HAPPY CHRISTMAS & CLEAR DARK SKIES FOR 2001
FROM ALL MEMBERS OF LIVERPOOL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.

Society News Headlines

• Dec 1st: Moon is at apogee.
• Dec 1st: LAS Pex Hill Observatory Public Open Night 7:30pm – 9:30pm.
• Dec 2nd: Uranus 2° North of Moon.
• Dec 2nd: Comet C71/P (Clark) at Perihelion (1.559 AU)
• Dec 2nd: LAS Croxteth Park Public Weekend Star Party 2000 (Ends Dec 3rd).
• Dec 4th: Pluto in conjunction with the Sun.
• Dec 7th: 5th Anniviversary (1995) of Galileo spacecraft goes into orbit around Jupiter.
• Dec 8th: LAS Monthly meeting (Members Lecture Night) at RC Cathedral, Crypt Concert Room. 7pm – 9pm.
• Dec 9th: Saturn is 1.8° North of Moon.
• Dec 10th: Jupiter 3° North of Moon.
• Dec 11th: Mars 4° North of Spica.
• Dec 11th: Venus 3° South of Neptune.
• Dec 12th: Moon at perigee.
• Dec 13th: Geminids meteor shower maximum.
• Dec 13th: Comet C/1999 T1 (McNaught-Hartley) at Perihelion (1.172AU)
• Dec 20th: Mars 4° Spica.
• Dec 21st: Winter Soltice at (13:34 UTC).
• Dec 22nd: Ursids meteor shower maximum.
• Dec 23rd: Venus 1.3° South of Uranus.
• Dec 23rd: Ceres 0.9° South of Moon.
• Dec 25th: Mercury at superior conjunction.
• Dec 25th: Christmas Day partial eclipse of the Sun (North America only).
• Dec 28th: Moon at apogee.
• Dec 28th: Neptune 2° North of Moon.
• Dec 28th: Galileo spacecraft 29th flyby of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.
• Dec 29th: Comet Bus at perihelion (2.181AU)
• Dec 29th: Venus 1.8° North of Moon.
• Dec 29th: Uranus 2° North of Moon.
• Dec 30th: Cassini Spacecraft Jupiter flyby.

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 2000

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 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.

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

            2nd      7th      12th      17th      22nd      27th       31st
SUNRISE    08:05    08:11    08:17     08:22     08:25     08:27      08:28
SUNSET     15:58    15:54    15:53     15:53     15:55     15:59      16:03

On the 21st the Sun reaches its winter solstice when the Sun halts its apparent motion in declination. At midday it is at its lowest altitude for the year and consequently it is the shortest day of the year.

THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.

MERCURY.

Right at the start of the month Mercury ends its morning appartion and heads towards a Christmas day superior conjunction.

VENUS.

Venus is showing very well in the evening sky. Quite unmistakable due to its incredible brightness it is gaining in altitude all the time at the end of civil twilight. On the 12th Venus passes 2.5° North of fading Neptune and on Christmas eve passes 1.5° North of equally fading Uranus. As last month there are a number of close approaches to naked-eye stars notably on the 23rd (34′ South of iota Capricorni, and 27th (48′ North of gamma Capricorni) and on the 28th (55′ North of delta Capricorni). On the 7th a wide field view will show Venus and the globular star cluster M75 just 45′ apart but the sky will need to have darkened before this can be seen. The Moon approaches to within 3° of Venus on the 29th.

MARS.

Mars now crosses the meridian at 07:30 at the end of December and is prominent enough to be visible against the background stars of Virgo. It is still faint but it will get brighter as the new year dawns. On the 13th Mars passes 3.5° North of the primary star in Virgo – Spica whilst on the 20th the Moon passes 3° South at 10hr. Mars’ phase is once again around the 90% mark. refer to January 2000 News Page for infromation about the planet’s phase and note that the opposite limb is now slightly in shadow.

ASTEROIDS.

• 1 Ceres 0.9° South of Moon on December 23rd.
• 16 Psyche at opposition on Dec 6th at Mag 9.3 on Orion/Taurus region.

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

JUPITER.

