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[Energetic music]

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[Chelsea Gohd]
What's Up for August

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Jupiter and Venus
have a morning meetup,

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we check out this year's
Perseid meteor shower,

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and peek into the future
of our own Sun.

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Mars is the lone planet

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in the early evening sky
this month,

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visible
low in the west

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for about an hour
after the sky starts to darken.

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It's now only about
60% as bright

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as it appeared back in May.

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Saturn is rising by about
10 pm, and you'll see

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it showing up a bit earlier each
evening as the month goes on.

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You'll find it in the east
after dark

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with the constellations
Cassiopeia and Andromeda.

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The Ringed Planet
makes its way over

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to the western part
of the sky by dawn,

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where early risers will find it
on August mornings.

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The real highlight of
August is the close

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approach of Jupiter and Venus.

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They shine brightly

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in the east before sunrise
throughout the month.

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The pair begin
the month farther apart,

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but quickly approach
each other in the sky.

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They appear at their closest
on the 11th and 12th,

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only about a degree apart.

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Their rendezvous happens against
a backdrop of bright stars

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including Orion, Taurus,
Gemini, and Sirius.

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A slim crescent Moon joins
the pair of planets after they

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separate again, on the mornings
of the 19th and 20th.

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One of the best
annual meteor showers,

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the Perseids,

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peaks overnight on August 12th
and into the 13th.

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Unfortunately, this year
the Moon is nearly full

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on the peak night,

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and its glare will wash out all
but the brightest meteors.

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While that's not so great for
Perseid watchers, the good news

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is that another favorite annual
meteor shower, the Geminids,

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 is poised for Moon-free
viewing in December.

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August is a great time
to see one of

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the easiest-to-observe
nebulas in the sky.

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The Dumbbell Nebula,
also known as M27,

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is high overhead
on August nights.

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It's a type of nebula
called a "planetary nebula."

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A nebula is a giant cloud
of gas and dust in space,

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and planetary nebulas are
produced by stars like our Sun

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when they become old and nuclear
fusion ceases inside them.

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They blow off
their outer layers,

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leaving behind a small, hot
remnant called a white dwarf.

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The white dwarf produces
lots of bright ultraviolet light

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that illuminates

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the nebula from the inside,

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as the expanding
shell of gas absorbs

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the UV light and re-radiates
it as visible light.

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The Dumbbell Nebula, nicknamed
for its dumbbell-like shape,

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appears as a small, faint
patch of light

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 about a quarter of the width
of the full moon

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in binoculars
or a small telescope.

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It lies within the
Summer Triangle,

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a pattern of stars

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that's easy to find overhead
in the August sky.

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You'll find the nebula
about a third of the way

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between its bright stars
Altair and Deneb.

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Here's hoping you get a chance
to observe this glimpse

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into the future that
awaits our Sun

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about 5 billion years from now.

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It's part of a cycle
that seeds the galaxy

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with the ingredients
for new generations

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of stars and planets -

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perhaps even some not too
different from our own.

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Here are the phases
of the Moon for August.

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You can stay up to date
on all of NASA's missions

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exploring the solar system
and beyond at science.nasa.gov.

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I'm Chelsea Gohd from NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory,

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and that's
What's Up for this month.