Forget doomscrolling for a few nights: August’s sky has plenty of reasons to look up instead. NASA says this month is loaded with cosmic eye candy, including a solar eclipse, one of the year’s best meteor showers, Venus showing off, and a lunar eclipse to close things out. Mother Nature clearly spent all her budget on the August DLC.
Things kick off on August 12 with a total solar eclipse crossing northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, northern Spain, and a tiny slice of Portugal. If you’re in much of the United States, from Alaska to North Carolina, you’ll catch a partial eclipse instead, with the Moon taking a little nibble out of the Sun. Just remember: your eyeballs are not rated for direct solar viewing, so wear certified eclipse glasses or use a proper solar viewer.
As soon as the Sun clocks out, the Perseid meteor shower takes over. It peaks the night of August 12 into the 13th, and thanks to the New Moon, the sky will be wonderfully dark. Earth will be plowing through a trail of dusty leftovers from Comet Swift-Tuttle, turning tiny bits of comet debris into bright streaks across the sky. Find a dark spot, lean back, and let the meteors come to you. No loading screen required.
A couple of nights later, from August 14 through 16, Venus reaches its brightest appearance in the evening sky. Look low in the west after sunset and you’ll spot a brilliant beacon that’s brighter than every star around it. No, it’s not a UFO… probably.
Finally, on the night of August 27 into the 28th, the Moon gets in on the action with a partial lunar eclipse visible across much of North and South America, plus parts of Europe and Africa. At its peak, about 93% of the Moon will be covered by Earth’s shadow, giving it a dark, rusty-copper appearance. Unlike the solar eclipse, this one is completely safe to watch with your own eyes, no special gear required.
NASA’s latest What’s Up video walks through all of these celestial highlights, so if you’ve been looking for a reason to spend a few evenings outside, August is making a pretty convincing argument.
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