Clear & Dark Skies for 1999 from all at Liverpool A.S.

Society News Headlines

• Jan 2nd – 40th Anniversary (1959) of Russian Lunar One Launch. (1st Moon Mission).
• Jan 3rd – Mars Polar Lander Launch due to-day.
• Jan 3rd – Pluto passes 12″ South of Zeta Ophiuchi.
• Jan 3rd – Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak.
• Jan 4th – Earth at Perihelion To-day (0.983 AU from Sun.)
• Jan 8th – Public Open Night at the LAS Pex Hill Observatory.7:30pm – 9:30pm.
• Jan 9th – Moon is 3° North of Mars.
• Jan 10th – NASA NEAR spacecraft goes into orbit around the asteroid EROS to-day
• Jan 14th – Venus is only 54′ South of Uranus.
• Jan 15th – Liverpool A.S. Jan Monthly Meeting, 19:00pm at Liverpool Museum Lecture Room, William Brown Street, Liverpool.Cosmology by Chris Jorden, Salford A.S.
• Jan 16th – Moon is 4° North of Mercury.
• Jan 18th – Comet P/1998 W1 (Spahr) at Preihelion (1.584AU).
• Jan 19th – Moon is 2° North of Venus.
• Jan 22nd – Moon is 2° South of Jupiter.
• Jan 22nd – Liverpool A.S. Sidewalk Astronomers meet at Leasowe Lighthouse Wirral from 19:00pm.
• Jan 24th – Comet C/1998 M5 (Linear) at Perihelion. (1.747.AU).
• Jan 24th Moon is 2° South of Saturn.
• Jan 27th – Comet 52/P (Harrington-Abell) at Perihelion. (1.758 AU).
• Jan 27th – BAA Ordinary Meeting, Savile Row, London 17:30pm.
• Jan 31st – Penumbral Lunar Eclipse – (Not seen well from Liverpool).

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY 1999.

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. Times 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       31st
SUNRISE    08:27     08:26     08:23     08:19     08:13     08:06      07:59
SUNSET     16:04     16:10     16:17     16:25     16:34     16:44      16:53

On the 3rd the Earth is at Perihelion – the closest distance to the Sun in 1999. It is at a distance of 0.983280 (AU Astronomical Units).

On the 31st there will be a penumbral eclipse of the Moon. Penumbral eclipse are relatively unexciting when compared with partial or total lunar eclipses as the Moon only passes through the Earth’s partial shadow – the penumbra. This months event is even more undistinguished with the fact that the eclipse starts before the Moon rises. The eclipse ends at 18h:30m, the Moon having risen some 1 hour 36 minutes earlier.

THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.

MERCURY.

Mercury finishes off a morning apparition which was at its best between December 12th – 22nd 1998. This Table gives more details. (link removed as URL is invalid)

VENUS.

Venus is becoming a favourable evening object low down in the South West approximately 40 minutes after Sunset. At almost full phase on the opposite side of the Sun as seen from the Earth, it presents a disk only 11″ of arc across throughout the month. As the apparition progresses towards gibbous phase in April it will appear larger ar 14″ and in mid-June when it is almost between the Earth and the Sun it will show a half phase of 27″ diameter. On the 19th Venus is 1° North of the Moon.

MARS.

Mars is at Western quadrature half way through January which means that it lies 90° to the West of the Sun, moving further away from the Sun and closer to the Earth all the time. Using a high magnification with a telescope you may notice that one side of the disk does not appear sharp. In fact, because the planet is at a right-angle with the Sun from our view point we are not looking square on to the sunlit hemisphere but are peeking around the corner, so to speak, and are seeing part of the night side of Mars. The bright star lying approximately 4° South of Mars on the 11th is Spica – Virgo’s primary star.

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.

ASTEROIDS.

Ceres at mag 7.7 can be found in Taurus and Vesta at mag 6.9 in Leoduring the month.

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

JUPITER.

Jupiter is moving swiftly through Pisces and descends into the Western evening twilight with the Moon passing 2.5° South on the 22nd. Its diameter is decreasing as it moves further away from us and appears 35″ across by the end of the month.