Jupiter is a fine evening object shining at mag -2.8 Crisp winter nights observing this giant gaseous world will stick in one’s memory for many years and is often the sigh observers recall as their view through a telescope after the obvious Moon. On the 10th at 09hrs Jupiter is 2° North of the Moon.

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

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.

O.K. then, Saturn is probably the most memorable sight through a telescope (people can argue for their particular preference!)
Smaller than Jupiter at 20″ across and fainter at mag +0.5 it nevertheless offers a nice counterpoint for its brighter planetary neighbour. On the 9th at 18hr Saturn is 2.5° North of the Moon. The ring system is tilted at -23° which means that the planet’s Southern hemisphere is the one tilted towards us and its South polar regions are on view at the bottom of the disk.

Saturn, Tethys and Rhea, drawn by Stephen Taylor, at 20:40 UTC on 25th April, 1975

Image ©1975, Stephen Taylor

URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Even with them associated with Venus this month Uranus and Neptune must really be considered unfavourable now. They are faint and will tend to be lost in the evening twilight arc as they head towards next year’s respective solar conjunctions.

PLUTO.

Very poorly placed for observations during this period.

METEORS.

12th                                          Geminids                         70  Per Hour       Favouable 

24th                                          Ursids                           12  Per Hour       Unfavourable 
 Click Here. GEMINIDS                                                                                 
 Click Here.URSIDS

COMETS.

• Dec 2nd Comet 71P/Clark at Perihelion (1.559AU).
• Dec 13th Comet C/1999 T1 (McNaught-Hartley) at Perihelion (1.172AU).
• Dec 29th Comet Bus at Perihlion (2.181 AU).

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

• BAA Comet Section Home Page
• Comet Web Sites.
• NASA/JPL Comet Observations Home Page.
• The Astronomer Comet Page.

OCCULTATIONS.

• Dec 1st at 17hr:29m Reappearance from behind bright limb of Eta Cap Mag 4.8.
• Dec 8th at 01hr:28m Disappearance of Mu Ceti(mag 4.3)
• Dec 12th at 20hr:25m Reappearance of 36 Geminorum (mag 5.3)

Society News Headlines

• Nov 2nd – Harlow Shapley’s 115th Birthday (1885).
• Nov 3rd – Moon at Appogee.
• Nov 3rd – Open night at LAS Pex Hill Observatory (7-9pm).
• Nov 3rd – Taurids Meteor Shower at Maximum.
• Nov 3rd – Neptune is 1.6° North of Moon.
• Nov 4th – Uranus is 1.8° North of Moon.
• Nov 7th – Mercury Stationary.
• Nov 12th – Saturn 1.6° North of Moon.
• Nov 12th – 20th Anniversary (1980) Voyager 1 flyby of Saturn.
• Nov 13th – Jupiter 2° North of Moon.
• Nov 14th – Moon at Perigee.
• Nov 15th – Mercury at Greatest Enlongation West 19°.Morning Sky.
• Nov 17th – Leonids Meteor Shower at Maximum.
• Nov 17th – LAS Monthly Meeting at RC Catheral Crypt 7-9pm. (Speaker Dr Allan Chapman).
• Nov 19th – Saturn at Opposition.
• Nov 21st – Mars 4° South of Moon
• Nov 21st – Comet Wolf at Perihelion (2.4AU)
• Nov 21st – Ceres in conjunction with the Sun.
• Nov 24th – Mercury 3° South of Moon.
• Nov 24th – Comet C/1999 T2 (Linear) at perihelion (3.0AU)
• Nov 29th – Venus 2° South of Moon.
• Nov 29th – BAA Ordinary Meeting 17:30pm at Savile Row London.
• Nov 30th – Neptune 1.8° North of Moon.
• Nov 30th – Planned launch date for STS-97 Endeavour Space Shuttle Mission – ISS mission 04-4A.

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2000

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 GMT the same as U.T. For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.

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

            1st       6th       11th      16th      21st      26th     1st Dec
SUNRISE    07:11     07:20     07:30     07:39     07:48     07:57      08:05
SUNSET     16:40     16:30     16:22     16:14     16:07     16:02      15:58

THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.

MERCURY.

