Sky · Monthly night-sky guide
Total solar eclipse on August 12
See what’s in the sky right now →
August 2026 is the month the whole year points toward. On the 12th a total solar eclipse tracks across Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain — a rare piece of daytime drama for the narrow band of Earth beneath the Moon's shadow — and that very night the Perseids, the year's best-loved meteor shower, reach their peak under a conveniently new Moon. Two weeks later, on the 28th, a partial lunar eclipse rounds off a genuinely remarkable month. If you look up only once this year, make it August.
Source: NASA Goddard eclipse canon (Espenak & Meeus) · Fred Espenak — NASA GSFC / EclipseWise.com (21st Century Canon of Lunar Eclipses, JPL DE430, Herald/Sinnott).
The most popular shower of the year — warm August nights, a high rate, and plenty of bright meteors. A northern radiant favours the Northern Hemisphere.
Radiant in Perseus · debris from Comet 109P/Swift–Tuttle. Rates are the peak ZHR under perfect dark skies — real city skies show far fewer.
Source: International Meteor Organization (IMO) shower calendar (2026). Full meteor-shower calendar & radiant maps →
August’s full moon is the Sturgeon Moon on Friday 28 August, 390,409 km from Earth.
| Phase | Date | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|---|
| Last Quarter | Thu 6 Aug | 02:21 UT |
| New Moon | Wed 12 Aug | 17:37 UT |
| First Quarter | Thu 20 Aug | 02:46 UT |
| Full Moon | Fri 28 Aug | 04:18 UT |
Published minutes, UT (USNO, Astronomical Applications Department); traditional names (traditional North American names as popularised by the Old Farmer’s Almanac). Every full moon of 2026→
Where each naked-eye planet sits around mid-month (15 August). These windows change slowly across the month.
Venus is an evening object, best after sunset in the western half of the sky.
Mars is a morning object, best before dawn in the eastern half of the sky.
Jupiter is a morning object, best before dawn in the eastern half of the sky.
Saturn is a morning object, best before dawn in the eastern half of the sky.
Computed by LiveEarthViewer computed ephemeris (VSOP87-class series; the same engine that drives the planet and events pages). Planets tonight, with rise times for your city →
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| Wed 12 Aug | The Moon meets Jupiter | The Moon passes about 1.3° from Jupiter — an easy naked-eye pairing. |
| Sat 15 Aug | 3-planet morning parade | 3 naked-eye planets are visible together in the morning sky around now — a "planet parade." |
| Sun 16 Aug | The Moon meets Venus | The Moon passes about 3.5° from Venus — an easy naked-eye pairing. |
Computed by LiveEarthViewer computed ephemeris (VSOP87-class series; the same engine that drives the planet and events pages). The rolling events calendar →
The northern and southern lights don’t follow a calendar — they track the Sun’s activity, which no almanac can predict months out. For tonight’s real chances, the live tracker shows the current Kp and the auroral oval. Live aurora forecast →
Every event here happens at one worldwide moment, but rise times and which way to look depend on where you stand. Pick a city for the local timing.
About the data
Moon phases and the seasonal instant are the published minutes from USNO, Astronomical Applications Department; traditional Moon names from traditional North American names as popularised by the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Meteor showers from International Meteor Organization (IMO) shower calendar. Eclipses from NASA Goddard eclipse canon (Espenak & Meeus). Planet placement and conjunctions are computed by LiveEarthViewer computed ephemeris (VSOP87-class series; the same engine that drives the planet and events pages). Times are UTC unless a city page converts them. editorial standards & data sources.