James Abbott of North Essex Astronomical Society explains what you should look out for in the sky in August.

The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak on August 12, with maximum rates pre-dawn and again from late evening on the 12th into the early hours of the 13th.

The meteors will appear to come from a point in the constellation of Perseus which will be rising up the sky in the east.

The Perseids are active from mid-July to late August but the best rates are always at the peak or a day or so either side of it.

After many months with the brighter planets being quite elusive, they will start to become more prominent as we move into late summer and autumn.

Mars and Jupiter will be close together in the constellation of Taurus in mid-August, with closest approach being between August 13 and 15 (see map).

The pair will be joined by the waning moon on the mornings of the 27th and 28th. Jupiter will be much the brighter of the two planets.

Full moon is on the evening of August 19 and on the following night, just to the left of the moon, will be Saturn.

The planet will be almost lost in the glare of the moon and so binoculars might be needed to get a clearer view.

As the night goes on, the moon will gradually get closer to Saturn and from about 4.20am on the 21st, Saturn will disappear behind the moon, the event lasting for about an hour.

With the waning moon moving out of the evening sky in the last week of August, and with summer twilight receding, stargazing can start at 10.30pm.

Looking to the north, the familiar shape of Ursa Major (the Great Bear) will be visible, and at this time of year the stars can more readily be seen as another of it names – the saucepan – with the handle parallel to the horizon.

Constellations of stars are prominent patterns people have named, with some like the ‘Great Bear’ having been first named thousands of years ago.

For most constellations, the stars are at greatly varying distances, which modern astronomy revealed.

However, the seven bright stars of Ursa Major are actually all at similar distances, between 80 and 120 light years away, and several of these are siblings, having formed in the same stellar nursery about 500 million years ago. Our sun is about 10 times older.