The dog days of summer arrive in August. They are hot, sticky, muggy, uncomfortable, and miserable days. A time when summer exerts full force on all creatures, plants, and psyches. They are sultry exhausting days where finding respite from “them barking dogs” drive behavior. The result of this oppressive heat? Drought, lethargy, fever, unexpected thunderstorms, bad luck, and mad dogs.
What to make of these August dog days? How did this all begin? Of course, as you know by now, the answers are found in the night sky. In the stars that shimmer, the planets that wander, and summer’s Grand River of effervescent light flowing overhead.
Travel with me to the southern hemisphere to the land of Egypt, and to the time of pyramids, pharaohs, and prophecies. Then as it is today, the Dog Star, Sirius, reigns as one of the brightest stars in the night. The ancient astronomers were quite aware of Sirius; its prominence and predictable return. They watch it closely. They quickly learned that the rise and disappearance of the star Sirius in the early dawn in the eastern sky, was a precursor of the annual flooding of the Nile River, and guided farmers when to plant. In the northern hemisphere, the Greeks believed the rise of Sirius ushered in heat and consequently, fever. The Romans continued to blame Sirius for the heat of the season and associated lethargy and diseases. And all of this is due to a bright star.
Is the universe telling us to cool the jets, and relax? Maybe so. What if this dog-gone heat of August is intended to slow life down, relax, and look for relief?
If this is so, then here’s a suggestion. Find your respite from the day under the splendid canopy of our night sky. While you breathe in a deep sigh of unwinding, look up, be amazed, and enjoy the special celestial events August has for you.
The Milky Way’s Galactic Center, The entire month of August
The Milky Way Galaxy, our island home in the expanding universe, is a barred spiral galaxy. Imagine an ingot bar of gold, rectangle shape. At each end of the bar is an arm that spirals out as the bar turns. In the middle and center of the ingot is the center of our galaxy: The Galactic Center of the Milky Way. The center is visible with your naked eye, which is recommended. That’s because observing it through a telescope or binoculars limits your view of its expansive size. Yes, and you are correct, it is in the galactic center of the Milky Way that our own galaxy’s black hole was discovered in 2022, the star, Sagittarius A*.
To find our galactic center, get to a dark location where light pollution is limited, at best. Wait till our view of the Orion Spur of the Milky Way is high in the sky, any time after 10pm local time. The Orion Spur runs from the northern horizon, diagonally south across the celestial dome, and setting in the south southwest horizon – it is a hazy band of light formed from stars that your naked eye cannot resolve or distinguish. The galactic center is located near the border of the constellations, Sagittarius and Scorpius, residing just above the southwestern horizon. It is a large, significantly brighter area in the night sky. See it takes little effort. Once you see it, you’ll understand why astronomers can’t use optical telescopes to penetrate that region. It is large, packed shoulder-to-shoulder with stars, and densely brilliant. The discovery of our super massive black hole happened by using radio and infrared telescopes, measuring the energy created from the extreme heat of cosmic dust and gas falling into our mysterious black hole. Think about that for a moment. I mean truly think about it. Shoot me a note if you’re able to wrap your mind around it.
The Summer Triangle, The remainder of summer
The Summer Triangle is what astronomers call an asterism. This means a group of stars of similar magnitude (brightness) form the pattern of its name, as in the Big Dipper, the Coat hanger, and the Southern Cross. In our case, it is a scalene triangle pattern formed by the brightest stars in the constellations of Aquila (The Eagle), Cygnus (The Swan), and Lyra (The Lyre). Good news! You don’t need binoculars or a telescope to find summer again.
The brightest of the triangle’s three stars is Vega, in the constellation of Lyra. Mythology tells us that the first lyre (harp) was made by Hermes and given to Apollo. When Orpheus played the lyre, rocks were charmed and it hushed the voices of the dangerous Sirens.
The next brightest star of the triangle is Deneb, in the constellation Cygnus. Our mythological story continues and connects the Swan and the Lyre. The story goes, after Orpheus was murdered, he transformed into a swan and placed in the night sky next to his beloved lyre.
The Summer Triangle’s final star is Altair, in the constellation of Aquila. The Eagle’s mythology is that it carried Zeus’ lightning bolts. For the Polynesian cultures of the Pacific, Aquila is central in their agriculture, and navigation of the seas.
On any clear August night, get outside about an hour after sunset. Orient yourself to face south and look directly towards the southern horizon. Now, from the horizon lift your chin up and tilt your head way back till you are looking straight up above at the highest point in the sky. You will see a very bright star in your right eye (Vega), and a slightly dimmer star in your left (Deneb). Now, draw an imaginary line connecting the two and split it in half. At that midpoint, keep looking up at the sky and slowly bring your chin and head back down towards the southern horizon. At twice the length of your imaginary line (drawn between Vega and Deneb) you’ll see the last star of the Summer Triangle, Altair. Remember, an asterism requires all of the stars to be of similar magnitude. The stars will be the most luminous objects in that slice of the sky at that time of night.
