Stargazing Challenges - August 2025
- 24th Jul 2025
- Author: Dhara Patel
Each month, we'll be sharing a trio of stargazing challenges for you to try your hand at.
This August, see if you're able to find the easily recognisable star pattern called the Summer Triangle asterism, catch one of the best annual meteor showers - the Perseids, and spot the waning crescent Moon join Venus and Jupiter in the predawn sky.
Challenge 1 - Summer Triangle
On 1 August, can you find the Summer Triangle asterism?
From the start of the month keep a look out for a familiar star pattern known as the Summer Triangle during the late evening, around 22:00. Towards the beginning of the month, you’ll be able to spot it in the southeast and it will appear further to the south towards the end of August.
The Summer Triangle is not an official constellation but is instead made of three bright stars from three different constellations. The inverted triangle has the star Vega (in the constellation of Lyra) marking its top right corner, Deneb (the brightest star in the constellation of Cygnus) at its top left corner and the star Altair (in the constellation of Aquila) at the bottom marking the final point of the triangle.
Vega is the fifth brightest star in the sky and, because the Earth’s celestial pole or axis slowly wobbles (just like a spinning top wobbles), it draws out a circle in space over time, meaning in about 12,000 years it will point towards Vega rather than Polaris, making it our new North star!
Although to the naked eye it’s the faintest star in the Summer Triangle, Deneb is actually much further away making it one of the most luminous stars in the sky. It’s estimated to lie 2,600 light years away compared to Vega and Altair at a mere 25 and 16.7 lightyears away respectively.
Altair is whitish-blue in colour, alike to Vega and Deneb. It’s almost twice as big as our Sun, but it spins very quickly – once every 8.9 hours. (In comparison, our Sun takes approximately 25 days to rotate once). Altair’s rapid rotation causes it to bulge out at its equator, so it’s shaped more like a squashed ball, even though it looks like a spherical point of light to the naked eye.
Challenge 2: Perseid meteor shower
On 12-13 August, can you catch some meteors from the Perseid meteor shower?
On the late evening of 12 August and into the early hours of 13 August, try looking for some meteors shooting across the sky during the peak of the Perseids. The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most prolific of the year with up to 100 meteors visible per hour in ideal conditions. Look toward the east where the radiant lies but ensure to scan the skies. Observing during the early hours, around 04:00, is best as the radiant will be high in the sky.
Each year, as our planet ploughs through the trail of tiny fragments of rock and dust left by a comet on its previous encounters with our star, this debris burns up in our atmosphere and appears as quick flashes of light streaking across the sky – meteors! The Perseids originate from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle which takes approximately 133 years to complete an orbit. Though it last passed by the Sun in 1992, we still see this meteor shower each year due to the debris it has left behind. You can find out more in our blog: Perseid Meteor Shower 2025, and discover other annual meteor showers to look out for.
In reality, you’ll see far fewer meteors than the peak rate especially as the waning gibbous moon will be up throughout the majority of the night on the 12-13 August and its light is likely to outshine many of the fainter meteors. However, it’s definitely still worth heading out to catch them – it’s honestly a bit of magic spotting one! To improve your chances, head away from urban areas filled with streetlights and light pollution, and find a location with clear views of the horizon to give you the widest view of the whole sky as possible. And have a little patience – once you’ve spotted one, you’ll want to stick around to see another!
Challenge 3 - Moon, Venus and Jupiter
Are you able to spot the Moon, Venus and Jupiter on 21 August?
During the early morning on 21 August, look towards the east to spot the very thin waning crescent moon with the planet Jupiter sitting higher up and to the right of it with Venus positioned almost exactly between the two. The Moon will appear as a faint slither so ensure you’re viewing from the darkest location you can to make it easier to spot. The two planets beside it should be easily visible to the naked eye.
Venus is often known as the morning star as it’s usually the last point of light to disappear as the Sun begins to rise and daylight drowns out the night sky. Its brightness is due to it being one of the closest planets to Earth and its thick atmosphere reflecting a significant amount of sunlight. Though other planets can appear bright at times, Venus is consistently the brightest planet.
Jupiter is also a very bright planet – despite its great distance from the Earth, its large size allows it to reflect enough sunlight making it visible as a point of light to our eyes. Using a pair of binoculars or a telescope you could try looking for the Galilean moons around Jupiter – on the morning of 21 August, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto should appear as faint spots of light beside the planet.
And if you fancy a greater challenge, you might also be able to spot Mercury join the trio. You’ll need vey clear views of the horizon, but closer to 05:00, you might be able to spot the light of Mercury below the Moon. As it climbs above the horizon, day will begin to break so it’ll be tricky to catch – but good luck!
How did you get on? Were you able to spot our stargazing highlights this month?
If you enjoyed putting your stargazing skills to the test, then keep a look out for the astronomy challenges we'll be sharing each month. And don't forget to share your photos with us using #NSCstargazers
And find out what else you can see this month with our 'What's in the Night Sky' video.
Full references / credits:
(Banner) Skyscape. Credit: © National Space Centre
(1) The Summer Triangle on 1 August. Credit: © National Space Centre
(2) Perseid meteor shower on 13 August. Credit: © National Space Centre
(3) The Moon, Venus and Jupiter on 21 August. Credit: © National Space Centre
