Monthly Observing Information
This page provides charts, and text concerning what is visible in the night sky during the month noted. All information is for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but they can still provide useful information for most other areas of the U.S.A. Sky charts, Saturn ring plane, and Venus phase images are for Midnight, on the 15th day of the month. Sky charts are 100 degree field of view, and show objects down to 12th magnitude. Times in the text information are in 24 hour format and have been adjusted for Daylight Savings Time. Subtract 12 hours from those over 12 to get the equivalent PM. RA and DEC given are for Epoch 2000.
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Baton Rouge Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Baton Rouge area only.
August
Moon Calendar
Sky charts
Saturn’s Ring Plane
Venus Phase
Sun and Moon Rise and Set
Date Moonrise Moonset Sunrise Sunset Twilight Twilight ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- 8/1/2018 23:04 10:31 06:23 19:59 04:53 21:29 8/2/2018 23:38 11:27 06:23 19:58 04:54 21:28 8/3/2018 ------ 12:23 06:24 19:57 04:55 21:27 8/4/2018 00:13 13:22 06:25 19:57 04:55 21:26 8/5/2018 00:52 14:23 06:25 19:56 04:56 21:25 8/6/2018 01:35 15:27 06:26 19:55 04:57 21:24 8/7/2018 02:23 16:31 06:26 19:54 04:58 21:22 8/8/2018 03:19 17:35 06:27 19:53 04:59 21:21 8/9/2018 04:20 18:35 06:28 19:52 05:00 21:20 8/10/2018 05:28 19:31 06:28 19:51 05:01 21:19 8/11/2018 06:37 20:21 06:29 19:50 05:02 21:18 8/12/2018 07:46 21:06 06:30 19:50 05:02 21:17 8/13/2018 08:53 21:47 06:30 19:49 05:03 21:15 8/14/2018 09:58 22:24 06:31 19:48 05:04 21:14 8/15/2018 11:00 23:02 06:31 19:47 05:05 21:13 8/16/2018 12:00 23:39 06:32 19:46 05:06 21:12 8/17/2018 12:58 ------ 06:33 19:45 05:07 21:10 8/18/2018 13:55 00:16 06:33 19:44 05:08 21:09 8/19/2018 14:50 00:55 06:34 19:43 05:08 21:08 8/20/2018 15:43 01:38 06:34 19:41 05:09 21:06 8/21/2018 16:33 02:22 06:35 19:40 05:10 21:05 8/22/2018 17:21 03:10 06:35 19:39 05:11 21:04 8/23/2018 18:05 04:00 06:36 19:38 05:12 21:02 8/24/2018 18:46 04:52 06:37 19:37 05:13 21:01 8/25/2018 19:24 05:45 06:37 19:36 05:13 21:00 8/26/2018 19:59 06:38 06:38 19:35 05:14 20:58 8/27/2018 20:33 07:33 06:38 19:34 05:15 20:57 8/28/2018 21:07 08:27 06:39 19:32 05:16 20:56 8/29/2018 21:40 09:23 06:40 19:31 05:16 20:54 8/30/2018 22:14 10:18 06:40 19:30 05:17 20:53 8/31/2018 22:51 11:16 06:41 19:29 05:18 20:51
Information and images in this section from The Sky6 Professional
Solar System Information
Solar Eclipse Report for 2018
Solar eclipse on 8/11/2018
Sun rise: 6:29
Sun set: 19:50
Time of maximum eclipse: 4:46
Eclipse is partial, maximum magnitude = 0.73
Eclipse is visible in the northern hemisphere
Planet View Info Report for 8/ 1/2018 to 8/31/2018
Mercury
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2018 7:29 20:18 9h31m42s 9°51'42" 14°04'00" 0.083 0.61038
8/ 8/2018 6:39 19:35 9h13m01s 10°59'29" 5°13'49" 0.012 0.59987
8/15/2018 5:49 18:57 8h55m34s 13°22'54" 10°19'51" 0.060 0.65931
8/22/2018 5:18 18:38 8h55m48s 15°24'10" 16°56'48" 0.244 0.79212
8/29/2018 5:16 18:38 9h20m05s 15°37'52" 18°03'58" 0.523 0.97463
Venus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2018 9:56 22:11 11h37m22s 2°30'38" 45°05'32" 0.570 0.81847
8/ 8/2018 10:02 22:01 12h02m56s -0°55'52" 45°37'30" 0.537 0.76250
8/15/2018 10:07 21:49 12h27m30s -4°20'24" 45°54'02" 0.501 0.70653
8/22/2018 10:10 21:37 12h50m58s -7°39'19" 45°51'27" 0.463 0.65077
8/29/2018 10:12 21:24 13h13m07s -10°48'52" 45°24'31" 0.422 0.59560
Mars
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2018 19:52 5:48 20h27m12s -25°53'55" 171°11'49" 0.997 0.38494
8/ 8/2018 19:18 5:12 20h19m34s -26°18'54" 164°14'30" 0.990 0.38901