The Granddaddy of Them All: The Perseid Meteor Shower Peak, August 12th
Most meteor showers come from comets. A comet is like a dirty dusty compressed snowball of ice. As its orbit brings it nearer to the Sun, it warms up and ice turns it into gas, releasing the comet’s dust into space. When the Earth, following its ceaseless orbit, enters the trail of particles left by a passing comet, some of the granular meteoroids burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. This is a meteor shower. Perseid meteoroids results from Comet 109/P Swift-Tuttle, discovered in July, 1862. As for the Perseid meteor shower, while it peaks on August 12th, the grand display is prime for viewing from July 17th through August 12th.
To celebrate the favorite meteorite shower of the summer, first reach out wide and far to gather your friends and family for the show. It is more fun having multiple sets of eyes scanning the sky, and hearing the excitement when a streaking meteor streaks. Trust me, no one can hold back the excitement when they see a fireball shoot across the night sky.
First, get to a dark location away from urban light glare. Find an unobstructed view of the north northeast horizon. Around 10:30pm local time, look for the constellation Cassiopeia having just risen above the north northeast horizon. This constellation looks like the capital letter “W '' and is just a bit squished. This is where the meteors will radiate. By midnight the namesake constellation of Perseus is in full view.
Give your eyes about 20 minutes to adjust to the darkness to achieve night vision allowing you to see the fainter meteors. Bring a chair, a blanket and dress warm. You’ll want to be comfortable since you’ll be outside for some time. This year is anticipated to be great with 140 meteors predicted per hour. Meteors don’t arrive at a steady rate. In one hour you’ll see 10 meteors in 5 minutes; then, not another single meteor for 45 minutes. The shower improves as the radiant point moves up higher in the night sky. The later you stay up, the more meteors reward you. Get out and take a peek at the Perseids!
The Full Sturgeon Moon, August 19th
As background, the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is elliptical with a point where it is farthest away (apogee) and one that’s closest to Earth (perigee). The average distance between the Earth and Moon is 238,000 miles. The three or four closest approaches that the Moon makes around the Earth each year qualify as supermoons. This is our first supermoon of 2024. The proximity to Earth gives the Moon an enhanced appearance making it look about 8% bigger and approximately 16% brighter than a typical full Moon as the above image shows. That evening, look toward the southeast after sunset to catch a glimpse of the Sturgeon Moon rising.
Why the August full Moon is called the “Sturgeon Moon”? The name Sturgeon Moon comes from the giant lake sturgeon of North America and Europe. For the indigenous peoples the Sturgeon’s Great Lakes. A Sturgeon is a freshwater fish that was readily caught during this part of summer. This was important because the sturgeon was abundant in late summer and served as an important food staple. And the August full Moon is called the “Flying Up Moon” by the Cree indigenous people of Canada as this is the time when young birds learned to fly.
Saturn Returns, and the Moon Leads the Way, August 20th
The majestic giant gas planet of rings returns with all of its grandeur and sway this month. It is Saturn’s time to shine. It has been awhile since we viewed the Roman god of wealth and agriculture, and father of Jupiter. Saturn, a planet without a defined surface, is visible the entire month, and in September it will reach opposition (This is when the Sun and Saturn are on opposite sides of the celestial sphere with the Earth in between) and is visible from dusk to dawn.
Saturn is viewable throughout August. The best part is locating the god of agriculture on Tuesday, August 20th is simple when it achieves conjunction with the Moon. Meaning, the ringed planet some 887 million miles away is there ready for you to enjoy. Look to the east southeast horizon, around 10pm local time. There you will see the 16-day old waning gibbous Moon, well lit at 94%. That’s the worst part. Classic yin and yang. If the Moon is the face of a clock, place one pinky finger width at the 1 o’clock, touching the edge (limb) of the Moon. On the other edge of your pinky, begin your search. Bear in mind the closer Saturn is to the horizon and if the atmosphere is unstable, Saturn can take on some odd colors. Some see a pale yellow dot. Some see an off-white dot. Some see a dull green dot. Some see Saturn as a bluish color in shaky skies. If this happens, just wait 30-minutes or so for Saturn to rise higher in the sky and the color will stabilize.
Whether you are like the Romans and blame the star Sirius for your irritability and lethargy, or not, you deserve a break from the oppressive dog days of summer. Get relief from the heat of the day on any cool August night. Release the weight of a humid day under a shimmering luminous sky full of cool pin pricks of light of white, blue, and yellow. Take in a deep breath or three with the sight of the first star. Now you’re ready.
Put those barking dog days of August to rest.
Clear skies to you!
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