00:00Shooting stars, jaw-dropping eclipses, and maybe even a stellar explosion.
00:04I'm Anthony Wood for Space.com and here are four things to look out for in the August night sky.
00:08And I'd be remiss if I didn't kick off proceedings with the Perseid Meteor Shower,
00:12a magnificent natural light show that occurs each year as Earth passes through the trail
00:17of debris shed by the icy comet Swift-Tuttle. Perseid shooting stars are best seen anytime
00:21after 11pm through to dawn, when the shower's radiant or apparent point of origin will appear
00:26high above the northwestern horizon for viewers in the US. The shower comes to a peak on August 12-13,
00:32when up to 100 shooting stars could be seen blazing through the blissfully dark night sky
00:37following the August new moon. But there's going to be plenty of shooting stars to catch before the
00:41peak, so why not head out somewhere dark, lay back, learn a little bit of patience,
00:45and try and catch your first Perseid shooting star of the season.
00:48Our next highlight is a majestic total solar eclipse, which will see the moon hide the entirety of the
00:54solar disk for millions of viewers spread across a 182 mile wide corridor of Greenland, Iceland,
00:59and Spain on August 12. Those outside the path of totality will get to witness a mesmerizing partial
01:05solar eclipse, as a lunar disk takes a bite out of the sun without hiding it entirely. Be sure to
01:10head
01:10on over to space.com for all the latest eclipse news from the science of how it happens to how
01:15to
01:15protect your vision while you're watching it. Stargazers in North America, South America, Africa,
01:20and Europe will get to see the moon turn blood red overnight on August 27th as Earth passes between
01:25the sun and moon, triggering a spectacular lunar eclipse. Up to 96% of the lunar disk is going to
01:31be
01:31immersed in Earth's inner shadow at the point of maximum eclipse. This is going to turn it a gorgeous
01:36blood red as light filtered through our planet's atmosphere falls on its surface, while leaving a
01:40thin silvery crescent visible at its outer edge. Earth's shadow will already be visible, darkening the
01:46lunar surface by the time the moon rises for viewers on the west coast of the US in cities like
01:50Los
01:50Angeles, while those viewing from east coast cities like New York will have to wait a few hours until
01:54sunset until our planet's umbral silhouette begins to darken the lunar disk. Those in Europe and Africa
01:59will also see the lunar light show unfold in the early hours of August 28th. Finally, a once-in-a
02:05-lifetime
02:05stellar eruption could cause a new star to appear in the summer night sky any time now that could rival
02:10the
02:11brightness of the north star Polaris. I speak of course of the so-called blade star T Corone Borealis,
02:16which brightens dramatically once every 80 years if the light from a thermonuclear explosion erupts
02:21from the atmosphere of a white dwarf star which has been vampirically feeding on material from a
02:26nearby red giant. The last time one of these eruptions reached Earth was in 1946, so we're past due
02:31another brightening. When it does erupt, T Corone Borealis will appear as a bright new star close to the
02:36semi-circular formation of stars that make up the constellation Corona Borealis, which shines high in the
02:41western sky after sunset in August. And that's it for this month. Be sure to head over to space.com
02:46to
02:46find out more about each item on our list and to stay up to date with all the latest news
02:50on the upcoming
02:51lunar and solar eclipses. I've been Anthony Wood for space.com.
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