It seems Capetonians still have exciting astronomical events to look forward to this year as August promises to be an eventful month.
So if you’re looking for a reason to break out the telescope or to simply gaze up at the sky for a while, here are some events to look forward to.
Mars Conjunction
On August 8, stargazers will be able to spot Mars as it rises in the night sky. The Mars solar conjunction takes place when Mars and Earth are perfectly positioned opposite from one another as they orbit around the sun.
Often during a solar conjunction, hot ionized gas emitted by the sun affects radio signals and interferes with space communication.
Mars will be perfectly visible from Cape Town during the evening so be sure to take out your telescope for a look.
Perseids Meteor Shower Peak
Perseids Meteor Shower is active from July 17 to August 24 but it is at its most active and beautiful on August 12. It will be most visible in the Southern Hemisphere during the hours of 4am and 8am.
During its peak day, the Perseids Shower is described as radiant and can bring as many as 110 meteors per hour.
The shower is caused by Earth passing through debris left behind by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. It gets its name ‘Perseids’ because the meteors associated with the showers seem to originate from the Perseus constellation.
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