This is the continuing monthly column for the astronomer in all of us, or the aspiring
astro-physicist. Compared to areas near Boston or New Bedford, generally speaking, the Tri-
Town has pretty good dark skies and thus are very fortunate in that regard.
This month, a week of eclipses!
On August 12, there will be a New Moon. More notably this day, however, there will be a solar eclipse. From our position, it will only be a partial eclipse, with only a bit of the sun blocked from view. It will take place a bit after noon, at around 12:47 pm. The epicenter of this eclipse will be eastern Greenland.
Lucky it is a new moon, as the Perseids Meteor Shower peaks on August 12 with an impressive 100 meteors-per-hour near the Cassiopeia and Perseus constellations.
There will be a full moon on August 28: the “Sturgeon Moon” for the fish so active in the Great Lakes, otherwise known as the “Corn Moon” or “Grain Moon.”
On August 28, there will be a lunar eclipse! This one will be right after midnight, at around 12:12 am. The epicenter of this eclipse will be the middle of the Amazon Rainforest.
Some time later in the month, China will launch the Chang’e 7 lunar mission to the south pole of the Moon. It will take off fromWenchang Space Launch Site on the island of Hainan. The mission will have an orbiter, a lander, and an accompanying lunar rover. This mission, though marked as “7,” is China, and humanity’s, first mission to develop a permanent research station on the Moon.
Astronomy Update for August
By Sam Bishop