8/15/2018 18:45 4:38 20h13m21s -26°29'30" 156°39'57" 0.979 0.39967
8/22/2018 18:14 4:07 20h09m26s -26°25'24" 149°22'24" 0.964 0.41630
8/29/2018 17:45 3:39 20h08m16s -26°08'02" 142°36'12" 0.948 0.43810
Jupiter
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2018 13:45 0:39 14h47m26s -15°07'08" 95°17'45" 0.991 5.20085
8/ 8/2018 13:20 0:13 14h49m24s -15°17'40" 89°05'50" 0.991 5.30819
8/15/2018 12:55 23:44 14h51m52s -15°30'19" 83°00'38" 0.991 5.41539
8/22/2018 12:31 23:19 14h54m49s -15°44'52" 77°01'48" 0.992 5.52113
8/29/2018 12:08 22:54 14h58m13s -16°01'05" 71°08'39" 0.992 5.62426
Saturn
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2018 17:31 3:46 18h15m07s -22°35'36" 144°45'09" 0.999 9.23767
8/ 8/2018 17:03 3:17 18h13m38s -22°37'03" 137°42'48" 0.999 9.31016
8/15/2018 16:34 2:49 18h12m27s -22°38'24" 130°43'13" 0.999 9.39327
8/22/2018 16:06 2:20 18h11m33s -22°39'40" 123°46'57" 0.998 9.48561
8/29/2018 15:38 1:52 18h10m59s -22°40'51" 116°54'09" 0.998 9.58571
Uranus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2018 23:53 12:57 2h02m09s 11°50'24" 96°10'58" 0.999 19.74630
8/ 8/2018 23:25 12:29 2h02m13s 11°50'39" 102°52'02" 0.999 19.63004
8/15/2018 22:58 12:02 2h02m08s 11°50'03" 109°36'30" 0.999 19.51684
8/22/2018 22:30 11:34 2h01m54s 11°48'39" 116°24'12" 0.999 19.40842
8/29/2018 22:02 11:06 2h01m31s 11°46'29" 123°15'12" 1.000 19.30633
Neptune
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2018 21:45 9:22 23h10m08s -6°25'03" 142°40'55" 1.000 29.12788
8/ 8/2018 21:17 8:53 23h09m34s -6°28'45" 149°31'55" 1.000 29.06284
8/15/2018 20:49 8:25 23h08m58s -6°32'47" 156°24'41" 1.000 29.01017
8/22/2018 20:21 7:57 23h08m18s -6°37'03" 163°18'48" 1.000 28.97075
8/29/2018 19:53 7:28 23h07m37s -6°41'29" 170°13'39" 1.000 28.94514
Pluto
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2018 18:39 4:58 19h24m34s -21°52'29" 160°49'31" 1.000 32.65260
8/ 8/2018 18:11 4:29 19h23m55s -21°54'29" 153°58'08" 1.000 32.70333
8/15/2018 17:43 4:01 19h23m18s -21°56'24" 147°06'26" 1.000 32.76699
8/22/2018 17:15 3:33 19h22m46s -21°58'10" 140°14'42" 1.000 32.84269
8/29/2018 16:47 3:05 19h22m17s -21°59'48" 133°22'58" 1.000 32.92935
Planet Conjunction/Opposition Report for 8/ 1/2018 to 8/31/2018
Mercury
Date Hour Event
8/ 8/2018 21 Inferior Conjunction
Planet Data Report
Planet Mean Dist Period of Inclination Equatorial
From Sun Revolution Diameter
(AU) (km)
Mercury 0.39 88 days 7° 4880
Venus 0.72 224.7 days 3.4° 12100
Earth 1.00 365.24 days 0° 12756
Mars 1.52 687 days 1.9° 6794
Jupiter 5.20 11.86 years 1.3° 143200
Saturn 9.54 29.46 years 2.5° 120000
Uranus 19.18 84 years 0.8° 52290
Neptune 30.06 165 years 1.8° 50450
Pluto 39.44 248 years 17.2° 2200-2300
Moon Apsides Report for 8/ 1/2018 to 8/31/2018
Date Hour Apsis Distance (km) Diameter
8/10/2018 13 Perigee 358082 0.5562°
8/23/2018 6 Apogee 405762 0.4908°
Moon Nodes Report for 8/ 1/2018 to 8/31/2018
Date Time Node Illuminated Fraction
8/10/2018 8:39 Ascending 0.02
8/23/2018 23:50 Descending 0.94
Meteor Showers Report for 8/ 1/2018 to 8/31/2018
Date Meteor Shower ZHR RA DEC Illum. Frac. Longitude
8/ 2/2018 alpha-Capricornids 5 20h36m -10° 0.70 130°
8/ 6/2018 iota-Aquarids 8 22h10m -15° 0.28 134°
8/12/2018 Perseids 75 3h04m 58° 0.03 140°
8/20/2018 alpha-Cygnids 5 21h00m 48° 0.73 148°
Twilight Report for 8/ 1/2018 to 8/31/2018
Date Sun Astronomical Nautical Civil
Rise Set Begin End Begin End Begin End
8/ 1/2018 6:23 19:59 4:49 21:33 5:22 21:00 5:53 20:29
8/ 8/2018 6:27 19:53 4:55 21:25 5:27 20:53 5:58 20:23
8/15/2018 6:32 19:46 5:01 21:17 5:32 20:46 6:02 20:16
8/22/2018 6:36 19:39 5:07 21:08 5:37 20:37 6:07 20:08
8/29/2018 6:40 19:31 5:13 20:58 5:42 20:28 6:11 19:59
Information for this section is from Astronomy Lab 2.03
Last updated on Wednesday, August 1, 2018, 03:03 PM.