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 too, is heading towards the Sun, passing 3° North of the Moon on the 24th and under 1° South of the star Omicron Piscium on the 30th. Diameter at mid-month is 18″.

URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Both outer planets are at Solar conjunction this month, and are unfavorable for observations at this time. Neptune is at Solar Conjunction on the 22nd.

PLUTO.

Pluto is unfavourable placed for observations and will be out of view until mid-March.

 METEORS.

QUADRANTIDS 80 per Hour ZHR – max on the 4th (UnFavorable – Full Moon on 2nd).

COMETS.

• Jan 18th – Comet P/1998 W1 (Spahr) at Perihelion (1.584 AU).
• Jan 24th – Comet C/1998 M5 (LINEAR) at Perihelion (1.747 AU).
• Jan 27th – Comet 52/P (Harrington-Abell) at Perihelion. (1.758 AU).
• Comet 29p/ (Schwassmann-Wachmann) on view during Jan.
• Comet 21p/ (Giacobini-Zinner) on view during Jan.

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.

OCCULATIONS.

• Jan 7th at 02h:23m Reappearance of Sigma Leonis.
• Jan 27th at 00h:53m Disappearance of Gamma Tauri.

Society News Headlines

• Nov 2nd – Americas Space Station Commander’s plea to NASA.
• Nov 2nd – Japan to spend almost 2 billon dollars on spy satellites.
• Nov 2nd – First solar array for International Space Station is delivered to Kennedy Space Center. Due to go into orbit in August 1999.
• Nov 2nd – A white spot has been observed on Saturn’s disc. Observations are called for.
• Nov 2nd – New comet 1998 U4 (Spahr) discovered on October 27th. – Mag 17!
• Nov 2nd – IMP-8 spacecraft celebrates 25 years of operation in Earth orbit.
• Nov 3rd – German ROSAT X-Ray Observatory is shut down following Sun damage.
• Nov 3rd – ISO spacecraft unveils the hidden rings of Andromeda.
• Nov 3rd – Astronomers find “Chained” star-formation in the Trifid nebula.
• Nov 3rd – Taurid Meteor Shower Peak.
• Nov 3rd – Saturn is 1.7° North of Moon.
• Nov 3rd – Astronomers at New Mexico State University discover galaxy in our cosmic back yard!.
• Nov 4th – Mars is 6° South of Moon.
• Nov 5th – First rotation peroid of Kuiper belt object measured.
• Nov 6th – Ceres 0.3° South of Moon.
• Nov 6th – Pallas is Stationary.
• Nov 6th – Aldebaran is o.6° South of Moon.
• Nov 6th – Public Open Night at the LAS Pex Hill Observatory. 7:30pm – 9:30pm.
• Nov 7th – Space Shuttle STS-95 Discovery and crew land to-day at KSC after 9 day mission.
• Nov 7th – Comet 98P/Takamizawa at perihelion (1.585AU).
• Nov 7th – SPA meeting at The London Planetarium at 10:00hrs.
• Nov 7th – First International Meteorite Fair, Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, Germany.
• Nov 9th – Mercury 1.9° North of Antares.
• Nov 11th – Regulus 0.3° North of Moon.
• Nov 11th – Mercury at greatest elongation from the Sun. 23° East. However is poorly placed for observations from Liverpool.
• Nov 13th – Mars is 0.5° South of Moon.
• Nov 13th – RAS Meeting at Savile Row, London at 16:00UT.
• Nov 14th – Jupiter is Stationary.
• Nov 15th – 10th Anniversary (1988) of the 1st and only one launch of the Russian space shuttle Buran
• Nov 17th – Leonid Meteor Shower Outburst due 19:45UT,best seen Nov 18th 01:00 – 0200am UT for Liverpool.
• Nov 17th – Leonid’98 Meteor Outburst Page.
• Nov 17th – Watch the Leonids LIVE! from Japan.
• Nov 17th – Leonid Meteor shower information from Sky & Telescope
• Nov 19th – Comet C/134P/Kowal-Vavora at Perihelion (2.575AU).
• Nov 20th – Mercury is 7° South of Moon.
• Nov 20th – Liverpool A.S. November monthly meeting – starts 7pm at Liverpool Museum Lecture Room.
• Nov 20th – The Zarya module – first part of the International Space Station (ISS) is launched to-day.
• Nov 21st – Comet C/21P/Giacobini-Zinner at Perihelion (1.034AU).
• Nov 21st – Mercury is stationary.
• Nov 22nd – Galileo makes 18th flyby of Jupiter’s Moon Europa.
• Nov 24th – Neptune 1.9° South of Moon.
• Nov 25th – BAA monthly meeting at Savile Row, London at 17:00hrs.
• Nov 25th – Uranus 2° South of Moon.
• Nov 27th – Comet Giacobini-Zinner closest approach to Earth (0.850 AU).
• Nov 28th – Jupiter 0.6° North of Moon.
• Nov 28th – Ceres at opposition.
• Nov 30th – Saturn 1.8° North of Moon.
• Nov 30th – Pluto is in conjunction with the Sun.

