Society News and Night Sky Notes – September 2001

Society News Headlines

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2001

Will it be cloudy to-night?, ask the The U.K. Goverment Met Office Weather service. To make your own star chart fo your location at any time, Click Here.

The Sun and Moon

All times are in BRITISH SUMMER TIME (BST) For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.

Latitude 53 degs 24 mins North.
Longitude +3.0 degs West.

            3rd          8th         13th       18th       23rd        28th         
SUNRISE    06:24        06:33       06:42      06:50      06:59       07:07         
SUNSET     19:57        19:45       19:33      19:21      19:09       18:57
PHASES OF THE MOON DURING SEPTEMBER 2001
FIRST QUARTER
on 24th
at 09h:32m		 FULL MOON
on 2nd
at 22h:44m		 LAST QUARTER
on 10th
at 20h:01m		 NEW MOON
on 17th
at 11h:28m

AUTUMN EQUINOX – SEPTEMBER 22nd

The autumn equinox occurs on the 22nd. This is when the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading south towards the winter solstice in December. At this time, from any point on the Earth’s Surface day and night are of Equal length.

THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.

MERCURY.

Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation on the 18th. This ought to mean that it is visible in the evening sky but, as for July, the angle of its orbit with respect to the horizon is shallow and Mercury does not peek above the horizon when the sky is dark enough for it to be seen.

VENUS.

Venus slowly starts to make its inevitable descent towards the Sun, its altitude dropping as it heads South East. Moving quickly from Cancer into Leo, passing just South of the wide, open star cluster M44 on the 2nd, Venus lies 0.5° North of Leo’s bright star, Regulus at 00h on the 21st. On the 15th at 08h Venus lies 2.5° South of the Moon.

MARS.

Mars has moved from Ophiuchus into Sagittarius and on the 10th/11th lies South of the deep sky objects M8, M20 & M21.

 

International Marswatch 2001.

ASTEROIDS.

  • 10 Hygeia is at opposition on Sept 1st at Mag 9.8 in Aquarius.
  • 19 Fortuna is at opposition on Sept 28th at Mag 10 in Pisces.

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

JUPITER.

Jupiter, drawn by Ken Clarke, as viewed through a 10″ F4.3 Reflector, 308x. w1=54deg, w2=141deg, seeing 2/5, at 21:00 UTC on April 22nd, 1991

Jupiter, drawn by Ken Clarke, as viewed through a 10″ F4.3 Reflector, 308x. w1=54deg, w2=141deg, seeing 2/5, at 21:00 UTC on April 22nd, 1991

Image ©1991, Ken Clarke

Jupiter continues to track through Gemini passing a couple of naked-eye stars as it does so. This is generally a rich area of the sky and it is worthwhile making a couple of 5 or 10 minute exposures, one at the start of the month and one at the end when the Moon is out of the way. The comparison of positions provides a good record of how much space Jupiter can cover in one month.

Lunar Occultation of Jupiter DAYLIGHT

On the 12th at 14:14BST the warning crescent Moon’s bright limb will occult Jupiter in broad daylight. Naturally this occurs when the Sun is above the horizon so be very aware of the dangers to yourself and fellow observers and don’t point any kind of optical equipment directly at the Sun. Jupiter reappears from behind the Moon’s dark limb at 14:39 but as the limb cannot be seen it will be difficult to judge exactly where the planet will emerge.

Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.

SATURN.

What was said above about photographing Jupiter can also apply to Saturn. Again a couple of shots of equal exposure will record Saturn’s motion against the stars of Taurus. Bear in mind though that neither planet is moving at its fastest right now. On the 10th at 15hrs Saturn lies a mere 32′ North of the Moon.

URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Uranus and Neptune, both are still favourable, lying at either end of Capricornus.See the June Sky news page for more details.

Uranus Positions for the 1st September:

                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      21h:39m:19s           -14°:49':23"                   23h:08m             5.7
Neptune Positions for the 1st September:
                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      20h:35m:39s           -18°:30':10"                   22h:05m             7.9

PLUTO.

Pluto is now not favourable for observations until next year.

METEORS.

  • Alpha-Aurigids on Sept 15th ( 10 per hour) Favourable. Moon 27 days old.
  • Piscids on Sept 9th & 21st Double radiant- (8 per hour):
    • 9th – Unfavourable/MOON is 10 days old. (Just one of several radiants).
    • 21st – Favourable/MOON is 5 days old. (Generally low rates).

COMETS.

  • Sept 1st: Comet C/2001 B2 (Neat) at Perihelion (5.3050AU).
  • Sept 3rd: Comet Gehrels III at Perihelion (3.6270AU).
  • Sept 14th: Comet Borrelly at Perihelion (1.3580AU).
  • Sept 24th: Comet Helin at Perihelion (2.5310AU).
  • Sept 26th: Comet C/2001 G1 at Perihelion (8.2850AU).

Plus these pages will give daily and weekly reports of this and other Comets progress.

OCCULTATIONS.

  • 12th Sept: at 01hrs:05m Disappearance of mu Geminorum.
  • 12th Sept: at 01hrs:36m Reappearance of mu Geminorum.
  • 12th Sept: at 14hrs:14m Disappearance – Daylight Occultation of Jupiter.
  • 12th Sept: at 14hrs:39m Reappearance – Daylight Occultation of Jupiter.

Related posts:

  1. Society News and Night Sky Notes – September 1999
  2. Society News and Night Sky Notes – September 2000
  3. Society News and Night Sky Notes – July 2001
  4. Society News and Night Sky Notes – January 2001
  5. Society News and Night Sky Notes – May 2001
  6. Society News and Night Sky Notes – September 1996
  7. Society News and Night Sky Notes – December 2001
  8. Society News and Night Sky Notes – February 2001
  9. Society News and Night Sky Notes – April 2001
  10. Society News and Night Sky Notes – February 2002