🌗 Last Quarter Moon — August 6, 2026
The Moon reaches Last Quarter on Thursday, August 6.
At this phase:
- The Moon rises around midnight.
- It is highest before sunrise.
- Evenings become beautifully dark once again.
This marks the return of excellent deep-sky observing conditions.
🌙 Moon Phase This Week
🌖 Waning Gibbous → 🌗 Last Quarter
August 3–5
- Waning Gibbous Moon
- Moon rises later every night
- Dark evenings steadily return
August 6
🌗 Last Quarter Moon
Excellent conditions for observing lunar craters along the terminator.
August 7–9
- Waning Half Moon
- Evening skies become almost completely moon-free
- Deep-sky observing improves dramatically
☄️ Meteor Activity
🌠 Perseid Meteor Shower Builds
The Perseid Meteor Shower continues increasing in activity ahead of its spectacular peak next week.
While peak rates haven’t arrived yet, observers under dark skies can already begin spotting:
- Fast bright meteors
- Long persistent trails
- Occasional fireballs
⭐ Best viewing
After midnight until dawn.
The darker skies following Last Quarter make this one of the first excellent Perseid observing weeks of the year.
🌌 Deep-Sky Highlights
⭐ Best nights: August 7–9
Northern Hemisphere
Look for:
- 🌌 Andromeda Galaxy (M31) becoming easier before dawn
- 🌌 M13 Globular Cluster
- 🌌 Ring Nebula (M57)
- 🌌 Dumbbell Nebula (M27)
- 🌌 Lagoon Nebula (M8)
- 🌌 Double Cluster in Perseus beginning to climb higher
- 🌌 The Summer Triangle dominating overhead
Southern Hemisphere
Continue enjoying:
- 🌌 Milky Way Core
- 🌌 Omega Centauri
- 🌌 Eta Carinae Nebula
- 🌌 Southern Cross
With the Moon no longer dominating the evening sky, these become some of the darkest nights since mid-July.
🪐 Planet Watch
🌇 After Sunset (Western Sky)
Watch for:
- Venus, brilliant in evening twilight
- Mars, now noticeably fainter
- Jupiter, approaching solar conjunction and becoming increasingly difficult to observe.
Best viewing:
30–45 minutes after sunset