Mercury is perfectly placed in the morning sky this month lying at an altitude of just 10° mid-month at the time of civil twilight. This table shows the planet’s apparition and also details where the Moon lies when near by.

VENUS.

Venus should by now be easily found in the South West about 45 minutes after Sunset. Even when the Sky is bright the planet’s brilliance us such that it may be visible shortly after Sunset at a higher altitude. This month Venus passes through the constellation of Sagittarius and as this is a dense region of the sky Venus has a few instances of stellar conjunctions whilst the Moon makes a pass on the 29th when the two bodies will lie 1.5° apart.

MARS.

Mars is now in Virgo. On the 11th the naked-eye star Mu Virginis lies a mere 8′ to the North of Mars. This will be visible in the field of a telescope and binoculars will offer a wider view of the conjunction. On the 21st at 21h:00m Mars is 5° South of the moon.

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.

ASTEROIDS.

• 324 Bamberga is at opposition on November 15th at Mag 9.4 in the Orion/Taurus region.
• 4 Vesta is at Mag 7.6 in Cap but is now becoming differcult to see.
• 3 Juno is at Mag 9.7 in Aqr.

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

JUPITER.

Jupiter is at opposition on the 28th and is therefore at its brightest and largest. Compare the apparent size of its 48″ diameter with Mars’ puny 4.3″ and you will see why Mars can be a disappointment whilst Jupiter and Saturn are “must sees” for an observer with a small telescope. The Moon passes 3° South of Jupiter on the 13th.

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.

Both Saturn and Jupiter have started to move from left to right against the background stars. This “retrograde motion” always happens at the time of opposition of an outer planet. Saturn reaches opposition also this month on the 19th. On the 12th Saturn is 2° North of the Moon.

URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Both are now less than 90° away from the Sun, and must be considered as unfavorable for observations at this time.

PLUTO.

Pluto is in close conjunction with the Sun and will be out of view for several months.

METEORS.

• TAURIDS 12 per Hour ZHR – max on the 3rd (Favorable) and 13th (Unfavourable).
• LEONIDS 10 per Hour ZHR max on the 18th (Fairly favourable).

COMETS.

• November 21st 14P/Comet Wolf at Perihelion (2.413AU)
• November 24th Comet C/1999 T2 (Linear) at Perihelion (3.037AU)

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

• BAA Comet Section Home Page
• Comet Web Sites.
• NASA/JPL Comet Observations Home Page.
• The Astronomer Comet Page.

OCCULTATIONS.

• Nov 13th at 02hr:55m Reappearance of Delta 1 Tauri Mag 3.8
• Nov 13th at 04hr:25m Reappearance of Delta 2 Tauri Mag 4.3
• Nov 16th at 01hr:40m Reappearance of 63 Geminorum Mag 5.2
• Nov 18th at 06hr:03m Reappearance of 8 Leonis Mag 5.7

Society News Headlines

• Oct 5th: Comet Brorsen at Perihelion.(0.586AU)
• Oct 6th: Moon at apogee.
• Oct 6th: Mercury at greatest elongation 26° East. (Not seen from Liverpool).
• Oct 7th: Neptune 1.3° North of Moon.
• Oct 8th: Uranus 1.5° North of Moon.
• Oct 9th: Draconids (Giacobinids) meteor shower max.
• Oct 9th: Pallas in conjunction with the Sun.
• Oct 12th: Comet C/2000 K2 Linear at perihelion (2.431AU).
• Oct 14th: International Solar Eclipse Conference – Elzenveld, Antwerp Belgium.(Ends Oct 15th).
• Oct 15th: Neptune stationary.
• Oct 16th: Saturn 1.6° North of Moon.
• Oct 17th: Jupiter 2° North of Moon.
• Oct 18th: Mercury stationary.
• Oct 19th: Moon at perigee.
• Oct 20th: Orionids meteor shower max.
• Oct 20th: LAS monthly meeting at RC Catheral Crypt Concert Room at 7pm.
• Oct 21st: Jupiter 5° North of Aldebaran.
• Oct 24th: Mars 3° South of Moon.
• Oct 25th: BAA Annual General Meeting – Saville Row, London at 17:45.
• Oct 26th: Venus 3° North of Antares.
• Oct 26th: Uranus stationary.
• Oct 28th: British Summer Time Ends (28th/29th).
• Oct 30th: Venus 4° North of Moon.
• Oct 30th: Mercury at inferior conjunction with Sun.
• Oct 31st: Asteroid 4179 Toutatis in near-Earth flyby (0.074AU).

