2017 Week 33: (August 13-19)

We are now in the middle of August and the great eclipse is just over a week away!  If you do not have your eclipse glasses yet please send a message to our Facebook page to grab a pair for your family!

Date	Event
August 14	Last Quarter
August 16	Aldebaran 0.4°S of Moon
August 18	Venus 2°N of Moon

There is not too much happening in the sky leading up to the eclipse but the Moon does a dance with several objects throughout the week.  The Moon will reach last quarter on Monday and be visible in the early morning.  On Wednesday, it will be very close to Taurus' angry red eye -- Aldebaran and will actually occult it in several areas around the world.  Later in the week it will dance with Venus if you can catch it around 5 in the morning on the 19th.

The Moon will be new the following Monday as it passes across the face of the Sun.  With properly certified eclipse glasses you will be able to see this phenomenon from Calgary.  Assuming no clouds or smoke you will see the Moon take an 80% chunk out of the Sun around 11:33am.

There are some other fun things in the sky at this time of year.  The Summer Triangle asterism will be right above your head as it gets dark in the evening.  Look for a triangle of three bright stars.  They are Vega, Deneb and Altair which sit high in the sky in Summer.  If you are at a dark site you will see the Milky Way go right through this triangle; a remarkable thing to behold.

Cassiopeia and Andromeda are accessible in the northeastern sky and if you have good eyes and a dark location you can see the Andromeda Galaxy without optical aid.  The pointier part of the 'W' of Cassiopeia should point right to it.  See the map below.

M31 - Andromeda Galaxy

Also, you may still catch some Perseid meteors as the shower starts to fizzle out from the weekend peak.  Keep your eyes peeled to the northeast!