Planets Crowd into Virgo in August

by Henry Woodruff Acting Curator

Here’s another event to watch out for, since it will only happen again in 2040!

It all begins quite harmlessly in early August. Looking West, when it’s dark enough after sunset, you’ll first see a bright object, probably the first dot in the darkening sky. This is the gorgeous Venus, second planet from the Sun and aptly named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Venus is also known as both the Evening Star and the Morning Star (which is quite deceptive, given that it’s not a star), depending on when you can see it.

As it gets darker, a red and a lemon coloured dot become visible just above Venus. These are the planets Mars (fourth from the Sun, Roman god of War) and Saturn (sixth from the Sun, father of Jupiter), respectively. As the month progresses, watch the bright Venus glide up to the other two planets. Now we have 3 planets in the constellation of Virgo.

Below them a very faint Mercury struggles to be seen before it sets below the horizon…
But behold! Enter stage left: The Moon, only a crescent, zooms past Mercury to join the party at Virgo’s on August 13th. We can now see 4 solar system objects at one go, a must do for those of you who like a good bang for your buck.

Now what does it all mean? If you ask me, it means that’s worth while rugging up, turning off your TV, going out and looking at the sunset and just afterwards enjoying the show the Solar System is putting up for Earth’s inhabitants. It costs nothing, you can invite all your friends and family and it happens a lot less often than the soccer World Cup.