Tuesday, September 29, 2015
The Sky This Week - Thursday October 1 to Thursday October 8
The Last Quarter Moon is Monday October 5. Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is near
the
head of the Scorpion. Comet
C/2013 US10 may be visible in binoculars. The mornings of the next few weeks will be full of interesting planetary action. This weekh the planets form a line in the sky and are visited by the Moon. Venus is easily visible in the morning twilight with Mars below
it and Jupiter below Mars.
The Last Quarter Moon is Monday October 5. Daylight Savings starts October 4 (except QLD, NT and WA).
Evening sky on Saturday October 3 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 21:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible above the western
horizon near the
head of the Scorpion . Comet C/2013 US10
is visible in telescopes (and possibly binoculars). The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive back to front "question mark" constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 19:00 until around 11 pm. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Comet C/2013 US10 is nearly midway between the Pointers and the head of the Scorpion, near a brightish triangle of stars in Lupus. It is brightening very slowly, and looks to be around a magnitude dimmer than predicted. Now the Moon is rising later it should be easier to see in binoculars. A black and white spotters map is here.
Early morning sky on Thursday October 8 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:45 ACDST showing the crescent Moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, forming a line with Procyon.
The inset shows the telescopic view of Venus at this time. Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Jupiter rises higher in the morning skies, but remains close to the horizon and may require a flat unobstructed horizon to see it.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing into darker skies it may still require a reasonably unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is now easy to see. It is a distinct waxing crescent and impressive in a small telescope. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the bright star Procyon form a line in the sky. This line is joined by the Moon on the 8th, a prelude to the occultation of Venus on the 9th.
Over the next couple of weeks the sight will improve further, with Venus, Jupiter and Mars coming close together.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Mercury and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
The Last Quarter Moon is Monday October 5. Daylight Savings starts October 4 (except QLD, NT and WA).
Evening sky on Saturday October 3 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 21:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible above the western
horizon near the
head of the Scorpion . Comet C/2013 US10
is visible in telescopes (and possibly binoculars). The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).Mercury is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive back to front "question mark" constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 19:00 until around 11 pm. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Comet C/2013 US10 is nearly midway between the Pointers and the head of the Scorpion, near a brightish triangle of stars in Lupus. It is brightening very slowly, and looks to be around a magnitude dimmer than predicted. Now the Moon is rising later it should be easier to see in binoculars. A black and white spotters map is here.
Jupiter rises higher in the morning skies, but remains close to the horizon and may require a flat unobstructed horizon to see it.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing into darker skies it may still require a reasonably unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is now easy to see. It is a distinct waxing crescent and impressive in a small telescope. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the bright star Procyon form a line in the sky. This line is joined by the Moon on the 8th, a prelude to the occultation of Venus on the 9th.
Over the next couple of weeks the sight will improve further, with Venus, Jupiter and Mars coming close together.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Mercury and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Labels: weekly sky
Monday, September 28, 2015
Southern Skywatch October, 2015 edition is now out!
The October edition of Southern Skywatch is now up. This month features still more nice planetary action . Unfortunately, most of it is in the early morning with Venus, Mars and Jupiter forming a line in the morning sky, Venus and Jupiter close, Venus and Mars close and an occultation of Venus. Comet C/2013 US10 may become easy to see in binoculars.
Jupiter climbs higher in the morning sky and has close encounters with Venus and Mars.
Mars is visible low in the early morning sky and has close encounters with Regulus, Jupiter and Venus.
Saturn is in the western evening sky.
Venus is prominent in the morning twilight and is close to the crescent Moon on the 9th. At this time it is occulted by the Moon. It forms a line with Mars and Jupiter and has close encounters with these planets during the month.
Mercury is not visible this month.
Comet C/2013 US10 has slowed brightening and may become visible in binoculars towards the end of the month.
Labels: southern skywatch
Thursday, September 24, 2015
The Perigee Moon ("Super Moon") of Monday September 28, What Can You See?
Illustration of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. Distances for apogee and perigee are given for the 2011 Full Moons because I was lazy and didn't want to redraw the diagram. The Full Moon of this Monday September 28 occurs at perigee. The actual moment of Full Moon is 2:50 UT, which is 12:50 AEST (that is around midday when the Moon is below the horizon) and perigee is an hour before that.
