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August Night Sky Guide: What to See in the Skies Above Broken Hill

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Outback Astronomy
Published on 30/07/2025
Milky Way Galaxy diagram showing spiral arms and Sun’s position. Credit: NASA/Chandra. Part of our August night sky guide.

August Night Sky Guide: Discover the Best of the Southern Sky

Welcome to your August night sky guide – created for stargazers in Australia, especially those enjoying the vast dark skies of Broken Hill and Outback NSW. This month delivers a spectacular line-up of celestial sights: the Milky Way arches high overhead, Saturn reaches peak brightness at opposition, and a handful of meteor showers flicker through the early morning skies.

Whether you’re a newcomer to stargazing or a seasoned observer, August offers prime viewing conditions. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the moon phases, key constellations, visible planets, and when and where to look. We’ll focus on early evening skywatching from around 7:30pm to 10:00pm – perfect for naked-eye viewing under Australia’s outback skies or even from a suburban backyard.

August’s Moon Phases: Planning Around Lunar Light

Before we get to the stars, it’s helpful to understand this month’s lunar cycle, as moonlight significantly affects visibility, especially for fainter objects like the Milky Way Galaxy’s hazy band or meteor showers.

  • First Quarter: 1 August
  • Full Moon: 9 August
  • Third Quarter or Last Quarter: 16 August
  • New Moon: 23 August
  • First Quarter: 31 August

The darkest skies are ideal for stargazing. Aim for an appropriate night during the month.

  • A crescent moon is a thin curve we see of the Moon (less than half of the Moon’s surface is illuminated by sunlight) in the early evening sky. Crescent moons are seen low on the western horizon after New Moon.
  • Gibbous moons (more than half full, and seen close to full moon) are generally low on the eastern horizon in the early evening sky.
  • A full moon period is when the Moon is fully illuminated by sunlight and rises in the east as the Sun sets in the west. A full moon effectively overpowers fainter stars and deep-sky objects. Having said that, remember that the Moon itself becomes a fascinating object to explore with binoculars (tip – put them on a tripod for steady, enjoyable viewing).

The Milky Way – Inland Australia’s Celestial Backbone

August is peak season for viewing the Milky Way in the Southern Hemisphere. Learn more about the galaxy here.

Why is August so special? Because naked eye stargazers don’t need to wait long after sunset to see the view with immediate thrilling and awesome impact. In the early evening, it stretches high overhead – generally from the South to the North. This dense star field with its characteristic hazy milky-coloured band is visible from dark locations, including Outback Astronomy on the outskirts of Broken Hill. Look up and you’ll see it as a milky band of light. What you’re actually seeing is the edge-on view of our own galaxy.

Key regions of interest:

  • The Galactic Core, at least the direction to look to know you are looking towards it: Near the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius, this is the brightest, most concentrated section of the Milky Way (where the highest population of stars are located). From Broken Hill, sticking to early evening viewing, the Milky Way is best seen during the last three weeks of August ensuring you view early evenings, avoiding times when the Moon may be near the galactic core, say the five nights near full Moon.
  • Dark patches like the Coalsack Nebula, just beside the Southern Cross, are easier to spot this time of year.

Best viewing: Between 7:30pm and 10:00pm, before the Milky Way starts to set toward the west later in the evening.

The image of the galaxy accompanying this article is quite particular and special. It’s an authoritative illustration of the Milky Way showing the location of the Sun, created by NASA. This face-on schematic highlights the spiral arms, including the Orion Spur (or Orion Arm), with our Sun clearly marked about two‑thirds of the way out from the galaxy’s centre. The diagram reflects current astronomical understanding – that our Milky Way Galaxy is a barred spiral type of galaxy, with the Sun roughly 25,000 to 28,000 light‑years from the Galactic Centre. Our Sun orbits the Galactic Centre at approximately 220–230 km/s, completing one revolution roughly every 230 million years. The Milky Way spans about 100,000 light‑years in diametre, and most stars, including the Sun, are part of the thin disk.