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 1998.

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. 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 Dec
SUNRISE    07:12     07:22     07:31     07:40     07:49     07:58      08:06
SUNSET     16:38     16:29     16:21     16:13     16:06     16:01      15:57

On the 4th the Moon is at its minimum perigee (closest to the Earth) in 1998 at a distance of 356,614 km.

THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.

MERCURY.

Even though Mercury is at its greatest elongation on the 11th it is very poorly placed for observers in the Northern hemisphere.

VENUS.

Venus is also poorly placed but will soon start an evening apparition which will see it into 1999.

MARS.

On the 13th Mars is only 18′ North of the Moon at 18h:00m. By the time it has risen though (at 01h:45m) the following morning), the gap will have widened considerably. As the years ends Mars’ diameter will increase to over 6″ and careful telescope observers will note that the disk is not a perfect circle but exhibits a slight “gibbous” phase. In fact, only 90% of the planet’s sunlit hemisphere is turned towards the Earth this month.

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.

ASTEROIDS.

• Ceres can be found in Taurus at Mag 7.7.
• Vesta can be found in Cancer at Mag 8.0.
• Eunomia can be found in Perseus at Mag 8.0.
• Massalia can be found in Aries at Mag 9.0.

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

JUPITER.

Jupiter’s apparent diameter is decreasing but at 42″ is still eight times larger than Mars. On the 28th the Moon passes 1° to the South.

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 is very nicely placed in the evening sky. After the Sun has set it may be found low down in the South East, but before midnight is due South near to the star Alpha Piscium. On the 30th Saturn is 2.5° 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 conjunction with the Sun on the 30th and will be out of view for several months.

METEORS.

TAURIDS 12 per Hour ZHR – max on the 3rd (Favorable) and 13th (Unfavourable).
LEONIDS 1998 STORM – max on the Nov 17th/18th Possible Storm. (Favourable)

An engraving of the Leonid Meteor Shower of 1833

COMETS.

• Comet C/98P/ Takamizawa at Perihelion on Nov 7th at (1.585AU)
• Comet C/1998 G1 Linear at Perihelion on Nov 16th at (2.132AU)
• Comet C134P/ Kowal-Vavrova at Perihelion at Perihelion at 2.575AU)
• Comet C21P/ Giacobini-Zinner at Perihelion at Perihelion (1.034AU)

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.

OCCULATIONS.

• Nov 5th at 00hr:25m Reappearance of 5 Tauri.
• Nov 5th at 21hr:20m Reappearance of 71 Tauri.
• Nov 5th at 22hr:37m Reappearance of Theta2 Tauri.
• Nov 5th at 22hr:41m Reappearance of Theta1 Tauri.
• Nov 6th at 23hr:42m Reappearance of SAO 93975 in Taurus.
• Nov 15th at 02hr:27m Reappearance of Alpha Tauri.
• Nov 24th at 17hr:58m Disappearance of Pi Capricorni.
• Nov 24th at 19hr:08m Disappearance of Rho Capricorni.

