Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
Summertime for astronomy at the latitude of Novosibirsk, especially the month before and after the summer solstice on June 21, is a period of calm, since the nights are too light and short, so the opportunities for observing interesting astronomical phenomena are reduced. And only in August, with the return of dark and longer nights, astronomical observations come alive again.
However, it is during the brightest nights that there is a good opportunity to observe noctilucent clouds. This is not a completely astronomical phenomenon, since it occurs in the Earth’s atmosphere, but bright noctilucent clouds are a good object for summer night observations and filming. They appear differently on different nights, sometimes they are practically invisible, and sometimes very large and bright fields of “silver” are visible. It is impossible to say in advance when they will be clearly visible, but it is definitely worth observing such a phenomenon, especially for those who have not seen them before.
August 10. Moon occultation of the star Deneb Algedi (Delta Capricornus). This is a fairly bright star (magnitude 2.9), so its occultation should be quite visible in binoculars or a telescope. It is interesting that for Novosibirsk this occultation is tangential, i.e. the Moon will cover the star with the very edge of its disk. Since the lunar disk is not perfectly flat due to the presence of mountains on the Moon, then during tangential occultations multiple occultations and emergences of the star from behind the lunar disk at the beginning and end of the occultation can be observed. For Novosibirsk, the occultation parameters are as follows: beginning at 04:07:52, altitude 14°, end at 04:25:43, altitude 13°.
August 12-13. Perseid meteor shower peak. One of the so-called “big three” showers, that is, one of the three most active annual meteor showers, the peak of which occurs on August 12-13. At this time, its activity reaches approximately 100 meteors per hour, if you observe them outside the city, under a dark sky. However, this year during the Perseid maximum, the bright Moon will be shining in the sky, so even outside the city, the sky will be heavily illuminated by it, which will significantly worsen the ability to observe the shower and reduce the number of meteors observed. Nevertheless, the activity of the Perseids is such that their observation can be recommended even with lunar illumination, especially since they can produce very bright meteors and even fireballs.
The Perseid radiant is located in the constellation Perseus, which is where the shower gets its name. The radiant is the point in the sky from which the shower’s meteors fly out. To simplify, we can say that the Perseid meteors fly out of the constellation Perseus. The shower’s radiant is located quite high above the horizon throughout the dark time of day. During the maximum, this is approximately from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. However, the height of the radiant during this time increases from approximately 30 to 60 degrees, so as the night progresses, the conditions for observing the Perseids and the number of their meteors increase.
At the same time, in the pre-dawn hours before sunrise, around 4 a.m., you will be able to see two bright “stars” low above the northeastern horizon – this is what the conjunction of the two brightest planets in the earth’s sky – Jupiter and Venus – will look like.
August 16-17. Occultation of the Pleiades by the Moon. The series of occultations of the Pleiades star cluster by the Earth’s satellite, which occurs once every 18 years, continues. The period of 18 years is equal to the duration of the lunar saros (draconic period), which is caused by the precession of the lunar orbit. In other words, this is the period of precession of the Moon’s orbit. The Pleiades cluster is located in the sky slightly above the ecliptic, however, due to the precession and the tilt of the lunar orbit of about 5 degrees, the Moon in its visible movement across the sky periodically (every 18 years) “reaches” the Pleiades and causes a series of occultations of the cluster.
At the latitude of Novosibirsk, the current series of occultations began in mid-2024 and will end in March 2028. Occultations occur approximately once a month (more precisely, every 29 days, which corresponds to the sidereal period of the Moon). However, not every occultation is visible in Novosibirsk. For example, in the summer of 2025, of the three occultations of the Pleiades, only one will be visible – on August 16-17.
To observe this occultation (or rather, a group of occultations), you need to use binoculars or a telescope. In its orbit around the Earth, the Moon will pass in front of the Pleiades stars and will cover them from an observer on Earth for some time. Through binoculars or a telescope, you will be able to see the Moon gradually approaching various stars of the cluster, then at some point they will disappear behind the lunar disk, and after some time they will reappear on the other side. Unfortunately, in this case, the Moon’s actual occultations of the Pleiades stars will occur at a very low altitude above the horizon, approximately from 23 to 00 hours, but later, when the altitude of the Moon and the cluster becomes higher, approximately from 1 to 2 hours, the Moon will not have time to move far from the cluster, which will look good in binoculars or a telescope next to the Moon.
Here are the parameters of coverage of the brightest stars of the Pleiades for Novosibirsk:
Alcyone. Beginning before sunrise, ending at 23:33:43, altitude 4°.
Merope. Beginning before sunrise, ending at 23:07:28, altitude 1°.
Atlas. Start at 23:20:07, altitude 2°, end at 00:02:38, altitude 7°)
Explanation: Usually, various astronomical phenomena can be observed over a more or less large area, and depending on what kind of event we are talking about, they can be visible, for example, in different regions of Siberia or Russia as a whole, or in the entire northern or eastern hemisphere, or even around the world. This review provides information about what remarkable, unusual and interesting astronomical phenomena can be observed in Novosibirsk and its environs in the summer of 2025.
It may well turn out that Novosibirsk will not be the optimal place for observing any of the phenomena indicated in the review, and in other points on our planet this phenomenon will be better visible, however, the circumstances of visibility are given specifically for Novosibirsk.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.