The best astronomical events to look out for in the August sky

With lockdowns being implemented across the country, many of us are not only dealing with isolation from other people, but also from the outside world. Hence, there has never been a better time to look up. No matter where you find yourself in the grips of 2021, you can always connect to the night sky. 

August is a month of plenty when looking for interesting and stunning objects to gaze at. Regardless of your familiarity with observing the night sky, there is one spectacular event happening this month that everyone can get involved in. That is, Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon will all be positioned in a line (along the ecliptic) starting on August 14 until August 21 or 23, when the moon eventually catches up and overtakes the two gas giants. The alignment will take place directly above in the sky with the moon chasing the two planets from the west as the month progresses, making for some spectacular viewing.

_{Photograph: Sydney Observatory/ Andy Casel "A Rippling Outbreak on Jupiter" as part of the 2021 David Malin Awards.}

For those with binoculars or telescopes, August is definitely the month to wipe off the dust to take a peek into deep space. There is a plethora of late winter, deep sky objects including an open star cluster, the Eagle Nebula positioned high in the eastern sky, featuring the breathtaking Pillars of Creation; the stunningly colourful dark nebular, Rho Ophiuchi in the Ophiuchus constellation in the northern parts of the sky; and Alpha Centauri, a three-body star system located high in the southern sky, two of which appear as a single bright star in our night sky to the naked eye (Alpha Centauri AB). The third star, Alpha Centauri C, is the closest star to us other than the sun and is a red dwarf, meaning it is the smallest and coldest type of star we see. Despite being the most common type of star (most of the Milky Way is made up of red dwarfs), they are difficult to observe due to their small size and low luminosity, making the Alpha Centauri system a wonderful and provoking system to observe. 

Karlie Alinta Noon is a Gomeroi astronomer and science communicator who promotes Indigenous astronomical knowledge systems and advocates for women in STEM. She is also an astronomy ambassador at the Sydney Observatory.

Take a stroll through the cosmos with Noon when she hosts Sydney Observatory's Southern Sky Livestream on Wednesday, August 18 from 7.30-8.30pm. You can tune in from the Sydney Observatory Facebook event or on Vimeo. This is a special edition of the monthly event for Sydney Science Festival – live, online and free from August 14-22.