Autumn may be the best season for viewing the heavens

952 952 952 952 952 952 952

SKY GUIDE: This map represents the evening sky because it seems over Maine throughout September. The stars are proven as they seem at 10:30 p.m. early within the month, at 9:30 p.m. at midmonth, and at 8:30 p.m. at month’s finish. Jupiter and Saturn are proven at their midmonth positions. To make use of the map, maintain it vertically and switch it in order that the route you might be going through is on the backside.  Sky Chart ready by Seth Lockman

The month of September marks the start of fall for us within the northern hemisphere. This yr that may occur at precisely 2:50 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23. The autumnal and the vernal equinoxes are the one two days annually that the solar will rise due east and set due west for everybody on Earth apart from the poles. Inside a couple of days of these dates the times may also be precisely 12 hours lengthy for everybody on earth apart from the poles. They’re off by a couple of days since we orbit in ellipses and never excellent circles and we’re tilted at 23.5 levels on our axis.

Autumn tends to be our greatest season for viewing the heavens since there’s much less humidity, extra clear days and it’s not too chilly but to benefit from the ever-lengthening nights. There are a number of good highlights to see this month together with Saturn nonetheless close to its greatest for the yr, Jupiter getting a bit brighter and nearer every evening, Venus at its best brilliancy within the morning sky, the perfect morning apparition of Mercury for the yr, and the start of the zodiacal mild changing into seen within the morning sky for a number of months.

Saturn has been at its greatest and brightest and closest for the yr towards the tip of August. In September, it rises just some minutes earlier every evening however remains to be seen nearly all evening lengthy, reaching its highest level within the sky round midnight. The ringed planet is getting barely dimmer and farther away every night, however you gained’t actually discover that till close to the tip of September.

Search for its tender golden glow in Aquarius, the water bearer. Via a great telescope you could even see a few of the white spots in its environment which sign the start of one other season of mega storms that happen each 25-30 years, or in regards to the time it take for Saturn to orbit the solar as soon as. They’re attributable to increased concentrations of ammonia falling as rain or hail from its higher environment into its decrease environment.

A brilliant waxing gibbous moon will likely be close to Saturn on Sept. 26. Discover that its rings are pretty slender now at solely 9 or 10 levels. They are often tilted at a most angle of as much as 27 levels. They’re on their approach right down to zero now, which it can attain in 2025. Then they are going to attain their most angle once more by 2039, midway again to its subsequent 29-year cycle across the solar. People will almost definitely be strolling round on Mars by the point Saturn’s rings attain their most angle once more.

Jupiter isn’t far behind because it now rises round 10 p.m. early in September and it’ll rise by 8 p.m. by the tip of the month. The king of the planets begins its retrograde or westward movement in opposition to the mounted background of stars on Sept. 4 within the constellation of Aries the Ram, two constellations to the east of Saturn in Aquarius. Jupiter will attain its personal opposition on Nov. 3.

Venus will likely be at its best brilliancy for the yr on Sept. 19 at minus 4.8 magnitude, or nearly 100 instances brighter than Saturn and nonetheless seven instances brighter than Jupiter. Via a telescope you’ll discover that it’s a skinny crescent solely 11% lit by the solar at the start of the month and it’ll develop all the way in which to 36% lit by the tip of the month. It can slowly be getting dimmer once more after Sept. 19, however it can proceed to get extra illuminated whilst it’s getting smaller and farther away from us. Venus rises round 5 a.m. and it will likely be slightly below a slender waning crescent moon on Sept. 11 in Most cancers the Crab.

Look ahead to Mercury to pop again into the morning sky one week into September after its inferior conjunction with the solar. Search for our first planet beneath Regulus in Leo the Lion by the center of the month beneath and to the left of Venus after which it reaches its best western elongation from the solar at 18 levels. It will likely be at its brightest on Sept. 29 when it can attain 9 levels excessive above the japanese horizon half an hour earlier than dawn.

There needs to be many comets brighter than tenth magnitude seen to us over the approaching yr. The one for this month ought to attain eighth magnitude and will likely be closest to us on Sept 25 and 26 within the constellation of Auriga, which marks the highest of the winter hexagon. It’s named 103P/Hartley 2. It orbits the solar each 6.5 years and was found by Malcolm Hartley in 1986. It will likely be simply 5 levels above the colourful California Nebula in Perseus in the course of the center of this month, which might be a good time to get an image of this historical and primordial cosmic interloper when you have the tools. In any other case, simply search for it in a pair of binoculars across the center of the month since it will likely be new moon on Sept. 14.

The zodiacal mild will turn out to be seen once more within the morning sky beginning late in September into November. This faintly glowing pyramid of ghostly mild is attributable to daylight bouncing off trillions of tiny mud particles within the ecliptic airplane of our photo voltaic system. This mud ring is at all times there, however is greatest seen to us when the angle of the ecliptic to our horizon is at its steepest, which is about one hour earlier than dawn within the fall and one hour after sundown within the spring.

SEPTEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

Sept.1: The moon passes 1.4 levels south of Neptune at 3 within the morning.

Sept. 2: Venus is stationary at midnight. It began its retrograde or westward movement in opposition to the mounted background of stars on July 22 this summer time. Venus retrogrades each 18 months, spending about 40 days seeming to maneuver backwards.

Sept. 3: In 1976 Viking 2 landed on Mars. Viking 1 landed there a couple of weeks earlier.

Sept. 4: The moon passes 3 levels north of Jupiter this afternoon. Jupiter is stationary after which begins its retrograde movement at 5 p.m.

Sept. 6: Mercury is in inferior conjunction with the solar in the present day at 7 am.

Sept. 7: James van Allen was born in 1914. He found the van Allen radiation belts in 1958, a zone of energetic charged particles attributable to the photo voltaic wind and captured by the earth’s magnetic area. I interviewed his son and grandson for “Scientifically Talking,” a radio present aired Friday mornings from 11:30 to midday WMPG (90.9 FM) that I co-host with Sarah Chang.

Sept. 11: The moon passes 11 levels north of Venus this morning.

Sept. 14: The brand new moon is at 9:40 p.m. The brand new moon subsequent month will create an annular photo voltaic eclipse seen from Oregon to Texas on Oct. 14. It will likely be a partial photo voltaic eclipse for the remainder of the nation and we are going to solely see about 5% right here in Maine.

Sept. 16: The moon passes 0.7 levels north of Mars this afternoon.

Sept. 19: Venus is at best brilliancy at magnitude minus 4.8.

Sept. 21: The moon passes close to Antares in Scorpius this morning.

Sept. 22: Mercury is at best western elongation from the solar at 18 levels this morning. First quarter moon is at 3:32 p.m.

Sept. 23: The autumnal equinox is at 2:50 a.m.

Sept. 26: The moon passes 3 levels south of Saturn tonight.

Sept. 29: The complete moon is at 5:58 a.m. That is the well-known Harvest moon since it’s near the equinox. The Harvest moon solely rises about half an hour later every evening as a substitute of the same old 55 minutes later as a result of the angle of the ecliptic to the horizon could be very shallow now.

Bernie Reim of Wells is co-director of the Astronomical Society of Northern New England.