the 21st. The Moon is new on the 23rd. Mars is 3 degrees north on the 26th; Spica is 1.2 degrees north on the 27th; and the Moon reaches first quarter on the 31st. Antares joins our satellite on the 31st, an occultation in the extreme south—for northerners, the bright red star in Scorpius is only 0.7 degrees away.

Mercury is in front of the Sun until mid-month, when it gradually becomes visible in the early morning eastern sky. Greatest elongation west occurs on the 19th, and then the speedy planet continues its orbit to behind the Sun.

Venus and Jupiter are poised to meet up in Gemini in the early dawn twilight in mid-August–a magnificent conjunction of the sky’s two brightest planets. They pass within one degree of each other on the 12th, the night of the annual Perseid meteor shower (see below). On the 20th, the very thin crescent Moon joins up with the planetary pair in the dawn sky.

Mars is an evening object, hovering among the stars of Virgo, but you have to be quick about catching the Red Planet, as it’s right near the horizon at sundown. The waxing crescent Moon slides by on the 25/26th.

Jupiter is in Gemini with Venus, as described above–the two make a splendid pair for several days before and after the 12th.

Saturn is in conjunction with Neptune on the 6th–the second in a series of three, with the final one occurring in mid-February 2026. They might steal some of the Perseid meteor show when the Ringed Planet and Neptune join up with the Moon on the night of the 12th.

Uranus rises near midnight, remaining in the night sky until dawn’s early light.

Neptune is a telescopic target all through the night–it rises at sundown and sets in the early morning. As stated above, Saturn joins up with the blue planet on the 6th.

The Perseid meteors peak the night of August 12. That’s when Earth passes through the cloud of tiny particles left behind by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle in its many passes by the Sun. It has been confirmed that the earliest sighting was over 2,100 years ago, returning approximately every 130 years. The comet is next due to appear in 2126.