{"id":3159,"date":"2026-08-01T04:15:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/?p=3159"},"modified":"2026-08-01T04:15:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:15:55","slug":"griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-august-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/2026\/08\/01\/griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-august-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffith Observatory Sky Report through August, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/strong><\/a>LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AUG_2026_Sky_Report.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between August 1 and August 31, 2026. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California.<\/p>\n

All times are in Pacific Daylight Time, PDT.<\/p>\n

SUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the 1st<\/sup>, the sun rises at 6:05 a.m., and sets at 7:54 p.m. On the 31st<\/sup>, the sun rises at 6:26 a.m., and sets at 7:20 p.m.<\/p>\n

PLANETS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mercury<\/strong> rises in the east-northeast at 4:38 a.m., on the 1st<\/sup>, with a disk that is 35-percent illuminated and 7.9 arcseconds wide. On the 15th<\/sup>, Mercury rises in the east-northeast at 5:14 a.m., and the sun rises at 6:15 a.m., one hour one minute later. The planet is 84-percent illuminated and 5.6 arcseconds wide. A telescope with a magnification of 150x is required to see the disk. After the 15th<\/sup>, Mercury is close to the sun, and it is not safe to observe. Do not observe any planet when it comes close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.<\/p>\n

Venus<\/strong> sets in the west at 10:00 p.m., on the 1st<\/sup>, with a disk that is 56-percent illuminated and 21 arcseconds wide. On the 31st<\/sup>, Venus sets in the west-southwest at 9:02 p.m., with a disk that is 39-percent illuminated and 30 arcseconds wide. A telescope with a magnification of 100x is needed to see the planet\u2019s disk.<\/p>\n

Mars<\/strong> is in Taurus the Bull. The planet crosses into Gemini the Twins on the 11th<\/sup>. On the 1st<\/sup>, Mars rises in the east-northeast at 2:33 a.m., with a disk that is 94-percent illuminated and 4.7 arcseconds wide. On the 31st<\/sup>, Mars rises in the east-northeast at 2:01 a.m., with a disk that is 92-percent illuminated and 5.0 arcseconds wide. A telescope with a magnification of 200x is needed to see its disk.<\/p>\n

Jupiter<\/strong> is in Cancer the Crab. On the 1st<\/sup>, the planet is close to the sun, and it is not safe to observe.\u00a0 On the 31st<\/sup>, Jupiter rises in the east-northeast at 4:28 a.m. A telescope capable of magnification 50x will show the Red Spot, and the four bright Galilean moons can be seen moving back and forth, across and behind Jupiter.<\/p>\n

Saturn<\/strong> is in Pisces the Fishes. On the 1st<\/sup>, Saturn rises in the east at 10:56 p.m., with a disk that is 18 arcseconds wide. On the 31st<\/sup>, the planet rises at 8:56 p.m. The rings and Saturn\u2019s largest moon, Titan, can be seen with a telescope capable of magnification 50x.<\/p>\n

Uranus<\/strong> is in Taurus the Bull. On the 1st<\/sup>, the planet rises in the east-northeast at 1:23 a.m. On the 31st<\/sup>, Uranus rises at 11:23 p.m. On the 15th<\/sup>, Uranus is at Right Ascension 4h<\/sup> 14m<\/sup> 1s<\/sup> and declination of +21\u00b0 2\u02b9 56\u02ba. A magnification of 150x or more is needed to see the planet\u2019s 3.6-arcsecond disk.<\/p>\n

Neptune<\/strong> is in Pisces the Fishes. On the 1st<\/sup>, Neptune rises in the east at 10:24 p.m. On the 31st<\/sup>, Neptune rises at 8:25 p.m. On the 15th<\/sup>, Neptune is at Right Ascension 0h<\/sup> 17m<\/sup> 3s<\/sup> and declination of +0\u00b0 19\u02b9 1\u02ba. A magnification of 150x or more is needed to see the planet\u2019s 2.3-arcsecond disk.<\/p>\n

The moon <\/strong>is at last quarter on the 5th<\/sup>, new on the 12th<\/sup>, first quarter on the 19th<\/sup>, and full on the 27th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL EVENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

A partial lunar eclipse<\/strong> will occur on Thursday, the 27th<\/sup>. The moon rises at 7:18 p.m. The moon enters the penumbra, the outer part of earth\u2019s shadow, at 6:24 p.m., before the moon appears. The moon enters the umbra, the inner part of earth\u2019s shadow, at 7:34 p.m. Maximum eclipse occurs at 9:13 p.m., when 96-percent of the Moon is obscured by Earth’s umbra. The moon exits the umbra at 10:52 p.m.<\/p>\n

Griffith Observatory will do a livestream Internet broadcast of this event.<\/p>\n

The Perseid meteor shower<\/strong> is the most popular meteor shower. It is active from July 17 to August 24. They peak from 9:16 p.m., on the 11th<\/sup> through 5:13 a.m., on the 12th<\/sup>. The moon is new and will not interfere with observation. Normal rates as seen from rural locations range from 50 to 100 shower members per hour at maximum. The best viewing is at sites away from all artificial lights. The Perseids are particles released from comet 109P\/Swift-Tuttle. They are called Perseids because the radiant, the area of the sky from which the meteors seem to originate, is located near the prominent constellation Perseus the Hero.<\/p>\n

Griffith Observatory normally provides free public sky observing day and night \u2013 weath\u00ader permitting \u2013 through a variety of telescopes. Currently, the Observatory is open Tuesday through Sunday. To plan a visit to the Observatory, please see our website (www.griffithobs.org) for the latest information. The Sky Report, also available on the website, pro\u00advides monthly observing information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AUG_2026_Sky_Report.mp3 This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between August 1 and August 31, 2026. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California. All times are in Pacific … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-skyreport"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3161,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3159\/revisions\/3161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}