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2000

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), but Please note that at the end of the month the clocks are put back one hour to take us into GMT.
Therefore subtract one hour from the times stated here to obtain GMT. Times For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.

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

            2nd       7th       12th      17th      22nd      27th     1st Nov
SUNRISE    07:15     07:24     07:33     07:43     07:52     08:01      08:11
SUNSET     18:46     18:34     18:23     18:11     18:00     17:50      17:40

THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.

MERCURY.

Mercury is at inferior conjunction on the 30th and is therefore unobservable until early next month.

VENUS.

Venus on the other hand, is starting to rise above the evening twilight arc and sets well over an hour after the Sun. Its declination is quite low as it passes through the constellations of Libra & Scorpius. On the 30th Venus is 4° North of the 3 day old Moon. There are a couple of very close approaches to note this month. On the 6th Venus passes 48 arcminutes South of the star Alpha Librae. On the 21st the planet lies 51′ North of Gamma Scorpii whilst on the 24th Venus lies a mere 20′ North of the globular star cluster M80.

MARS.

Mars moves from Leo into Virgo and also passes close by a couple of bright stars. On the 16th at 22h:00m the red planet is 25′ South of Sigma Leonis whilst on the 30th passes 36′ North of Beta Virginis. On the 24th the Moon pays a fleeting visit, lying 2.5° to the North at 08h:00m on the 1st and at 16h:40m on the 31st.

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.

ASTEROIDS.

• 12 Victoria is at Opposition mag 9.7 on Oct 30th in Aries.
• 4 Vesta is now becoming less bright but can be found low down in Sagittarius.

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

JUPITER.

Jupiter and Saturn are still the planets to aim a telescope at!, interesting objects at any time, they are nice and bright, high enough up, to get out of any haze or pollution and on view at a time suitable for people who are up to early morning observing. Now would be a good time to try some basic astrophotography. You need a camera (this need not be an SLR although this is recommended) with a ‘B’ setting on the exposure knob, a cable release, a 50mm or 135mm lens and something like 200 or 400ASA film. Set the camera on a tripod and point towards Jupiter and Saturn. Focus on infinity and set the lens to f4 or even f5.6. Using the cable release gently press down and open the shutter. Time your first exposure for 2 minutes and for subsequent exposures increase the time by one minute until you have about five or six frames completed. There will ne a small amount of trailing whne you look at the results but you will have recorded; the two planets, a handful of bright stars and, depending on how you framed the shot, the star cluster known as The Pleiades M45.

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.

Saturn like Jupiter lies in the same part of the sky as The Pleiades and getting up early is well worth the effort for the view.

URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Both are still with us, and both cross the meridian at 20h and 21h respectively at the end of the month.Their brightness has faded slightly but as they are faint anyway this will make little difference to their visibility. Both lie in the constellation of Capricornus.

Planet Positions During October 2000

Uranus             Oct 1st       R.A. 21h:19m:22s     DEC -16°:22':57"     Mag 5.7

Neptune            Oct 1st       R.A. 20h:24m:30s     DEC -19°:05':55"     Mag 7.9

PLUTO.

Tiny distant pluto is now very poorly placed for observations from Liverpool. Please note even at opposition Pluto reachers 13.7 Mag.

METEORS.

13th                 Piscids                          Low Rates       Unfavourable  (14 day old Moon)

21st/22nd            Orionids                         20  Per Hour    Unfavourable  (22 day old Moon)

COMETS.

• Oct 5th: Comet Brorsen at Perihelion (0.586 AU).
• Oct 12th: Comet C/2000 K2 Linear at Perihelion (2.431 AU).

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

• BAA Comet Section Home Page
• Comet Web Sites.
• NASA/JPL Comet Observations Home Page.
• The Astronomer Comet Page.

OCCULTATIONS.

