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.
Kisatchie Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Kisatchie 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 ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- 8/1/2017 15:14 01:34 06:23 19:59 04:53 21:29 8/2/2017 16:05 02:13 06:24 19:58 04:54 21:28 8/3/2017 16:56 02:55 06:24 19:57 04:55 21:27 8/4/2017 17:45 03:41 06:25 19:56 04:56 21:26 8/5/2017 18:32 04:30 06:25 19:56 04:57 21:24 8/6/2017 19:17 05:22 06:26 19:55 04:57 21:23 8/7/2017 19:59 06:16 06:27 19:54 04:58 21:22 8/8/2017 20:38 07:12 06:27 19:53 04:59 21:21 8/9/2017 21:17 08:09 06:28 19:52 05:00 21:20 8/10/2017 21:54 09:07 06:28 19:51 05:01 21:19 8/11/2017 22:31 10:06 06:29 19:50 05:02 21:17 8/12/2017 23:09 11:06 06:30 19:49 05:03 21:16 8/13/2017 23:49 12:07 06:30 19:48 05:04 21:15 8/14/2017 ------ 13:09 06:31 19:47 05:04 21:14 8/15/2017 00:32 14:12 06:31 19:46 05:05 21:13 8/16/2017 01:20 15:16 06:32 19:45 05:06 21:11 8/17/2017 02:13 16:18 06:33 19:44 05:07 21:10 8/18/2017 03:11 17:18 06:33 19:43 05:08 21:09 8/19/2017 04:13 18:13 06:34 19:42 05:09 21:07 8/20/2017 05:17 19:03 06:34 19:41 05:10 21:06 8/21/2017 06:21 19:48 06:35 19:40 05:10 21:05 8/22/2017 07:25 20:29 06:36 19:39 05:11 21:03 8/23/2017 08:26 21:07 06:36 19:38 05:12 21:02 8/24/2017 09:25 21:44 06:37 19:37 05:13 21:01 8/25/2017 10:22 22:19 06:37 19:36 05:14 20:59 8/26/2017 11:17 22:54 06:38 19:35 05:14 20:58 8/27/2017 12:11 23:31 06:39 19:33 05:15 20:57 8/28/2017 13:05 ------ 06:39 19:32 05:16 20:55 8/29/2017 13:57 00:09 06:40 19:31 05:17 20:54 8/30/2017 14:48 00:51 06:40 19:30 05:17 20:52 8/31/2017 15:38 01:35 06:41 19:29 05:18 20:51
Information and images in this section from The Sky6 Professional
Solar System Information
Lunar Eclipse Report for 2017
Lunar eclipse on 8/ 7/2017
Moon rise: 19:59
Moon set: 6:16
Magnitude: 0.25
Partial phase begins: 12:23
Time of maximum eclipse: 13:20
Partial phase ends: 14:18
Solar Eclipse Report for 2017
Solar eclipse on 8/21/2017
Sun rise: 6:35
Sun set: 19:40
Time of maximum eclipse: 13:27
Eclipse is total
Eclipse is visible in the northern hemisphere
Planet View Info Report for 8/ 1/2017 to 8/31/2017
Mercury
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2017 8:33 21:13 10h28m48s 7°47'01" 27°07'13" 0.437 0.84490
8/ 8/2017 8:27 20:52 10h43m38s 4°48'19" 25°04'33" 0.315 0.74734
8/15/2017 8:02 20:21 10h45m09s 3°20'56" 19°32'16" 0.175 0.66539
8/22/2017 7:18 19:41 10h31m40s 4°12'19" 10°03'24" 0.047 0.61928
8/29/2017 6:22 19:00 10h10m15s 7°15'22" 5°27'09" 0.016 0.63982
Venus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2017 3:30 17:26 6h01m55s 21°51'28" 38°32'18" 0.744 1.14709
8/ 8/2017 3:38 17:34 6h36m56s 21°56'55" 37°06'39" 0.767 1.19457
8/15/2017 3:46 17:40 7h12m14s 21°33'29" 35°37'16" 0.789 1.24032
8/22/2017 3:57 17:45 7h47m32s 20°40'47" 34°04'50" 0.809 1.28417
8/29/2017 4:08 17:49 8h22m35s 19°19'34" 32°29'51" 0.829 1.32601
Mars
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2017 6:15 19:55 8h40m26s 19°29'29" 1°54'25" 1.000 2.65756
8/ 8/2017 6:09 19:43 8h58m44s 18°18'10" 3°55'32" 1.000 2.65798
8/15/2017 6:02 19:29 9h16m44s 17°00'53" 6°06'17" 0.999 2.65532
8/22/2017 5:56 19:16 9h34m27s 15°38'10" 8°20'36" 0.998 2.64947
8/29/2017 5:50 19:02 9h51m54s 14°10'40" 10°37'18" 0.997 2.64034
