Features: Calendar | Lunar Almanac | Monthly Topic
This Month's Night Sky - NOTE: The next paragraph describes the sky as it
appears at 10 pm EST (11 pm EDT) near mid- month. The sky also looks
this way at 11 pm EST (midnight EDT) during the beginning of the month and
at 9 pm EST (10 pm EDT) by month's end.
The Summer Triangle asterism, Vega (Lyra), Denab (Cygnus)
and Altair (Aquila), is still quite prominent overhead as
darkness falls. Arcturus (Bootes) is now dipping to the
NW horizon. From a dark site, the myriad stars of the
Milky Way (the visible "arm" of our galaxy), "flow"
eastwards through the "W" asterism of Cassiopeia and to
bright Capella (Auriga) glowing in the NE. The Great
Square asterism of Pegasus burns high in the SE while
lonely Formalhaut (Piscis Austrinus) shines far below,
very close to the horizon. "The Big Dipper" asterism
(Ursa Major) is nearly horizontal and now sits low on the
N horizon. In the E, Aldebaran (Taurus) shines, a sure
sign of Autumn.
If you're very fortunate, you might see MERCURY lurking
low just above the western horizon. It will appear deep
in the glow of sunset. This is probably a binocular
object. VENUS appears low in the east just before dawn.
It rises higher and higher as the month progresses. It
is so bright that you can see it with your naked eye all
the way into daylight. It helps to locate it early so
you can follow it into daylight. MARS rises late in the
evening becoming very bright. A telescope should some
of its surface features. JUPITER is the first planet to
become visible as night falls. It takes on the role of
the "evening star" recently vacated by Venus. SATURN
comes into view late in the dawn but rises higher as the
month progresses. It will be easier to see then.
The SUN reaches our autumnal equinox a little before 6 am.
Fall begins for us and spring for those below the equator.
Although the Aurigid Meteors peak early in the morning of
the first, will it produce a shower? Some say it might!
Sorry an e-mail glitch delayed this version of What's Up? - Astra
Calendar of Events
NOTE: For those observers not in the ET zone, convert the calendar times to your zone's time by subtracting one hour for CT, two for MT and three for PT. Don't forget to adjust for Daylight Savings Time when necessary by subtracting one hour from your planisphere's time.; Dawn and dusk times must also be corrected. See your local newspaper, TV news, or cable TV's Weather Channel for sunrise and sunset times. Unfortunately some of these events may occur during daylight hours in your area.
| DATE | EVENT |
01 |
Earth will collide with Comet Kiess' (C/1911 N1) dust trail. This was deposited in 83 BC when the comet last crossed Earth's orbit. Unfortunately it will probably happen too late (7:30) in the morning to observe! |
03 |
Look for a close (one degree +) "conjunction" of
the Moon and the Pleiades (open star cluster M45
in Constellation Taurus) at 4 am. (The Moon and
"orangish" Mars rise together at 2 am in the E.) |
08 |
Look for a very close (less than a degree) "conjunction" of The Moon and the bright star, Regulus (Leo) at 9 pm. |
11 |
A partial solar eclipse occurs but will only be visible in Antarctica and most of South America. Bummer! |
18 |
Look for another very close (less than a degree) "conjunction" of the Moon and the bright star Antares (Scorpius) at 4 am. |
22 |
Look low in the WSW for an extremely close (almost an occultation!) "conjunction" of Mercury and the bright star Spica (Virgo) at 5 am. |
23 |
Autumnal equinox occurs early in the morning. Welcome to fall! (or spring in the southern hemisphere). This will not occur on its traditional date (7/21) for some time. |
26 |
Tonight's full Moon is the most famous of all the year's full Moons. It is the "Harvest Moon" of song and leg and. Because of the relationship of the Earth's and the Moon's orbits, the nearly full Moon rises before sunset for several days in a row and so is "the farmer's friend" allowing extra hours of "daylight" during harvest time. |
Lunar Almanac for September 2007
| Phases of the Moon | Phase and Date(s) | Best viewed before local midnight |
 |
New |
Deep Space Objects |
 |
1st. Qtr |
Planets & Moon |
 |
Full |
Moon |
 |
Last |
Deep Space & Planets |
Topic of the month: Lunar feature: Hipparchus
|
|
Hipparchus is best viewed during the Moon's first quarter. It is the most ancient of a trio of craters near this location. It's western rim has almost been completely destroyed by more recent impacts; note "craterlet" Horrocks at about 3 o'clock. Note also its typical central "mountain" peak. You may also be able to see the fine lines around Hipparchus that are really long, thin valleys that were caused by ejecta during the Mare Imbrium impact. --See you next month ! |
|
| The above image was taken from Damian Peach's web site, " The Moon in Close Up" from Damian Peach's Views of the Solar System at www.damianpeach.com. This image is reproduced by permission. | |
This installment of "Whats Up?" is ©2007 Ronald A. Leeseberg, encoded by Dawn Jenkins for Astra's Stargate.
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