None the less if you look at 10:00 pm on the evening of September 28, the Moon will be bigger than it was on March the 5th at 10:00 pm (when it was an apogee full Moon) or on April 21, 2016 (the next apogee full Moon). At this time there is also a total Lunar Eclipse, but we in Australia will not see it.
Some folks have started to call perigeean Full Moons "Super Moons" for reasons that, to my mind, are not entirely justified. This comic is relevant.
Still, we have the name, let's move on. What will you see, and what are the implications of this coming "Super Moon".
The Moon has an elliptical orbit around the Earth (greatly exaggerated for illustrative purposes in the diagram above). When the Moon is closest to Earth, it is at perigee, and furthest, at apogee. The orbit of the Moon precesses around the Earth, so that sometimes perigee occurs at full Moon, sometimes at new Moon, and every time in between. Also for a variety of reasons the distances of closest and furthest approach can vary by up to almost 1,000 Km.
Perigee Full Moons ("super moons") are closer and brighter than other full Moons.
So, what can you see?
Without a telescope, and a near photographic memory, not much. This years perigee full Moon could appear up around 12% bigger and around 25% brighter in the sky than this years apogee Moon.However, the full Moon is only around half a finger-width wide in the sky, 12% of half a finger-width is not very much. This XKCD comic is relevant. As is this one.
Technically the Moon is around 33 arc minutes wide (34') at Perigee and 30' at apogee. The limit of distances that someone with good vision can distinguish between is 1 minute of arc (about the width of a human hair). While a 4 minute of arc difference can theoretically be seen, you need good eyesight and a good memory to compare the Moon sizes after 7 months.
On March 5, the Moon was 406385 Km from Earth at furthest remove, while on September 28 it will be 356876 Km away at closest approach at 12:50 pm.
At 10 pm on the 28th (when we can actually see it) the Moon will be 357077 Km away.
While the effect is really obvious in a telescope, visually it is very hard to see the difference even if you have great eyesight. On May 5th 2015, the Moon's diameter at 10 pm was 29'37", for the perigee Moon of September 28 at 10 pm it will be 33'49".
In both cases the Moon is around half the width of your finger, and just 4' (that's minutes of arc, about 4 human hairs in width) different in size. This is around the limit of what humans can distinguish. If you have great eyesight and and a great memory you will be able to distinguish between the March and September full Moons.
As well, unless you have a REALLY good memory, you will be comparing it with the full Moon the month beforehand, when it was 33'45" in diameter, that is not much different at all.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't look though, Daniel Fischer has been able to see the difference, you can read his account and viewing tips here
http://earthsky.org/space/can-you-discern-supermoons-large-size-with-the-eye-an-observer-says-yes
However, it will be a good photo opportunity, if you have a decent zoom on your camera or access to a small telescope. If you have not already taken an image on March 5, taking a photo of the Moon on September 28 and then again on April 21 in 2016 you will see a decent difference (you need to use exactly the same zoom enlargement, see Inconstant Moon for instructions).
Here's my images from the January/August apogee and perigee Moons respectively.
For a list of full/new Moons and the dates of apogee/perigee see here.
What will Happen?
The Moon will be bright and lovely, if lucky you may see a satellite pass or a meteor (sadly, there appear to be no International Space Station passes at this time). Maybe you may see a Moon Bow. But nothing else will happen.One of the reasons why I am annoyed with the term "super moon" is that it was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle. While I am all for getting people excited about going out an seeing the sky for whatever reason, Mr. Nolle promoted the idea that "super moons" are linked with earthquakes, the name "super moon" almost always pulls up this spurious idea.
They are not. And the "super moon of March 2011, which was much closer than this one, didn't result in any unforeseen earthquake activity.
The total Lunar Eclipse is also part of a tetrad (actually a triad) of Lunar eclipses some folks are worried will bring about "The End of Days". Which it won't, not least because the tetrad is actually a triad.
Labels: apogee, astrophotography, Moon, perigee
Call off the Apocalypse, the Lunar Tetrad was a Triad!
The April 2015 Lunar Eclipse was not a total eclipse, so the apocalypse is averted. Seeing as we have survived the Asteroid Apocalypse, the Next Big Thing is the final in the Tertrad of Blood Moons, the Total Lunar Eclipse on 28 September.
I've already written why the whole "Tetrad of Lunar Eclipses" and the "end of Days" is nonsense. A tetrad occurs roughly every 10-20 years. The apocalypse failed to materialise after the last tetrads in 1985-1986 and in 2003-2004 and after the many, many more over the past centuries, so it is not going to happen now.