Society News Headlines

• Oct 1st – Uranus 3° South of Moon.
• Oct 1st – RTG Heat may account for anomalous spacecraft acceleration.
• Oct 1st – The Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft arrives at The Kennedy Space Center.Launch due on Dec 10th 1998.
• Oct 1st – NASA’s 40th birthday.(1958)
• Oct 1st – Happy Birthday NASA!
• Oct 1st – Kitt Peak Observatory is also 40 years old this month.
• Oct 1st – Los Alamos forms Center for Space Science & Exploration.
• Oct 1st – North Korea says its new satellite can be seen with unaided eye.
• Oct 2nd – MIR space staion maybe kept in Earth orbit.
• Oct 2nd – First station launch on schedule, Service Module Delayed.
• Oct 2nd – To go boldly were no Brit has gone before!
• Oct 3rd – FAS Autumn Convention at Cambridge.
• Oct 4th – Pallas 1.0° South of Moon.
• Oct 4th – Jupiter is 0.2° North of Moon.
• Oct 6th – Ariane 44L European launcher puts two satellites into Earth orbit.
• Oct 6th – Mars 0.9° North of Regulus..
• Oct 7th – Saturn 1.8° North of Moon.
• Oct 7th – Is anyone out there?.
• Oct 7th – Meteor threat to spacecraft in November is elevated but not serious.
• Oct 7th – The VLT commissioning continues with a view of the Dumbbell Nebula M27/NGC 6853.
• Oct 9th – Aldebaran 0.4° South of Moon.
• Oct 9th – New look online Press Kit for Shuttle mission STS-95.(See below Oct 29th).
• Oct 9th – RAS meeting at Saville Row, London.
• Oct 9th – Ceres 0.9° South of Moon.
• Oct 9th – Draconids/Giacobinid meteor shower peak.(Surprise October Meteor Shower?.
• Oct 9th – Were were the Giacobinids?, did you see any?.First Results Here.
• Oct 9th – Russian Parliament members appeal to President Yeltsin to save the MIR space station.
• Oct 9th – The parent Comet Giacobini-Zinner and where to find it.
• Oct 10th – Ceres Stationary.
• Oct 11th – Neptune Stationary.
• Oct 12th – Colorado researchers discover missing link in planet formation.
• Oct 12th – The SPOT-4 spacecraft takes an image of the another satellite in Earth Orbit – ERS-1.
• Oct 12th – First X-Ray emitting brown dwarf star discovered.
• Oct 13th – British Interplanetary Society’s 65th Birthday.(1933).
• Oct 13th – New images from the Galileo spacecraft show lighting and thunderstorm on Jupiter.
• Oct 13th – NASA delays launch of the AXAF observatory due to electrical problems and more time for testing.
• Oct 13th – Shuttle DISCOVERY cleared for launch on Oct 29th, with Senator John Glenn and six other crew.
• Oct 14th – Comet 93P/Lovas 1 at perihelion.(1.692AU).
• Oct 14th – The David Lunt Lecture at JMU.
• Oct 14th – Neptune’s wild weather.
• Oct 14th – Hubble’s new views of Planet Neptune.
• Oct 14th – Hubble finds many bright clouds on Uranus.
• Oct 14th – Mars Global Surveyor – latest images from Mars, Olympus Mons and Kasei Valles.
• Oct 14th – SOHO spacecraft almost back in business.Click Here.
• Oct 14th – Live images of the spacecraft for the Mars Surveyor’98 missions are found HERE.
• Oct 14th – Recent observations of Jupiter from Zac Pujic. HERE.
• Oct 14th – New updated images from the Mars Pathfinder Mission.
• Oct 14th – New Web site for ESA Ariane 5 Rocket.
• Oct 15th – Deep Space 1 spacecraft planned launch.(asteroid flyby mission.(NOW Oct 24th).
• Oct 15th – Deep Space mission press kit
• Oct 15th – Regulus 0.5° North of Moon.
• Oct 15th – A strange Supernova with a Gamma-Ray Burst.
• Oct 15th – Comet C/1998 M6 (Montani) at Perihelion.(5.970 AU).
• Oct 16th – Mars 1.0° North of Moon.
• Oct 16th – The LAS 11th William Lassell memorial lecture at Liverpool Museum. 7pm. Speaker: Dr Allan Chapman, Wadham college, Oxford.
• Oct 19th – Uranus stationary.
• Oct 19th – New Comet C/1998 S1 (Mueller)Discovered.
• Oct 20th – NASA Atlas 2A launches US navy communications satellite.
• Oct 21st – Mercury 7° South of Moon.
• Oct 21st – Nova Scorpii 1998 discovered at Mag 7.5 (RA 17h:55m:25s, Dec -31°:01′:42″).
• Oct 21st – Watch the launch of ESA Ariane-5 Rocket LIVE.!
• Oct 21st – ESA Ariane-5 rocket successfully launched.
• Oct 21st – Orionids meteor shower max.
• Oct 22nd – New Observations of Comet Hale-Bopp.
• Oct 22nd – Turtle in Space new Hubble image of the planetary nebulae NGC 6210.
• Oct 22nd – The Hubble Heritage Project unveiled to-day.
• Oct 22nd – Jupiter’s Moon Callisto may hide salty ocean.
• Oct 23rd – Saturn at opposition.
• Oct 24th – The Astronomy Center Autumn star party. 12 noon start.
• Oct 24th – The third EUROpean Satellite Observers Meeting. (Eurosom 3) City Observatory, Calton Hill, Edinburgh. (ends Oct 25th).
• Oct 24th – NASA Deep Space 1 spacecraft to be launched To-day. Oct 24th – Deep Space 1 spacecraft successfully launched.
• Oct 25th – STS-95 space shuttle Discovery mission launch with SpaceHab-SM & John Glenn.NEW LAUNCH DATE: Oct 29th.
• Oct 25th – British Summer Time Ends.
• Oct 25th – Cargo mission on its way to dock with MIR.
• Oct 26th – Hubble space telescope images indicate new expantion rate for the Universe.
• Oct 28th – Juno in conjunction with the Sun.
• Oct 28th – Uranus & Neptune 2° South of the Moon.
• Oct 28th – BAA AGM at Saville Row 17:30.
• Oct 28th – New Mars Global Surveyor images show lava flow plates and active dunes.
• Oct 29th – Ask John Glenn a Question.
• Oct 29th – John Glenn – A return mission.
• Oct 29th – John Glenn says his trip into space is for Science!.
• Oct 29th – Senator John Glenn Homepage.
• Oct 29th – Launch date for Shuttle Mission STS-95. STS-95 PRESS KIT
• Oct 29th – John Glenn in space for the second time at the age of 77! Space Shuttle STS-95 Discovery launch sucessful.(Hope for me yet!!!).
• Oct 29th – Comet C/1998 M1 (Linear) at perihelion (3.110AU).
• Oct 30th – Venus at superior conjunction.
• Oct 30th – JMU Public Lecture: Dr Brian G.Marsden from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, to give a talk on 1997 XF11 at JMU at 7:30pm.
• Oct 31st – Jupiter 0.2° North of Moon.
• Oct 31st – SPA meeting at University of Westminster, London.
• Oct 31st – The Royal Greenwich Observatory will close to-day.

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 1998.

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 (B.S.T.). 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.

           3rd       8th       13th      18th      23rd      28th     2nd Nov
SUNRISE    07:17     07:26     07:35     07:44     07:53     08:03      08:12
SUNSET     18:45     18:33     18:21     18:10     17:59     17:48      17:38

On the 21st the Moon is at its maximum apogee (furthest from the Earth) for 1998 at a distance of 406,669km.

THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.

MERCURY.

Mercury was at superior conjunction late last month and is not on view at the moment.

VENUS.

Venus is also out of the picture as it reaches superior conjunction on the 30th.

MARS.

Mars’ apparent diameter is now 4.6″ towards the of the month. Whilst nowhere near its best for observation, owners of telescopes capable of usefully applying a high magnification may note one of the white polar caos against a tiny orange disk. On the 6th Mars lies 1° North of the star Regulus (Alpha Leonis) – a star Mercury passed last month. On the 16th the Moon passes 1.5° South of Mars.

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.

ASTEROIDS.

20 MASSALIA is at oppostion on the 30th at Mag 9.0 in the constellation of Aries.

For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

JUPITER.

Jupiter will be a fine sight for the rest of this year with the Moon passing 1° South on the 4th.

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 is at opposition on the 10th and passes 2.5° North of the moon on the 7th.

URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Both are still with us, but by months end are hiding in the South Western horizon’s murk, within the constellation of Capricornus . Uranus should be visible through binoculars under a clear, dark sky sets at 23h:30m, but Neptune may need further resolving power – i.e. a telescope – to distinguish it from a star.It sets at 22h:40m.

Planet Postions During October 1998

Uranus             Oct 1st       R.A. 20h:46m:14s     DEC -18°:39':58"     Mag 5.7

Neptune            Oct 1st       R.A. 20h:06m:01s     DEC -19°:56':53"     Mag 7.9

PLUTO.

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

METEORS.

13th                 Piscids                          Low Rates       Fairly Favouable  (8 day old Moon)

21st                 Orionids                         20  Per Hour    Favourable (1 day old Moon)

COMETS.

• Comet 93P/Lovas 1 at Perihelion on Oct 14th – (1.692 AU).
• Comet C/1998 M6 (Montani) at Perihelion on Oct 15th – (5.970 AU).
• Comet C/1998 M1 (Linear) at Perihelion on Oct 29th – (3.110 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.
  

  ---

OCCULATIONS.

• Oct 16th at 04h:57m:16s Reappearance of Rho Leonis.
• Oct 30th at 19h:11m:19s Disappearance of Sigma Aquarii.

Society News Headlines

• Sept 1st – Comet C/1998 K2 (LINEAR) at Perhelion (2.323AU).
• Sept 1st – A major solar storm hit the Earth on August 26th producing an impressive aurora display.
• Sept 1st – Russian cosmonauts redock unmanned cargo ship, progress M-39.
• Sept 1st – MGS spacecraft helps the study of small volcanoes on Mars.
• Sept 1st – The most accurate telescope mirror ever made begins its journey to Hawaii.
• Sept 3rd – Neptune 2° South of Moon.
• Sept 4th – Uranus 3° South of Moon.
• Sept 4th – Dr David Whitehouse, BBC science editor, says we should return to the Moon.
• Sept 4th – Moon has much more water – say researchers.Findings are published in Science
• Sept 4th – NASA engineers pin-point problems with Titan and Delta 3 rockets.
• Sept 4th _ The next LAS Croxteth Park Public Star Party will be held between Nov 27th – 29th.
• Sept 4th – BAA Out-of-London Weekend, University of Northumbria, Carlisle.(Ends Sept 6th)
• Sept 4th – Public Open Meeting at LAS Pex Hill Observatory 19:30 – 21:30.
• Sept 5th – Mission controllers got it wrong with SOHO. Major changes to result once full contact with spacecraft gained.
• Sept 5th – North Korea claims to have launched a satellite or was it a missile?.
• Sept 6th – British Association Festival of Science at Cardiff. (ends on Sept 11th).
• Sept 6th – Penumbral Eclipse of the Moon.(Not visible from Liverpool) (link removed as URL is invalid).
• Sept 6th – Venus 0.8° North of Regulus.
• Sept 7th – Jupiter 0.57° North of Moon.
• Sept 7th – New close-up views of Mercury. Click Here.
• Sept 7th – Grabbing a piece of the Sun. The Genesis Mission.
• Sept 8th – Supermassive Black Hole found in the center of our galaxy.
• Sept 8th – Control of the SOHO spacecraft is now almost fully regained.
• Sept 9th – Space shuttle Discovery moved to VAB sporting new look.
• Sept 9th – “Snowball comets” are just spacecraft camera noise say Berkeley researchers.
• Sept 9th – Piscids Meteor shower Max (ZHR 8 per hour). 2nd Max on 21st.
• Sept 9th – Saturn 2° North of Moon.
• Sept 10th – 12 US satellites are lost following Russian Zenit rocket lost after launch.
• Sept 10th – Astronomers find giant dust cloud which may hide family of planets.
• Sept 11th – LAS Members evening at the LAS Pex Hill Observatory 19:30 – 21:30.
• Sept 11th – Horncastle Astronomy Weekend begins.(ends Sept 13th.)
• Sept 11th – Mercury 0.4° North of Venus.
• Sept 11th – New mirror heats up.Steward Observatory Mirror Lab.
• Sept 12th – Phobos the dust covered Martian moon.
• Sept 12th – Spacecraft behaving bizarrely.…”It’s the laws of Physics – they’re not right Capt”….
• Sept 12th – Jodrell Bank searches for extraterrestrial civilisations.
• Sept 12th – Ceres 0.9° South of Moon.
• Sept 12th – Aldebaran 0.37° South of Moon.
• Sept 12th – Jupiter at Opposition.
• Sept 13th – Proposal to build space hotel out of discarded external fuel tanks from the Space Shuttle.
• Sept 15th – Astronomers announce to-day new findings on the mystery of Jupiter’s ring system.
• Sept 15th – Alpha Aurigids Meteor shower MAX. (10 per hourZHR).
• Sept 15th – University of Minnesota chosen by NASA for 2001 space mission.
  The Inner Magnetosphere Explorer, (IMEX).
• Sept 16th – Pallas at Opposition.
• Sept 17th – Mars 27° North of Moon.
• Sept 18th – Beware, the sky is falling, 8Km in 40 years has been measured.
• Sept 18th – Whirlpool Star Party at Birr Castle, Ireland begins. (Ends Sept 20th).
• Sept 18th – Liverpool Astronomical Society Cheese & Wine reception & Presidental Address. “Work of the LAS over the past 40 years”.
• Sept 18th – A radio telescope larger than the Earth is used to look at objects 6.3 billion light years away.
• Sept 18th – Regulus 0.6° North of Moon.
• Sept 19th – The 4th Equinox Skycamp. (link removed as URL is invalid)
• Sept 21st – Galileo images from its 9th orbit of Jupiter now available HERE.
• Sept 21st – Oceans seen from Space.
• Sept 21st – Hurricane Georges spares the Arecibo Observatory on Puerto Rico.
• Sept 22nd – NASA to pick-up more bills from the Russian’s, 660 million dollars worth of extra funding is asked for.
• Sept 22nd – The first ISS module for launch by space shuttle is shipped to launch area, for planned launch in December aboard STS-88.
• Sept 22nd – Mars Global Surveyor begins aerobraking after control problems.
• Sept 22nd – As space missions become longer, effects on the human body and mind need much more study.
• Sept 23rd – Peering deep, deep into space with the Paranal Observatory.
• Sept 23rd – Planets are doubling up.
• Sept 23rd – Astronomers see solar system dust disks in Binary Star System.
• Sept 23rd – Space Shuttle Discovery to shelter from storm force winds & rain.
• Sept 23rd – Major display of aurora observed in Northern USA.
• Sept 23rd – Autumn Equinox. (06h:37mBST)
• Sept 24th – New Look for space shuttle Atlantis.
• Sept 25th – Mercury in Superior conjunction.
• Sept 25th – NASA’s space race slowing down and is boring says Newt Gingrich.
• Sept 25th – Russia to launch Sun probe from MIR spacestation next year.
• Sept 25th – Resupply of MIR is delayed again due to funding problems.
• Sept 25th – Gravity explains why so many asteroids scare us.
• Sept 25th – The Mars Global Surveyor shows spring weather on the Red Planet.
• Sept 25th – Lord Archer would like to see two time zones in the UK.
• Sept 25th – British student helps America’s to find planet around star HD 187123.
• Sept 25th – New planet discovery research paper.
• Sept 26th – Is astronomy worth it. Dr David Whitehouse reports for the BBC.
• Sept 27th – Comet 88P/Howell at Perihelion (1.406).
• Sept 27th – Radio astronomers locate magnetar.
• Sept 27th – BBC 1 Sky at Night with Patrick Moore. Subject TBC. (rept BBC 2 Oct 3rd).
• Sept 28th – Russia will continue to be in space station project despite its growing financial crisis.
• Sept 28th – Comet Wirtanen imaged by Paranal observatory – Comet to be the subject of visit by ESA spacecraft Rosetta.
• Sept 29th – Gamma Ray Burst hits Earth.
• Sept 30th – Rollercoaster ride into space.
• Sept 30th – Ozone hole reaches new record size.
• Sept 30th – Neptune 27° South of Moon.

THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 1998

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         3rd Oct
SUNRISE    06:24        06:33       06:42      06:50      06:59       07:08         07:17
SUNSET     19:57        19:45       19:33      19:21      19:09       19:57         18:45

AUTUMN EQUINOX – SEPTEMBER 23rd.

The autumn equinox occurs on the 23rd. 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.

At the start of the month Mercury can be found nearly 10° above the North East horizon about 45 minutes before sunrise. On the 8th Mercury is 49′ North of the naked eye star Regulus in the constellation of LEO and on the 11th at 05h:00m Mercury is 20′ North of Venus.Superior conjunction is on the 25th.

Diagram of Morning Sky Apparition of Mercury – August/September 1998
Click On Map for further details.

VENUS.

Venus speeds towards the Sun but it will be visible above the eastern horizon almost up until sunrise until early next month. On the 19th at 19h:00m Venus lies 1° North of the Moon.

MARS.

On the 1st of the month Mars passes a mere 30′ South of the open star cluster M44 in Cancer. Try to observe every morning a week before and a week after to catch a rather swift passage. As Mars does not rise until 03h:00m you will need to be an early riser.!

MARSWATCH – latest observations of the red planet.

ASTEROIDS.

A bonus for observers of Jupiter this month is that one of the largest asteroids pays it a visit this month. This small map shows PALLAS tracking southwards, passing less than a degree North of Jupiter on the 23rd. A series of observations with binoculars or a telescope. recorded either on paper or on film, will reveal the asteroid’s changing position with respect to Jupiter and background stars of Aquarius.

Finder Chart for Pallas near Jupiter.From Sky Publishing com.

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

Drawing of Jupiter © Ken Clarke.

Talking of Jupiter, the giant gas planet is at opposition on the 16th and now is therefre the best time to make use of a large bright disk, to observe the Solar System’s largest planet and the ever-changing positions of its four largest moons. Even a pair of 10×50 binoculars will reveal the disk and the satellites.

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 rises well before midnight now and passes 3° North of the Moon on the 9th in the constellation of Pisces.

URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Both outer gas planets are still favourable objects during the month.

Uranus can be found due South at 22h:20m in the constellation Capricornus.
Neptune is much fainter than Uranus and is more of a challenge to locate and observe. Laying due South at 21h:30m in the constellation Sagittarius.

 
Uranus Positions for the 1st September:
                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      20h:49m:15s           -18°:28':42"                   22h:20m             5.7

Neptune Positions for the 1st September:
                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      20h:07m:39s           -19°:51':20"                   21h:30m             7.9

PLUTO.

Pluto is now not favourable for observations until next year.

METEORS.

• Alpha-Aurigids on Sept 15th ( 10per hour) Fairly favourable.
• Piscids on Sept 9th & 21st Double radiant-(8 per hour):
  • 9th – Unfavourable/MOON 18 days old.
  • 21st – Favourable/MOON 6 days old.

COMETS.

• Comet C/1998 K2 Linear at Perihelion on Sept 1st at (2.323AU).
• Comet 88P/Howell at Perihelion on Sept 27th at (1.406AU).

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.

• Sept 5th at 22h:15m:45s Disappearance of Sigma Aquarii
• Sept 12th at 05h:25m:38s Reappearance of 71 Tauri
• Sept 13th at 05h:06m:29s Reappearance of 111 Tauri