Jupiter
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2017 11:38 23:15 13h04m28s -5°34'45" 68°02'28" 0.992 5.74623
8/ 8/2017 11:15 22:51 13h08m07s -5°58'42" 62°19'59" 0.993 5.84436
8/15/2017 10:53 22:26 13h12m06s -6°24'25" 56°41'51" 0.994 5.93741
8/22/2017 10:31 22:02 13h16m23s -6°51'43" 51°07'17" 0.995 6.02455
8/29/2017 10:09 21:38 13h20m57s -7°20'21" 45°35'52" 0.996 6.10489
Saturn
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2017 16:37 2:56 17h23m42s -21°54'39" 132°36'29" 0.999 9.36508
8/ 8/2017 16:09 2:28 17h22m43s -21°55'01" 125°41'03" 0.998 9.45502
8/15/2017 15:41 1:59 17h22m03s -21°55'41" 118°49'03" 0.998 9.55311
8/22/2017 15:13 1:32 17h21m42s -21°56'41" 112°00'25" 0.998 9.65797
8/29/2017 14:46 1:04 17h21m42s -21°57'59" 105°15'20" 0.998 9.76802
Uranus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2017 23:40 12:37 1h46m51s 10°24'02" 100°26'12" 0.999 19.71177
8/ 8/2017 23:13 12:09 1h46m50s 10°23'43" 107°08'42" 0.999 19.59744
8/15/2017 22:45 11:42 1h46m39s 10°22'34" 113°54'27" 0.999 19.48720
8/22/2017 22:17 11:14 1h46m20s 10°20'37" 120°43'44" 1.000 19.38263
8/29/2017 21:49 10:46 1h45m52s 10°17'51" 127°36'25" 1.000 19.28535
Neptune
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2017 21:37 9:10 23h01m34s -7°14'42" 145°11'57" 1.000 29.10864
8/ 8/2017 21:09 8:42 23h00m59s -7°18'29" 152°03'12" 1.000 29.04805
8/15/2017 20:41 8:14 23h00m21s -7°22'34" 158°56'02" 1.000 29.00007
8/22/2017 20:13 7:45 22h59m41s -7°26'52" 165°50'24" 1.000 28.96551
8/29/2017 19:45 7:17 22h58m59s -7°31'18" 172°45'11" 1.000 28.94502
Pluto
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
8/ 1/2017 18:28 4:49 19h15m54s -21°33'09" 158°37'47" 1.000 32.43086
8/ 8/2017 18:00 4:21 19h15m16s -21°35'04" 151°46'50" 1.000 32.48568
8/15/2017 17:32 3:53 19h14m40s -21°36'54" 144°55'40" 1.000 32.55305
8/22/2017 17:04 3:24 19h14m09s -21°38'38" 138°04'08" 1.000 32.63218
8/29/2017 16:36 2:56 19h13m41s -21°40'14" 131°12'27" 1.000 32.72202
Planet Apsides Report for 2017
Mercury
8/ 2/2017 Aphelion Distance from Sun: 0.47 AU
Planet Conjunction/Opposition Report for 8/ 1/2017 to 8/31/2017
Mercury
Date Hour Event
8/26/2017 18 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/ 1/2017 to 8/31/2017
Date Hour Apsis Distance (km) Diameter
8/ 2/2017 13 Apogee 405053 0.4917°
8/18/2017 8 Perigee 366119 0.5440°
8/30/2017 6 Apogee 404312 0.4926°
Moon Nodes Report for 8/ 1/2017 to 8/31/2017
Date Time Node Illuminated Fraction
8/ 8/2017 5:55 Descending 1.00
8/21/2017 5:33 Ascending 0.00
Meteor Showers Report for 8/ 1/2017 to 8/31/2017
Date Meteor Shower ZHR RA DEC Illum. Frac. Longitude
8/ 1/2017 alpha-Capricornids 5 20h36m -10° 0.70 130°
8/ 6/2017 iota-Aquarids 8 22h10m -15° 0.99 134°
8/12/2017 Perseids 75 3h04m 58° 0.74 140°
8/20/2017 alpha-Cygnids 5 21h00m 48° 0.01 148°
Twilight Report for 8/ 1/2017 to 8/31/2017
Date Sun Astronomical Nautical Civil
Rise Set Begin End Begin End Begin End
8/ 1/2017 6:23 19:59 4:49 21:33 5:22 21:00 5:53 20:29
8/ 8/2017 6:27 19:53 4:55 21:25 5:27 20:53 5:58 20:22
8/15/2017 6:32 19:46 5:01 21:16 5:33 20:45 6:02 20:15
8/22/2017 6:36 19:39 5:07 21:07 5:38 20:37 6:07 20:08
8/29/2017 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 Tuesday, August 1, 2017, 03:07 PM.