Hi all,
Please see below the September observing guide, feel free to use.
OBSERVING GUIDE
(Please note all times are BST)
Introduction
September looks like being an excellent month for observing. We have a planet and ten asteroids at opposition, four comets, a lunar eclipse and an occultation of a well known Messier object. So happy hunting and enjoy the guide.
The Planets
Mercury is not good this month. It is at Superior Conjunction on the 1st and therefore is not visible. It moves away from the Sun as the month progresses but remains close to the horizon. By month’s end it rises at 09:19 and sets at 19:10 and can be found in Virgo.
Venus remains a morning object. At the start of the month, it can be found in Leo and rises at 04:48 in the East. By the end of the month, it has moved into Virgo, rising at 06:28.
Mars is not really observable this month, being too close to the horizon at the start of the month and too close to the Sun by the end.
Jupiter remains low in the South West in Libra and is very close to the horizon. It sets at 21:51 at the start of the month and at 20:03 by month’s end.
Saturn is now a morning object and rises two hours before the Sun at the start of the month, this increases to four hours by month’s end. It can found in Leo in the East throughout the month, rising at 04:15 at the start of the month and by 02:37 at month’s end.
Uranus is at opposition this month on the 5th in Aquarius in the South East. It can be found close to Lambda Aquarii, a mag +3.7 orange star. Uranus itself is mag +5.7 and rises at 20:01 at the start of the month and sets at 06:50, by month’s end it sets at 04:45.
Neptune currently lies in Capricornus in the South East. It is mag +7.8 and this month passes close to Iota Capricorni, a mag +4.3 star. It sets at 04:26 at the start of the month and at 02:24 by month’s end.
The Moon
The full moon occurs on the 7th with the last quarter moon on the 14th. The new moon is on the 22nd and the first quarter moon is on the 30th.
With the full moon on the 7th, there a partial lunar eclipse. The moon will be 18% eclipsed at max eclipse. It starts at 19:05, with max eclipse at 19:51, ending at 20:37. However the moon will not rise at UK latitudes until 20:00 and the eclipse will already be past its max point. It is still worth a look low in the East.
The new moon on the 22nd sees the final eclipse of 2006 with an annular eclipse of the Sun; however it will not be visible from the UK.
Another event which it looks like we will miss out on is the impact of Smart 1 onto the lunar surface. It happens on the morning of the 3rd between 06:30 and 07:30; unfortunately the moon is below the horizon for UK latitudes.
One event which will be visible this month is the occultation of the Pleiades by the moon. This occurs on the 12th with the moon rising at approx 21:00 in the East. Observers should see the reappearance of several stars in the cluster including Alcyone and the disappearance and reappearance of Atlas and Pleione, mag +3.6 and +5.0 respectively. This should be definitely worth a look.
To finish with in the lunar section, the moon has a couple of close encounters with planets this month. On the 19th a 9 per cent illuminated moon will less than 2 degrees away from Saturn in the morning sky. On the 21st, a thin 1 per cent illuminated moon will be 3.5 degrees to the West of Venus and on the 30th a 15 per cent illuminated moon lies close to Jupiter.
Meteors, Comets and Asteroids
Meteors
There are six showers of this month. The Piscids have two peaks during the month; on the 8th with a ZHR of 10 and the 21st with a ZHR of 5. The first peak is badly affected by the full moon.
The second shower is the Aurigids. This shower peaks on the 1st with a ZHR of 7.
The other showers are the Gamma Aquarids which peak on the 7th/8th, the Gamma Piscids peaking on the 23rd/24th, the Alpha Triangulids which peak on the 11th/12th and the Eta Draconids peaking on the 12th/13th. All of these showers have relatively low ZHRs, but still worth a look.
Comets
There are 4 comets potentially visible this month. The first is 4P/FAYE, which can be found between Aries and Pisces. It is mag +12 at the start of the month, brightening to +11 by month’s end.
The second comet is 29P/SCHWASSMANN-WACHMANN, which can found in Taurus and will be around mag +15 for the duration of the month.
Comet number three is SWAN (C/2006 M4). It was discovered in July and should be visible in the second half of the month. It could reach mag +8.1 by month’s end and will be moving from Leo into Canes Venatci during the month.
The final comet this month is 177P/BARNARD 2 (2006 M3). This comet was rediscovered in June and observed for the first time since being discovered in 1889. It can be found in Draco and at the start of the month is mag +8.8, with a mag of +9.6 by month’s end.
Coordinates for exactly locating the above comets can be found at
www.calsky.com/cs.cgi/Comets/3
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Asteroids
The following ten asteroids are at opposition this month:
(14) Irene, mag +10.6, found in Pisces Austrinus
(25) Phocaea, mag +10.1, found in Pegasus
(45) Eugenia, mag +11.2, found in Aquarius
(68) Leto, mag +9.6, found in Aquarius
(119) Althaea, mag +11.3, found in Aquarius
(129) Antigone, mag +11.3, found in Cetus
(186) Celuta, mag +10.9, found in Aquarius
(240) Vanadis, mag +11.5, found in Pisces
(337) Devosa, mag +11.3, found in Pisces
(409) Aspasia, mag +11.3, found in Pegasus
For detailed coordinates for any of the above asteroids, check out
www.calsky.com/cs.cgi/Asteroids/3
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Deep Sky and General Notes
On the Deep Sky front this month, the summer constellations are slipping away and we are slowly seeing the return of the winter constellations including Gemini, Cancer, Taurus and Orion. By month end, Orion and Gemini rise by 01:00 and Taurus by 22:30. The return of these constellations brings us delights such as M42 - the Orion Nebula and M45 - the Pleiades. M31 and M33, two spiral galaxies are both visible also in Andromeda and Triangulum respectively.
With the nights now returning, keep an eye out for Aurorae, check out
www.analemma.de/english/auranews.html
for the latest chances of seeing this wonderful spectacle.
Finally check out
www.heavens-above.com
for the latest passes of the ISS and for details of Iridium Flare activity.
Clear Skies until next month
Neill McKeown
