Dog Days

The "Dog days of summer" are coming to an end and one might expect that would mean that cooler temperatures will be coming quickly. However, although the dog days are associated with summer time heat, they are associated more by correlation than by causation. 
The time from early July until mid August is often the hottest time of year in the northern hemisphere. It is also the time of year that the constellation Canis Major (the big dog) and Sirius, the night's brightest star, are emerging from being behind the sun.
Sirius, (the Dog Star) is just now visible in the early morning sky, rising just before sunrise. By winter it will be visible nearly the entire night, rising at around 7:30 PM on the solstice. 

I mention this because our temps are heading upwards again and will be nearing 100 (38 C) degrees in just a few days. The couple of cooler days were welcome, but today starts another warm up. I'm okay with that.  The continuing March towards shorter days and cooler temps makes me a little sad. 
I am a summer boy.

August is motivating me to get ready for the coming winter. And by "getting ready for winter" I mean planning a trip to a warmer climate! I hope that airfare remains affordable for trips to Mexico. Or maybe we can plan something along the southern coast of Texas or Florida. That would work, too.

Happy Monday.
Enjoy the sun and the summer. 
Summer days are going quickly.

John

August

It is going to be an unusually cool and overcast day for this time of year.
Overall, it has been a pretty decent summer. Although we have had our hot days, they have been bearable and we have only reached 100 degrees (38 C) one time -- so far.

I'm basically a summer person and the hot days don't really bother me that much. In fact, we managed almost all of June with the windows open and no A/C. It will be nice to turn the A/C off for the day and let the fresh air flow through the house today.

The night sky in August is a good one. The so called star of the show is generally the Perseids meteor shower which peaks on the night of the 12th and early morning of the 13th. For those in Iceland or Spain, a total solar eclipse happens during the daylight hours of the 12th. This means that there is a new moon phase and dark sky for the nighttime meteor shower. 
North American sky watchers can catch the partial lunar eclipse later in the month on the evening of the 27th.

Additionally, there will be an early morning planetary alignment that coincides with the solar eclipse and meteor shower. Venus will still be in the evening sky, but the rest of the planets will line up nicely just before dawn in the eastern sky on the morning of the 12th.
It should be noted that Neptune and Uranus are not visible without a small telescope and Mercury, never very far from the sun, will not be visible until just before sunrise.

Tuesday, August 4, is Primary day in Missouri with several important ballot items. 
Missouri voters are weird. They will vote for progressive ballot initiatives and also vote for the conservative representatives that oppose them and often try to overturn the will of the people through other legislative measures. 
smh

The calendar page turns and life moves on.

Happy August!
John