The ringed planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. Saturn will appear brightest in 2021 during the last days of July and the first days of August. This is the best time to view and photograph Saturn and its moons. A medium-sized or larger telescope or a good pair of binoculars or a spotting scope will allow you to see Saturn’s rings and a few of its brightest moons.
A sliver of a waxing moon should make for a good show this year. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight.
The Perseids is one of the busiest meteor showers, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. These particular meteors result from the Earth passing through the litter left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle, first discovered in 1862.
For a while there, astronomers calculated that the Swift-Tuttle would collide with the Earth on my Mom’s birthday in 2126. Such an impact would have spoiled any posthumous celebrations since the comet is the largest near-Earth object that periodically goes through our sky. If Swift-Tuttle ever does hit the Earth, its 60 km/s impact will be about 27 times more energetic than the astroid strike that wiped out the dinosaurs.
The Perseids are famous for producing a large number of bright meteors. The shower runs annually from July 14 to August 24. It peaks this year on the night of August It peaks this year on the night of August 12 and the morning of August 13.
Meteors will radiate from the constellation Perseus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
The giant planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view and photograph Jupiter and its moons. A medium-sized telescope should be able to show you some of the details in Jupiter’s cloud bands. A good pair of binoculars should allow you to see Jupiter’s four largest moons, appearing as bright dots on either side of the planet.
Tonight, imagine you’re Galileo, 400 years in our past. The telescope is a fairly new invention, and you’re the first person to think of pointing it at the sky. What’s this? Little dots around Jupiter? And each night, they move around like …. MOONS?!?
Since this is the third of four full moons in this season, it is known as a blue moon. This rare calendar event only happens once every few years, giving rise to the term, “once in a blue moon.” There are normally only three full moons in each season of the year. But since full moons occur every 29.53 days, occasionally a season will contain 4 full moons. The extra full moon of the season is known as a blue moon. Blue moons occur on average once every 2.7 years.
In the northern hemisphere, this full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Sturgeon Moon because the large sturgeon fish of the Great Lakes and other major lakes were more easily caught at this time of year. This moon has also been known as the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon.
In the southern hemisphere, we might call this the Full Kangaroo Moon. Kangaroos and wallabies have their joeys emerging from their safe and warm pouches as they start exploring their environment. They become a little more independent. This full moon could also be called The Full Growing Moon.
http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2021.html