Celebration of Space - August 14, 2026
Venus and the Crescent Moon in conjunction. Image Credit: Frosty Drew Astronomy Team member, Scott MacNeill
On Saturday and Sunday evening, August 15-16, 2026, Venus and the thin crescent Moon will be putting on a show for sky watchers as they enter conjunction over the eastern horizon just after sunset. Conjunctions occur when two objects of different distances appear to approach each other in the night sky. They usually occur with the Moon and the planets, though many conjunctions will occur with star clusters, asterisms, and brighter stars. Take a moment this weekend to step outside about 15 minutes after sunset and look to the WSW sky, just above the horizon, to catch Venus and the Moon putting on their celestial dance.
Tomorrow night, Saturday, August 15, 2026, Frosty Drew will host our Celebrate the Milky Way event. These are the Saturday nights during the summer months that we think the best views of the Milky Way over Frosty Drew will be visible. Tickets will become available either later today or early tomorrow depending on how the forecast is looking. Learn more about the event.
Just when you thought that the eclipse buzz was over, think again, because a near-total lunar eclipse will be occurring on Thursday, August 27, 2026. This eclipse is actually listed as a partial lunar eclipse because the Moon will only pass through 93.5% of Earth’s umbra (primary shadow). Though at 93.5% the crimson red hues that the Moon takes on during total eclipses will be visible. At Frosty Drew our event starts at 9:00 pm and goes until 3:00 am, with maximum eclipse occurring at 12:11 am. Put the date on your calendar and start to make plans now for the event. Learn more about the eclipse.
This past Wednesday, August 12, 2026 a fabulous 14% partial solar eclipse occurred over Frosty Drew. We had several telescopes set up, as well as other viewing devices. We also cataloged the eclipse event with a camera attached to a telescope. Though we are still working through the data sets, we are posting updates to our website as new images are ready. Take a moment to periodically check in on our eclipse gallery for images from the event.