Take a deep dive to learn more about the image and the science behind it here.

Standout Constellations in the August Night Sky

August offers a fantastic mix of winter constellations and some early arrivals from the spring sky.

  1. Scorpius
  • Easily recognised by its curved stinger tail and bright red heart, the star Antares.
  • Scorpius rides high overhead in the north-western sky during early evening hours.
  • It’s an excellent guidepost for spotting other features of the Milky Way.
  1. Sagittarius
  • Just to the east of Scorpius, this constellation is shaped like a teapot.
  • Home to the Milky Way’s galactic core and many star clusters.
  1. Southern Cross (Crux)
  • Still visible in the south-western sky, though much lower now as winter fades.
  • Use the Pointer Stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri, to help find it.
  1. Capricornus
  • Rising high in the east during the latter half of the month.
  • Though faint and hard to see in city skies, it is visible from our darker sky, with an arrowhead shape of stars.
  1. Hercules and Ophiuchus
  • Both cross the Outback Astronomy northern sky during the early evening.
  • Span a sky area from the low flat horizon to directly above, zenith.
  • Look for the faint globular cluster M13 in the side of Hercules – naked eye visible in the second half of the month – a true test of how dark your sky is if you have great visibility on the night (no dust, stray light scatter, minimal moisture in the air).

Planets Visible in August 2025

Saturn

  • On 15 August, Saturn is at its closest and brightest – called “opposition” in astronomy. The Sun, Earth and Saturn are lined up in a row in the solar system (we on Earth are at the centre) and sunlight is hitting Saturn, its full face, all night, similar to a full moon.
  • Look east at sunset. Find Saturn rising early in the East amongst the faint stars of Pisces. It will be visible all evening.
  • Appears bright, steady, yellowish dot, stunning through a telescope with its rings almost edge on this year, and highly visible to the naked eye.

Mars

  • Find in Virgo low in the west all month.
  • Look for a red dot in a fairly lowly populated part of the galaxy, well away from the galactic core.

Meteor Showers – A Subtle Show in Broken Hill Skies

Perseids (peak: 12–13 August)

  • Famous in the Northern Hemisphere.
  • Not very visible from Australia during the peak – but the meteors are about from late July to 24 August.
  • You might catch a few meteors in the northern sky if you look after 4am.
  • This is well publicised shower but fainter than ever this year as the Moon is very bright and not far away from the area of the shower.
  • Try looking early morning in the north when the Moon is smaller or not risen, say 19-24 August – you may be lucky.

Looking Ahead to September

September brings a few notable events that skywatchers should pencil in:

Naked-Eye vs City Viewing

If you’re in Broken Hill, you’ll enjoy some of the best dark skies the country has to offer. This makes the Milky Way, constellations like Scorpius, and even the fainter stars of Capricornus easily visible.

However, even in urban areas, you can still:

  • Spot Saturn
  • Identify bright stars like Antares and Altair
  • Observe the Moon phases
  • Recognise major constellations such as Scorpius and Sagittarius

August is a brilliant month for stargazing in Australia, and Broken Hill’s dry, clear skies provide one of the best natural observatories in the country. Whether you’re watching from a backyard in town or attending a Sky Show under the stars at Outback Astronomy, now is the time to look up and reconnect with the cosmos.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can see Saturn in the east from sunset and Mars low in the west. Saturn is at opposition on 15 August, making it especially bright and visible all night.

Yes, August is peak viewing time for the Milky Way in the Southern Hemisphere. From Broken Hill, it’s visible overhead in the early evening.

The darkest skies are around New Moon (23 August). Aim between 7:30pm and 10:00pm for ideal conditions and avoid the Full Moon (9 August).

Are you ready to book your Outback Astronomy experience?

Explore our upcoming night sky sessions and reserve your spot beneath the big Broken Hill skies.

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