• Oct 15th at 00h:14m:47s Reappearance of Mu Ceti (Mag 4.3).

Society News Headlines

• Sept 1st: Ceres is 0.4° North of Moon.
• Sept 1st: Comet C/1999 T3 (Linear) at perihelion (5.365AU).
• Sept 1st: BAA Out-of-London weekend at Cambridge. (ends Sept 3rd).
• Sept 7th: Jupiter is 5° North of Aldebaran.
• Sept 8th: Moon at apogee.
• Sept 8th: Planned launch of space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-106 to International Space Station ISS.
• Sept 8th: Horncastle Astronomy Weekend, Horncastle College, Lincs. (ends Sept 10th).
• Sept 9th: Neptune 1.2° North of Moon.
• Sept 9th: Comet Encke at perihelion.
• Sept 9th: Piscids meteor shower max 1.
• Sept 11th: Uranus 1.4° North of Moon.
• Sept 12th: Saturn is stationary.
• Sept 14th: Vlasium Astronomical Society members visit to Liverpool AS (ends Sept 17th).
• Sept 14th: Comet Kojima at perihelion (2.003AU).
• Sept 14th: John Dobson’s 85th Birthday.
• Sept 15th: Alpha Aurigids meteor shower max.
• Sept 15th: Start of the 119th session of Liverpool Astronomical Society.
• Sept 15th: Presidential Address and Cheese & Wine Reception (tickets Req) at RC Catheral Crypt Conert Room at 7pm.
• Sept 16th: Mars 0.8° North of Regulus.
• Sept 16th: Special International Night of Astronomy at LAS Pex Hill Observatory.(Details at later date)
• Sept 18th: Venus 3° North of Spica.
• Sept 19th: Saturn 1.8° North of Moon.
• Sept 19th: Jupiter 2° North of moon.
• Sept 21st: Piscids meteor shower max 2.
• Sept 22nd: Autumnal Equinox at 18:11BST.
• Sept 22nd: Equinox Star Party, Thetford, Norfolk. (ends Oct 1st).
• Sept 23rd: Mercury 0.7° North of Spica.
• Sept 24th: Moon at Perigee.
• Sept 25th: Mars 2° South of Moon.
• Sept 27th: Juno is stationary.
• Sept 29th: Mercury 8° South of Moon.
• Sept 29th: Jupiter is stationary.
• Sept 30th: Venus 5° South of Moon.
• Sept 30th: Ceres 0.5° South of Moon.
• Sept 30th: FAS Convention & AGM Rutherford Appleton Labs, Didcot.

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2000

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). Times For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.

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

            2nd          7th         12th       17th       22nd        27th         2nd Oct
SUNRISE    06:23        06:32       06:40      06:49      06:58       07:06         07:15
SUNSET     19:59        19:47       19:35      19:23      19:11       18:58         18:46

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 not visible this month.

VENUS.

Venus is still skirting the western horizon in the evening. Look VERY low down about half an hour after Sunset at an azimuth of around 245° at the end of the month when the 3 day old sliver of the Moon passes 4.5° to the North of the planet. You will need a clear, unobstructed view of the horizon to see this conjunction.

MARS.

Mars has now moved from the constellation of Cancer where it resided last month, and now passes swiftly through Leo, passing less than a degree North of Regulus (alpha Leonis)on the 16th at 17h. Note its position on the morning of the 16th and also on the following morning. It isn,t often you get a good sence of a planet moving against the background stars but this will be an excellent opportunity to experience this (it’ll be cloudy of course). On the 25th at 18h the Moon will pass 1.5° North of Mars.

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.

ASTEROIDS.

• Ceres is at Mag 8.9 in Virgo, and will be close to the Moon on Sept 1st and 30th.

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

Image ©1991, Ken Clarke

Jupiter and Saturn dominate the early morning sky lying as they do in the constellation of Taurus. Their apparent motion against the background stars slows considerable throughout the month as they head towards their respective oppositions in a couple of month’s time. At the start of the month Saturn crosses the meridian (i.e. lies due South) at 06:03 with Jupiter following it half an hour later at 06:30. On Sept 19th at 02h Saturn lies 2.5° North of the Moon and on the same date the Moon passes 3.5° South of Jupiter at 20h.