However, there is a far more important reason this coming tetrad will not herald the "End of Days".
It is not a tetrad
The April 2015 Lunar Eclipse, the third eclipse in the terad, was not a total eclipse, so the apocalypse is averted. The original calculations for the length and depth of the April eclipse depended on an old model of depending on the shape model for the Earth's shadow and how the edge of the Earth's shadow is defined.
However, with newer models and calculations, the April eclipse turned out to be quite short. And in reality, it was not quite total either.
You can see images here. My own not so flash images are here, but the bottom line is that the April 4 eclipse was not total. Only by a whisker but still not total.
So, no total eclipse, no tetrad, not "End of Days".
Now those of you who do get to see the eclipse (not Australia unfortunately) can view this lovely spectacle in peace.
Labels: eclipse, Hoax, Moon, Pseudoscience
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
The Sky This Week - Thursday September 24 to Thursday October 1
The Full Moon is Monday September 28. This is a perigee "super" Moon. Mercury is low in the twilight.
Saturn is near
the
head of the Scorpion. Comet
C/2013 US10 may be visible in binoculars. Mars
is visible low in the morning twilight with Venus easily visible above
it in the
morning twilight. Jupiter is low in the morning sky
The Full Moon is Monday September 28. This is a perigee full Moon, where the Moon is closest to the Earth, a so-called "super" Moon. There is a total Lunar eclipse at this time but this is not visible from Australasia.
Comparison of the April 21, 2016 mini Moon and the September 21 perigee "Super" Moon simulated in Stellarium.
While a perigee Full Moon is bigger and brighter than the average Full Moon, this is almost imperceptible to the unaided eye (and even with a telescope you will need a good memory or photographic evidence to see the difference).
On March 5, the Moon was 406385 Km from Earth at furthest remove, while on September 28 it will be 356876 Km away at closest approach at 12:50 pm. See here for more information.
Early
evening sky on Saturday September 26 looking north-west as seen from
Adelaide
at 18:45 ACST showing Mercury and Spica.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).
Mercury continues to lower in the evening sky. This is the last week to see it as it heads towards the western horizon. By the weekend it will difficult to see in the twiight, and by the end io the week it is no longer visible
Evening sky on Saturday September 26 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 21:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible high above the western
horizon near the
head of the Scorpion. Comet C/2013 US10
is visible in telescopes (and possibly binoculars) not far from the
pointers. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 19:00 until around 11 pm. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Comet C/2013 US10 is not far from the Pointers, near a brightish triangle of stars in Lupus. It is now brightening very slowly. With the full Moon this week it is unlikely to be seen in anything but telescopes. A black and white spotters map is here.
Early morning sky on Friday September 25 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:30 ACST showing Venus, Mars and Jupiter just above the horizon, forming a line with Procyon.
The inset shows the telescopic view of Venus at this time. Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Jupiter returns to the morning skies, but remains close to the horizon and may require a flat unobstructed horizon and binoculars to see it.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing out of the twilight into darker skies it still requires a flat unobstructed horizon to see effectively. From the 24th to 26h it is within a finger-width of the bright star Regulus, being closest on the 25th. This will be difficult to see.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is now reasonably easy to see. It is a distinct waxing crescent and impressive in a small telescope. Venus Mars, Jupiter and the bright star Procyon form a line in the sky. While it is currently not very clear, over the next couple of weeks the sight will improve considerably.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Mercury and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
The Full Moon is Monday September 28. This is a perigee full Moon, where the Moon is closest to the Earth, a so-called "super" Moon. There is a total Lunar eclipse at this time but this is not visible from Australasia.
While a perigee Full Moon is bigger and brighter than the average Full Moon, this is almost imperceptible to the unaided eye (and even with a telescope you will need a good memory or photographic evidence to see the difference).
On March 5, the Moon was 406385 Km from Earth at furthest remove, while on September 28 it will be 356876 Km away at closest approach at 12:50 pm. See here for more information.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).
Mercury continues to lower in the evening sky. This is the last week to see it as it heads towards the western horizon. By the weekend it will difficult to see in the twiight, and by the end io the week it is no longer visible
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 19:00 until around 11 pm. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Comet C/2013 US10 is not far from the Pointers, near a brightish triangle of stars in Lupus. It is now brightening very slowly. With the full Moon this week it is unlikely to be seen in anything but telescopes. A black and white spotters map is here.
