August 2000 StarDial
Jehana

Sat Jul 29 23:27:26 2000
August 2000 StarDial*p*Highlight of the Month:  Perseid Meteor Shower, August 12th.  There may well be some shooting stars on the 11th, too.  Despite the brightness of the Moon, meteors may well be seen, if one can convince the Weather Gods to dispense with the clouds.  *p*  Aug 01 - Moon Occults Venus*br*  Aug 01 - Alpha Capricornids Meteor Shower Peak*p*  Aug 02 - Asteroid 6037 (1988 EG) Closest Approach To Earth (0.477 AU - Astronomical Units)*p*  Aug 04 - Comet Ashbrook-Jackson Closest Approach To Earth (1.578 AU)*p*  Aug 05 - Neil Armstrong's 70th Birthday (1930)  First man on good old Luna.  *p*  Aug 06 - Southern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak*br*  Aug 06 - First quarter Moon 9:02 pm EDT (Eastern Daylight Time)*p*  Aug 07 - Asteroid 2000 CE59 Near-Earth Flyby (0.053 AU) (Target practice???)*p** Aug 08 - Asteroid 2000 NQ11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.300 AU)*p*  Aug 09 - Mercury At Perihelion (as close as he gets to the Sun in any given cycle around the Sun)*p*  Aug 10 - Mercury Passes 0.1 Degrees From Mars (This, of course, is apparent separation between the two planets, as seen from here on Earth).*p*  Aug 11 - Uranus At Opposition (It is on the opposite side of the Sun from us, as far away as it can possibly get during this rotation)*br*  Aug 11 - Moon at apogee (252,060 miles from Earth), 6:25 pm EDT (this is as far as good ol' Luna can possibly get from us here on Earth in any given cycle she makes around us.)*p*  Aug 12 - Perseids Meteor Shower Peak*p*  Aug 13 - Moon Occults Neptune *p*  Aug 14 - Asteroid 4486 Mithra Near-Earth Flyby (0.0466 AU) (More target practice???)*br** Aug 14 - Asteroid 2000 OG Near-Earth Flyby (0.367 AU)*br*  Aug 14 - Moon passes 1.4° south of Uranus at 4 pm EDT (Essentially, this closeness is yet another occultation)*p*  Aug 15 - Asteroid 2000 LC16 Near-Earth Flyby (0.234 AU)*br*  Aug 15 - Full Moon at 1:13 am EDT.  (Stay up and howl...)*p*  Aug 16 - Asteroid 4769 Castalia Near-Earth Flyby (0.246 AU)*p*  Aug 17 - Comet Oterma Closest Approach To Earth (5.212 AU)*p*  Aug 18 - Comet Shoemaker-Levy 5 Perihelion (1.989 AU)*br*  Aug 18 - Asteroid 13651 (1997 BR) Closest Approach To Earth (0.447 AU)*p*  Aug 19 - 40th Anniversary (1960), Sputnik 5 Launch (Carried Two Dogs: Belka & Strelka)*p*  Aug 20 - 25th Anniversary (1975), Viking 1 Launch (Mars Orbiter/Lander Mission)*p*  Aug 22 - Last quarter Moon at 2:51 pm EDT*br*  Aug 22 - Moon passes 2° south of Saturn at 3 pm EDT*p*  Aug 23 - The moon passes 3° south of Jupiter at 6 am EDT*p*  Aug 25 - Northern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak*p*  Aug 27 - Moon is at perigee (224,878 miles from Earth) at 9:59 am EDT (This is as close as the Moon gets any given rotation around the Earth, to us down here.  *br*  Aug 27 - Moon passes 0.9° north of Mars at 11 pm EDT*p*  Aug 28 - Moon Occults Mars*br*  Aug 28 - Asteroid 1993 QP Near-Earth Flyby (0.2359 AU)*p*  Aug 29 - Asteroid 3102 Krok Near-Earth Flyby (0.370 AU)*br*  Aug 29 - Dark Moon at 6:19 am EDT*p*  Aug 30 - Moon passes 4° north of Venus at 7 pm EDT (The Moon will be busy this month!)*p**p**br*References:  *p*Space Calendar:       http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/*br*Astronomy Magazine:   http://www.astronomy.com/*p**br*The Archaeoastronomy Club, which meets in IRC at 9 pm eastern time on the second Mondays of each month, is devoted to discussions concerning ancient perceptions of celestial phenomena, as may be *br*interpreted through stone megaliths, carvings, myths, and other means.  Sometimes we digress to contemporary phenomena when current celestial events are striking (preferably, not literally...).*p*