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.

Saturn can be found in the Morning sky close to Jupiter – see Jupiter text for details.

URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Uranus and Neptune, having passes their oppositions are now evening objects. Neptune crosses the meridian at 20h at the end of September with Uranus following close behind at 21h.

Both can be found in the Capricornus, Uranus maybe found close to the naked eye star theta Capricorni, whilst Neptune lies close to Sigma Capricorni.

Uranus Positions for the 1st September:

                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      21h:22m:51s           -16°:07':24"                   23h:49m             5.7

Neptune Positions for the 1st September:

                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      20h:26m:20s           -18°:59':06"                   22h:53m             7.9

PLUTO.

Pluto is now not favourable for observations until next year.

METEORS.

• Alpha-Aurigids on Sept 15th ( 10 per hour) Unfavourable. Moon 16 days old.
• Piscids on Sept 9th & 21st Double radiant- (8 per hour):
  • 9th – Unfavourable/MOON is 11 days old. (Just one of several radiants).
  • 21st – Unfavourable/MOON is 21 days old. (Generally low rates).

COMETS.

• Sept 1st: Comet C/1999 T3 (Linear) at Perihelion (5.365AU).
• Sept 9th: Comet Encke at Perihelion (0.340 AU).
• Sept 14th: Comet Kojima at Perihelion (2.003AU).

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

• BAA Comet Section Home Page
• Comet Web Sites.
• NASA/JPL Comet Observations Home Page.
• The Astronomer Comet Page.

OCCULTATIONS.

There are no occultations of bright stars this month.

Society News Headlines

• August 1st – Lunar Occultation of Venus (Not Seen From UK).
• August 1st – Alpha Capricornids Meteor Shower Max.
• August 2nd – Pallas is 0.008° North of Moon.
• August 3rd – Mercury is 7° South of Pollux.
• August 5th – Neil Armstrong’s 70th Birthday.(1930)
• August 7th – 24th IAU General Assembly at Manchester UK. (Ends Aug 18th).
• August 6th – Venus is 1.1° North of Regulus.
• August 6th – Delta & Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Max.
• August 10th – Mercury 0.09° South of Mars.
• August 11th – Moon at Apogee.
• August 11th – LAS members Pex Hill Observatory open night, (19:30 – 21:30).
• August 11th – Uranus at Oppostion (Mag 5.7).
• August 11th – Juno at Oppostion (Mag 8.8).
• August 12th – Perseids Meteor Shower Max (Poor this year with Full Moon).
• August 13th – Neptune 1.1° North of Moon.
• August 14th – Uranus 1.4° North of Moon.
• August 18th – Comet Showmaker-Levy 5 at Perihelion (1.989 AU).
• August 19th – 40th Anniversary (1960) of Sputnik 5 launch carrying two dogs Belka & Strelka.
• August 20th – 25th Anniversary (1975) of launch of Viking 1 Mars Orbiter/Lander Mission.
• August 21st – The New Era of Wide-Field AstronomyPreston, Lancs UK. (ends August 24th).
• August 22nd – Saturn 2° North of Moon.
• August 22nd – Mercury at Superior conjunction.
• August 23rd – Jupiter is 3° North of Moon.
• August 25th – Northern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Max.
• August 25th – Comet Encke closest approach to Earth (1.303AU).
• August 27th – Moon at Perigee.
• August 28th – Mars 0.9° South of Moon.
• August 28th – Vesta Stationary.
• August 30th – Venus 4° South of Moon.
• August 30th – Comet C/1999 T3 (Linear) at perihelion (5.366AU).

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST 2000

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). Times 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    05:32        05:41       05:49      05:58      06:07       06:16         
SUNSET     21:03        20:53       20:43      20:32      20:21       20:09

THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.

MERCURY.

Mercury concludes its morning apparition which started last month. Details of its altitude abd azimuth at the time of civil twilight are given on July’s page. On the 10th Mercury and Mars lie just 15 arcseconds apart very low above the North east horizon (altitude of just over 3°, azimuth of 60°). A day later, and even lower down, Mercury passes just South of the wide star cluster M44 in Cancer.