Jupiter returns to the morning skies, but remains close to the horizon and may require a flat unobstructed horizon and binoculars to see it.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing out of the twilight into darker skies it still requires a flat unobstructed horizon to see effectively. From the 24th to 26h it is within a finger-width of the bright star Regulus, being closest on the 25th. This will be difficult to see.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is now reasonably easy to see. It is a distinct waxing crescent and impressive in a small telescope. Venus Mars, Jupiter and the bright star Procyon form a line in the sky. While it is currently not very clear, over the next couple of weeks the sight will improve considerably.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Mercury and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
The ISS Zooms Past Saturn (22 September 2015)
 |  |
| The International Space Station flies over Saturn as seen from Adelaide on 22 September. Imaged with my Canon IXUS, 400 ASA at around 19:34 ACST. Stack of 3 x 5 second exposures in Deep Sky Stacker (one frame was dropped) . Click to embiggen (especially if you want to see Saturn clearly). | The International Space Station flies over Saturn as seen from Adelaide on 22 September. Imaged with my Canon IXUS, 400 ASA at around 19:34 ACST. Stack of 4 x 5 second exposures in ImageJ. Click to embiggen (especially if you want to see Saturn clearly). |
Despite the afternoon cloud the evening turned out to be gloriously clear. Because the ISS was going to come within a telescope field of the ISS I debated setting up the telescope to record the fly-by. But with only one camera suitable for recording o either tripod of telescope I opted for tripod only.
As you see the ISS pretty much grazed Saturn, which would have looked great in a scope. But I had set up the camera on the tripod and was ready to go. Unfortunately, the heavens above prediction was out by a bout a minute, so I started my timing run a little too late, but I got the ISS just as iyt went over Saturn. Looked even more impressive in the sky.
 |  |
| Close up of Saturn and the ISS in a single frame. | Animation of the ISS going over Saturn. 4 x 5 second images animated in ImageJ |
Labels: astrophotography, ISS, Saturn, unaided eye
No, Neither an Asteroid nor a Comet will hit us in September
The intertubes are currently buzzing with rumours about the imminent collision of an asteroid (or 2.5 mile wide comet) with Earth over the next few days (some are quite specific stating that the asteroid or comet will hit on the 23rd of September, others give a range of dates between the 20-30th of September). Often the headline says "NASA confirms", which it hasn't.
The identity of the comet or asteroid is either not given or identified with 2015 GA14 (which misses Earth by 77 times the distance between Earth and the Moon) and 2012 TTD (which misses Earth by 21 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon). Neither are 2.5 kilometres wide. Neither will hit us.
There are three other asteroids that come close in this period (33 metres to 100 metres in diameter, nowhere near 2.5 Km wide), but they also miss the Earth by over 14 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. To put this in perspective, Apollo 11, travelling at over 7 kilometres per seconds took 3 days to get from the Earth to the Moon. That's a long, long way away.
So not, we are not going to be hit by them. And there are no big asteroids sneaking up on us. Seriously, amateur astronomers are picking up smaller rocks than this all the time so a 2.5 Km rock or comet would be spotted well before time.
Heck, as I write we are watching comet C/2013 US10 head towards perihelion, it is coming nowhere near Earth.
But it should be obvious that this is all a hoax, remember how asteroid DA2013 cl2 was going to wipe out all life on Earth back in 2013? That was a hoax, as was asteroid 2014 AZ5, How about the Mayan Calender apocalypse? Comet Elenin? Comet ISON? All theses "end of the worlds" were hoaxes which passed (although comets Elenin and ISON were real comets, we were never in any danger from them).
So to help you ignore the hysteria over rocks that will come nowhere near us, I give you the I've made a Celestia file for 2012 TT5. As usual, copy the data here to a plain text file (2012TT5.ssc) and copy the file to the Celestia extras folder.
====================2012TTD.ssc==========================
"2012 TT5" "Sol"
#Data from MPC http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/MPEph/MPEph.html
#Epoch 2015 June 27.0 TT = JDT 2457200.5 MPC
#M 346.05031 (2000.0) P Q
#n 0.32951954 Peri. 273.02601 +0.24722473 +0.96748968 T = 2457242.83342 JDT
#a 2.0759423 Node 11.70885 -0.75140474 +0.22617386 q = 0.7171772
#e 0.6545293 Incl. 15.23443 -0.61177679 +0.11317733 Earth MOID = 0.05522 AU
#P 2.99 H 21.7 G 0.15 U 5
#From 59 observations 2012 Oct. 6-Nov. 5, mean residual 0".32.
