August 2023
Here in Maryland we’re saying Good Riddance to July hoping it can’t be any more hot and humid in August than it’s been in July.
August is a special month because there are two full moons, on August 1 and August 30.
August 1, Tuesday is the Full Sturgeon Moon, named after the fresh water fish found in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.
Also on August 1 is a nighttime launch at NASA’s Wallop Island Flight Facility. The launch is the 19th resupply mission by Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft headed for the International Space Station. Cygnus is scheduled to rendezvous with the station on Friday, August 4, for robotic installation to the Unity module’s Earth-facing.
Birding Festivals and Star Parties in August
Birding Festivals
August 2-5 Southwest Wings Sierra Vista, AZ
August 9-13 Southeast AZ Birding Festival Tucson AZ
Star Parties
August 8-12 Table Mountain Star Party Oroville CA
August 16-20 Northern Nights Star Festival Palisade MN
August 17-20 Stellafane https://stellafane.org/convention/ Springfield VT
August 17-20 Iowa Star Party https://www.iowastarparty.com/ Coon Rapid IA
August 18-22 Almost Heaven Star Party https://www.ahsp.org/ Spruce Knob WV
August 18-20 Northwoods Starfest https://www.cvastro.org/northwoods-starfest/ Fall Creek WI
August 30 Full Moon
NASA Science tells us that Wednesday morning at 11:55 AM EDT, the Moon will be at perigee, its closest to the earth for this orbit. This will be the second full Moon in August, making it a Blue Moon and a supermoon. The Moon will appear full for three days around the time of the full Moon, from Tuesday night to Friday morning.
