Eclipses of the Sun and the Moon during August are not visible from New Zealand.
Orbital diagrams Inner planets: Dec 2007 to Mar 2008, Apr to Jul 2008, Jul to Nov 2008 and the outer planets for 2008.
| Date (NZDT) | Diary of Solar System Events in August 2008 for New Zealand |
| August 1 | New Moon at 10:13 pm NZST (10:13 UT). An eclipse of the Sun occurs in northern hemisphere. |
| August 3 | 4% lit crescent Moon 4.5° from Saturn, early evening sky. |
| August 4 | 10% lit crescent Moon 3.5° from Mars, early evening sky. |
| August 6 | Venus 1° from star Regulus, magnitude 1.4, low in early evening twilight. |
| August 7 | 35% lit Moon 4° above star Spica, magnitude 1.1, closest early evening. |
| August 9 | Moon at first quarter 8:20 pm NZST (Aug 8, 20:20 UT). |
| August 10 | 65% lit Moon about 4° from the star Antares, magnitude 1.1, closest late evening. |
| August 11 | Moon at apogee, its greatest distance from the Earth for the Lunar month, 404558 km. |
| August 13 | 89% lit Moon 3° from Jupiter, closer after midnight. |
| August 13 & 14 | Venus just over 0.5° from Saturn, low in early evening twilight. |
| August 15 | Neptune at opposition. |
| August 15 & 16 | Mercury about 1° from Saturn, low in early evening twilight. |
| August 17 | Full Moon at 9:17 am NZST (16 Aug 21:17 UT). A deep partial eclipse is visible from most of Eurasia and Africa. |
| August 20 & 21 | Mercury less than 1° from Venus, low in early evening twilight. |
| August 24 | Moon at last quarter 11:50 am NZST (Aug 23, 23:50 UT). |
| August 26 | Moon at perigee, its closest to the Earth for the Lunar month, 368697 km. |
| August 31 | New Moon at 7:58 am NZST (Aug 30, 19:58 UT). The second New Moon for August. |
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MERCURY begins to move into the evening sky after being at superior conjunction with the Sun at the end of July. At first it will be too close to the Sun to observe, but will gradually move up into the evening twilight during the month.
A grouping of the three planets, Mercury, Venus and Saturn in the middle of the month will provide a good opportunity for a first view of Mercury. Binoculars will help in the evening twilight, although Venus should be readily visible. Viewing within half an hour of sunset would be best.
On August 15 Mercury will 1° to the lower left of Saturn, with Venus 1.7° above Saturn. Mercury, magnitude -0.5, will be considerably brighter than Saturn, magnitude 0.8. The following night Mercury will be a similar distance to the upper left of Saturn.
After its encounter with Saturn, Mercury will close in on Venus. By August 20 Mercury will be just under a degree from Venus, to its left. The following night the two will be a similar distance apart with Mercury now slightly higher than Venus.
During the rest of August, Mercury will gradually climb a little higher than Venus, although by the 31st they will still only be 3° apart, still in a binocular field. By then Mercury will set over 2 hours after the Sun and be a respectable 15° up 45 minutes after sunset, making it an easy object in the fading twilight.
VENUS moves further up into the evening sky during August, so that by the end of the month it will set just about 2 hours after the Sun. So by then it will be readily visible to the west for a while after sunset
In the second half of August it takes part in a triple planetary conjunction with Mercury and Saturn. This will provide a last opportunity to locate Saturn before it gets too close to the Sun to view. Venus passes Saturn on August 13 in the evening twilight when the two will be just over half a degree apart. The conjunction also provides a first opportunity to pick up Mercury as it emerges from the Sun. Venus and Mercury will remain quite close throughout the second half of August as the pair get higher in the early evening sky.
MARS gradually sets a little earlier in August, about 8.30 pm at the end of the month. So the best time for observing the planet will be as soon as the sky is reasonably dark. Mars starts the month in the constellation Leo, but crosses into Virgo on the evening of august 9. It remains in Virgo for the rest of August.
The crescent Moon 10% lit will be 3.5° to the left of Mars on August 4. By the end of August, Mars will be only a few degrees above Mercury and Venus, all three of them in Virgo. Mars will be faintest at magnitude 1.7.
JUPITER will dominate the evening sky to the east with the other planets to the west and setting early in the evening. The planet will be high in the sky to the north east by late evening. Jupiter remains in Sagittarius and gets closer to the 2nd magnitude star Nunki, σ Sgr, during August, so that the two are just over 3° apart by August 31.
On August 13 the nearly full Moon, 89% lit, will be about 2.5° from Jupiter. The Moon will be even closer to Nunki, with only half a degree, the Moon's diameter, between them. The brightness and proximity of the Moon will make seeing Nunki difficult with the unaided eye.
SATURN will get very low in the evening twilight during August eventually becoming lost in the bright sky by the end of the month. A last chance to readily find the planet, easier with binoculars will be provided as first Venus and then Mercury pass the planet mid month. Venus and Saturn will be closest, little more than half a degree apart on August 13 and 14. On the first evening , Venus will be to the lower left of Saturn, on the second almost directly above Saturn.
Mercury passes Saturn the next two nights. Mercury will be very noticeably brighter than Saturn. On the 15th Mercury will be 1° to the lower left of Saturn, the following night, Mercury will be above and slightly to the left of Saturn. It will be necessary to look for the planets within about half an hour of sunset, but they will be easy to locate as Venus will be about 2° above the other two.
After this, Saturn will be completely lost in the evening twilight. By the end of August it will set less than 15 minutes after the Sun.