This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, August 12, 2022.
Information updated weekly or as needed.
Times given as local St. Louis time which is Central Daylight Time (CDT). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If relying on times posted in Universal Time (UT), St. louis is -5 hours when CDT.
Public Telescope Viewings
Public telescope viewings at the McDonnell Planetarium have returned as part of the Saint Louis Science Center’s First Friday event. As we ease back into our telescope nights, they will operate a little different than before. To take part in our telescope viewings you will need to get a ticket for the planetarium show that starts at 7:00 p.m. as part of the First Friday event. Tickets for the First Friday planetarium show are free, but they can only be picked up at the Saint Louis Science Center on the night of the event. After the planetarium show ends you will be able to go outside and look through telescopes weather permitting. We will update this posting if anything changes.
Solar telescopes viewings have also returned and will take place every Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. weather permitting. Solar Sundays will run from May 29, 2022, to September 4, 2022. The return of Solar Sundays is a good opportunity to prepare for the upcoming solar eclipses in 2023 and 2024.
Observing Highlight of the Week
Day and night seen on Saturn in 2010 by the Cassini spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
For the first half of the year, those wanting to see planets had to wake up early in the morning before sunrise. These morning views peaked in June when all five naked eye planets were visible. This is changing as Saturn is now visible in the evening sky with Jupiter close behind. Evening viewers can rejoice as a few of the planets are back.
On August 14, 2022, Saturn will reach opposition. This means we will see Saturn rise as the Sun sets that evening. All night long Saturn will transit the sky setting around the time of sunrise. Opposition for planets occurs when superior planets appear opposite the Sun near the anti-solar point. Due to the opposition effect, Saturn will appear brighter when near this point. Opposition officially occurs at 12:00 p.m. on August 14, 2022. Saturn is always great to observe, but it is best when near opposition. We can look forward to a bright Saturn for the next few months.
Jupiter reaches opposition on September 26, 2022. Like Saturn, this giant planet will appear its brightest for the year on this date. Around opposition, Jupiter and Saturn will be at their least distance from Earth. Because of this, their angular diameter will appear larger. The larger appearance is caused by them being closer.
Lastly, Mars will reach opposition at the end of the year on December 7, 2022. When near opposition, observers have a chance to see the surface of Mars. You will need a telescope for this, but it does not need to be large. I have seen limited surface features through an 80mm telescope, but you will see more with a larger aperture. On the same night of opposition, the Moon will occult Mars for about an hour. This is an event worth putting on the calendar.
The planets are slowly shifting to early evening views, and there will be many opportunities to enjoy the planets over the last half of the year.
The Sun and Moon
The Moon as seen from the International Space Station, on July 31, 2011.
Credit: NASA
Sunrise is at 6:12 a.m. on Friday, August 12 and sunset is at 7:59 p.m. providing us with roughly 13 hours and 45 minutes of daylight. Even after sunset, the light from the Sun will dimly illuminate our sky for roughly 1 hour and 40 minutes. This period is called twilight, which ends around 9:39 p.m. this week. For those with a sundial, local noon occurs around 1:05 p.m. this week.
| Day | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-08-12 | 6:12 a.m. | 7:59 p.m. |
| 2022-08-13 | 6:13 a.m. | 7:57 p.m. |
| 2022-08-14 | 6:14 a.m. | 7:56 p.m. |
| 2022-08-15 | 6:15 a.m. | 7:55 p.m. |
| 2022-08-16 | 6:16 a.m. | 7:54 p.m. |
| 2022-08-17 | 6:17 a.m. | 7:52 p.m. |
| 2022-08-18 | 6:18 a.m. | 7:51 p.m. |
| 2022-08-19 | 6:18 a.m. | 7:49 p.m. |
| 2022-08-20 | 6:19 a.m. | 7:48 p.m. |
Moon
Moonrise for Friday, August 12 occurs at 8:56 p.m. and moonset occurs at 7:52 a.m. on the following day. Friday, August 12, the Moon will exhibit a waning gibbous phase with roughly 99% of the lunar disk illuminated. Last quarter moon occurs on August 18, 2022, at 11:36 p.m.
International Space Station (ISS) Observing
There are no visible passes of ISS from St. Louis this week. ISS will return to St. Louis Skies on August 22, when it returns to morning passes. There are several passes of the X-37B spacecraft this week. Use the table below for the best X-37B passes this week.
Catch X-37B from St. Louis starting Friday, August 12
| Date | Starts | Max. altitude | Ends | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
| 14 Aug | 0.8 | 05:10:47 | 10 | WNW | 05:13:40 | 62 | NNE | 05:16:32 | 10 | ESE |
| 15 Aug | 0.6 | 05:31:17 | 10 | WNW | 05:34:05 | 48 | SSW | 05:36:53 | 10 | SE |
| 16 Aug | 1.4 | 04:19:47 | 43 | E | 04:19:47 | 43 | E | 04:21:57 | 10 | ESE |
Magnitude (Mag): The Measure of brightness for a celestial object. The lower the value is, the brighter the object will be.
Altitude (Alt): The angle of a celestial object measured upwards from the observer’s horizon.
Azimuth (Az): The direction of a celestial object, measured clockwise from an observer’s location with north being 0°, east being 90°, south being 180° and west being 270°.
For information about ISS flyovers and other visible satellites, visit www.heavens-above.com
Detailed information regarding all unmanned exploration of our universe, missions past, present, and planned, can be found at Jet Propulsion Laboratories:
The Visible Planets
Looking southeast at 11:00 p.m. August 13, 2022. Credit: Stellarium, EG
Looking southeast at 5:00 a.m. on August 14, 2022. Credit: Stellarium, EG
This week, four naked eye planets are visible. Venus, and Mars are best seen before sunrise in the east and southeast. Jupiter and Saturn are now rising before midnight and will be good targets by 12:00 a.m. in the southeastern and southern sky. Mercury is currently in an evening apparition, but it will not be seen high enough in the west after sunset to clear most tree lines.
Venus
Venus has started a morning apparition and will be seen in the southeast before sunrise. Venus rises at 4:03 a.m. and should be easy to spot in the southeast by 5:00 a.m. The current morning apparition lasts until the third week of October 2022. Venus reaches superior conjunction on October 22, 2022.
Mars
Mars rises at 12:26 a.m. Start looking for the red planet around 1:30 a.m. as it clears trees and buildings. Mars will continue to climb out of the Sun’s glare as it heads towards opposition later this year on December 7, 2022.
Jupiter
Jupiter rises at 10:29 p.m. and should be visible by 11:30 p.m. As the year goes on, Jupiter will rise about 25 minutes earlier than it did the week before. Jupiter will reach opposition on September 26, 2022, so our best views of this giant world will come at the end of summer and through the fall months.
Saturn
This week Saturn will rise around 8:33 p.m. Start looking for Saturn around 9:30 p.m. in the southeastern sky. Saturn will reach opposition on August 14, 2022. As we head to this date, Saturn will rise earlier each day.
James S. McDonnell Planetarium
Night Sky Update: August 12 – August 20, 2022
