August’s Astronomical Outlook: A plethora of celestial events
Chicago Weather: Hazy skies continue to linger over the area
Fox 32 Meteorologist Kaitlin Cody has the forecast for Aug. 6, 2025.
CHICAGO - Astronomers and stargazers alike have a plethora of celestial events to view over the next 7 days.
- Friday, August 8 and Saturday, August 9: View the full "Sturgeon Moon"
- Sunday, August 10: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune will form a conga line in the sky!
- Tuesday, August 12 and Wednesday August 13: The Perseid Meteor Shower will set the night sky ablaze.
What we know:
As they say, the show must go on, regardless of what the weather throws in the way.
On Friday and Saturday, the chances of viewing the full moon are stellar with only a 20% chance of an isolated shower or thunderstorm; furthermore, any storm that is in the area will be reliant upon the daytime heating.
Thus, any pesky storm during the evening hours will dissipate so as to not obstruct the full moon viewing!
Planetary Parade:
On Sunday August 10, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune will be present in the night sky.
According to NASA, these events are quite common, but usually only feature a four or five planetary alignment. It is important to note that Uranus and Neptune will require a telescope to view.
As for the forecast, a front is expected to meander into the area during the evening on Sunday which is resulting in a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms.
The low probability is a result of the uncertainty in timing of the front which we can do nothing but hope it delays its arrival to leave the skyline clear enough.
The Perseid Meteor Shower:
Arguably the best for last, the Perseid Meteor Shower is famous for producing long and fiery streaks across the night sky.
The problem this year is that the moon will be 84% illuminated which will dampen the amount of meteors visible to the naked eye.
Additionally, the weather does not want to cooperate as of now with our next round of severe weather expected early next week.
There is still a fair amount of uncertainty on the timing, but if that has not deterred you be sure to find a safe spot free of light pollution and set your cell phone camera settings to maximum exposure!