VENUS.

Venus is slowly recovering from June’s superior conjunction and will soon become prominent in the evening sky low down in the South West.

MARS.

As mentioned in Mercury’s text Mars is just visible in the morning sky this month but whilst Mercury zooms towards the Sun, Mars slowly picks its way through the constellation of Cancer and heads away from the Sun to rise at 04h:30m at the start of the month (an hour before the Sun) and at 04h:20m at the end (two hours before the Sun rises). Apart from its close association with Mars on the 10th Mars passes 30′ South of M44 on the 12th. There is an occultation of Mars on the 28th but this will occur before Mars rises from the U.K.

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.

ASTEROIDS.

• Pallas is 0.008° North of Moon on Aug 2nd.
• Juno at Opposition on Aug 12th at Mag 8.8 in Aqurius.
• Metis at Opposition on Aug 3rd at Mag 9.5 in Capricornus.
• How to find them from Liverpool

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

JUPITER.

Jupiter rises at around midnight so by the early hours of the morning it ought to be high enough to see it clear of any horizon haze which may be around. Lying in the bright constellation of Taurus Jupiter passes close by some easily visible stars such as Delta Tauri (3° South of Jupiter on the 7th), Theta Tauri (5° South on the 14th) and bright Aldebaran – Aplha Tauri (3° on the 31st). Also, on the 23rd Jupiter lies 3.5° North of the Moon at 11h.

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.

Saturn legs behind Jupiter a little as it too passes through Taurus. On the 22nd Saturn is 3° North of the Moon. The beautiful ring system is very wide open now at 24° so even the casual telescopic observer is capable of seeing a wealth of detail both on the disk, the shadow of the planet on the rings, two gaps in the ring system (one easy, the other a little harder), and subtle detail in the pastel shading of the planet itself.

URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Uranus reaches opposition on the 11th and is therefore at its best for picking up with binoculars or low power telescope.

Neptune is also well placed and transits before midnight this month. Don’t expect to see a disk though as Uranus appears only 4″ across and Neptune a paltry 2″ across. Compare these sizes with Jupiter and you will see the difficulty in observing these two planets, both of which can be found in Capricornus.

Uranus Positions for the 1st August:

                          R.A.                   DEC                         TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      21h:27m:04s           -15°:44':53"                      02h:00m               5.7

Neptune Positions for the 1st August:

                          R.A.                   DEC                        TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      20h:29m:29s           -18°:47':38"                     00h:02m               7.9

PLUTO.

Pluto can be found on the border of Ophiuchus, roughly between the 4th Mag stars Zeta and 20 Ophiuchi. The best time to look for the planet is around New Moon. The dates below will be a guide for planning observations.

Positions for August are when pluto's elongation angle is greater than 90°.

DATE                      R.A.                   DEC                   TRANSIT TIME
Aug 8th                16h:40m:43s            -11°:05':51"                 19h:42m
Aug 18th               16h:40m:31s            -11°:09':52"                 19h:03m
Aug 28th               16h:40m:31s            -11°:14':26"                 18h:23m

Pluto is best seen between July 24th – August 15th

METEORS.

• 2nd August Alpha Capricornids 8 per hour Favourable. 2 day old Moon.
• 6th August Iota Aquarids 8 per hour Favourable. 6 day old Moon.
• 7th August Delta Aquarids 10 per hour Favourable. 7 day old Moon.
• 12/13th August Perseids 75 per hour UnFavourable. 12 day old Moon.
• 28th August Alpha Aurigids 10 per hour Favourable. 27 day old Moon. (FIREBALLS!)

COMETS.

• Comet Shoemaker-Levy 5 at Perihelion on August 18th (1.989AU).
• Comet C/1999 T3 (Linear) at Perihelion on August 30th (5.366AU).
• Comet Encke at closest approach to Earth on August 25th at (1.303AU).

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

• BAA Comet Section Home Page
• Comet Web Sites.
• NASA/JPL Comet Observations Home Page.
• The Astronomer Comet Page.

OCCULTATIONS.

• August 21st at 04h:35m Reappearance of Xi2 Ceti Mag 4.5