Astroblog: Thursday August 27 to Thursday September 3

Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Thursday August 27 to Thursday September 3

The Full Moon is Friday August 28. Saturn is rising around 9:00 pm local time. On the 31st Saturn is near the waning Moon. Mars passes close to the star Mebsuta. In the evening, Venus is becoming brighter and is coming closer to the bright star Spica, closest on the 2nd.

The First Quarter Moon is Thursday August 20.

North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Saturday, August 29 as seen from Adelaide at 5:15 ACST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Saturn is above the north-western horizon. Mars is low in the east, Mars passes close to the star Mebsuta (epsilon Geminorum) between the 28th-29rd.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise).

Western sky on the evening of Wednesday, September 2 as seen from Adelaide at 19:21ACST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is well above the horizon when the sky is fully dark. has been coming closer to to the bright star Spica and is closest on the 2nd.

Venus is a clear "Crescent Moon" shape and is increasing in size. The shape is readily visible in even small telescopes (although the brightness may make it hard to see).

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

Eastern horizon on the evening of Monday, August 31 as seen from Adelaide at 23:30 ACST (click to embiggen).

Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. Saturn is rising around 9:00 pm local time, but is still best for telescopic observation in the morning, and its rings are widening. Saturn is near the waning Moon at this time.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time.

Whole sky on Saturday, August 29 as seen from Adelaide at 19:19 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Venus is prominent in the north-west.

Scorpius, and the core of the Milky way are at the Zenith.

The Pointers are at their zenith in the Southern sky as the Southern Cross sinks to the south west. The Moon is waxing and the fainter clusters and nebula are becoming harder to see.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus comes closer to the bright star Spica and is closest of Sept 2.

Mars is low in the twilight. Mars passes close to the star Mebsuta (epsilon Geminorum) between the 28th-29rd.

Jupiter is lost in the twilight.

Saturn is in the northwest in the morning sky above Mars. It is now rising before midnight, but is best seen in the morning. Saturn is near the waning Moon on the 31st.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACST, Western sky at 10 pm ACST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky