Listen: https://soundcloud.com/astrophiz/astrophiz221-september
September Moon Phases:
September 8 – Full Moon and Total eclipse of the moon around 2am for those who will be getting up very early to see it(Best viewed in WA)
September 8 – Saturn close to the Full Moon (4° apart) in evening sky (also close during the Lunar eclipse in the early hours of the morning.2am central max 4am. wa has best view 2am max 3am
September 10 – Moon at perigee (closest to earth)
September 14 – Last Quarter Moon – Ideal for Stargazing
September 22 – New Moon – ideal for Stargazing all night
September 26 – Moon at apogee (furthest from earth)
September 30 – 1st Quarter Moon
September Highlights:
Mars is still in the early evening North-Western skies.
1 September – ‘The Eyes of Clavius’ shadow effect on the moon is visible
September 20 – Venus very close to Regulus in the morning twilight (0.5° apart) and close to the thin crescent Moon (4° apart). Will need binoculars and a level horizon
September 17 – Jupiter near crescent moon
September 22 – Earth at Equinox
29 September – ‘Luna X’ is quite visible for about 4 hours in the early evening starting on the East Coast from 6:45pm, Central States from 5:25pm and on the West Coast from 4:45pm
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Evening Skies:
Mars is still in the early evening North-Western skies, setting around 9pm
Saturn at Opposition (biggest and brightest) and very nice viewing in evening skies from now till late October.
TCoronaBorealis still hasn’t gone nova, so keep watching it,
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Morning Skies:
Uranus in the morning twilight
Venus is falling in the east as the month progresses and gibbous in shape
Jupiter is climbing higher in morning skies in the east
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Ian’s Tangent:
A 3rd interstellar comet visits our system, and its tail is pointing in the wrong direction! .
Arriving from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, the interstellar comet has been officially named 3I/ATLAS.
And Ian introduces us to the nature of cometary ‘ices’ as revealed by spectroscopy, and the chemical/metal composition of Comet 3I/ATLAS.
The comet, 3 Km in diameter, poses no threat to Earth and will remain at a distance of at least 1.6 astronomical units (about 150 million miles or 240 million km). It is currently about 4.5 au (about 416 million miles or 670 million km) from the Sun. 3I/ATLAS will reach its closest approach to the Sun around Oct. 30, at a distance of 1.4 au (about 130 million miles or 210 million km) — just inside the orbit of Mars.
The interstellar comet’s size and physical properties are being investigated by astronomers around the world. 3I/ATLAS should remain visible to ground-based telescopes through September, after which it will pass too close to the Sun to observe. It is expected to reappear on the other side of the Sun by early December, allowing for renewed observations.
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Ian’s Astrophotography Challenge:
Capture the Lunar Eclipse
Top Tip: As the eclipse progresses you will need to adjust your exposure settings as the brightness of the moon changes.
The Astronomy Astrophiz Podcasts 