{
Class "asteroid"
Mesh "ky26.cmod"
Texture "asteroid.jpg"
Radius 0.1 # maximum semi-axis
MeshCenter [ -0.000718 -0.000099 0.000556 ]
EllipticalOrbit
{
Epoch 2457200.5 # Epoch 2015 June 27.0 TT = JDT 2457200.5
Period 2.99 # P
SemiMajorAxis 2.0759423 # a
Eccentricity 0.0520041 # e
Inclination 0.6545293 # Incl.
AscendingNode 11.70885 # Node
ArgOfPericenter 273.02601 # Peri
PericenterDistance 0.7171772 # q
MeanAnomaly 346.05031 # M
}
RotationPeriod 0.9 #Guess
Albedo 0.15 #Based on typical Stony asteroids, rotation periods vary from one hour to one day
}
========================================================
Labels: asteroids, comet, Hoax
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Some Bright International Space Station Passes and Saturn (21-28 September 2015)
 |  |  |
| The ISS passes near Saturn, as seen from Brisbane on the evening of Wednesday September 23 at 19:15 AEST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen. | The ISS passes near Saturn, as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Tuesday 22 September at 19:35 ACST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen. | The ISS passes through Scorpius, above Saturn, as seen from Perth on the evening of Tuesday 22 September at 19:37 AWST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen. |
 |  |  |
| All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Wednesday September 23 for Brisbane. | All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Tuesday 22 September for Adelaide. | All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Tuesday 22 September for Perth. |
Starting tommorow night (Monday) there are a series of bright evening passes of the International Space Station lasting a week. For many places in Australia this series has the ISS gliding either through or under the Southern cross, depending on where you are, and coming close alpha Centauri or Alpha Crucis. Some of the passes are very short although bright as the ISS enters Earth's shadow, but it is interesting to see the ISS wink out abruptly. Several do not get very high above the horizon, but are interesting nonetheless.
As a further treat in many place the ISS passes very close to Saturn on either the 22nd (Tuesday) or 23rd (Wednesday). In Brisbane and Adelaide, the IS passes so close together that the ISS and Saturn may be (briefly, for less than a second) visible together in the filed of view of a widefield telescope eyepiece (25-30 mm)
When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use either Heavens Above or CalSky to get site specific predictions for your location (I'm using Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth as examples, for example, the view from Brisbane is radically different from that of Adelaide and Perth on the night of the 22nd). Even the difference between the city centre and the suburbs can mean the difference between seeing the ISS go very close to Saturn or above or below it.
Start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, on the night there may be slight differences in the time of the ISS appearing due to orbit changes not picked up by the predictions. The ISS will be moving reasonably fast when it passes near Saturn, so be alert to catch the fleeting moment when the pair are close..
Labels: ISS, Saturn, unaided eye
Saturn and the Moon (Saturday 19 September, 2015)
 |  |
| Saturn just to the left of the waxing Moon with the head of the Scorpion above it. Imaged with my Canon IXUS, 400 ASA, 3.5 second exposure on 19 September 2015 at around 18:56 ACST. Click to embiggen (especially if you want to see Saturn clearly). | Saturn just to the left of the waxing Moon with the head of the Scorpion above it. Imaged with my Canon IXUS, 400 ASA, 3x Zoom, 2.5 second exposure on 19 September 2015 at around 18:56 ACST. Click to embiggen |
Got a quick shot of the Moon forming a triangle with Saturn and the head of the Scorpion last night, while setting up for a sleep-over for SmallestOne. It looked lovely, although in images the Moon is overexposed. Got to see the ISS skim just above the horizon just after these images were taken.
Labels: astrophotography, Moon, Saturn
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Again, The Crescent Moon, Mercury and Spica (16 September 2015)
 |  |
| The crescent Moon, the star Spica (left of the Moon) and Mercury (below left of the Moon). Imaged with my Canon IXUS, 400 ASA, 2.5 second exposure on 16 September 2015 at around 18:45 ACST. Click to embiggen. | The crescent Moon, the star
Spica (left of the Moon) and Mercury (below left of the Moon). Imaged with my Canon IXUS 400 ASA, 3second exposure, 3x Zoom on 16 September 2015 at around 18:45 ACST. Click to
embiggen |
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
The Crescent Moon, Mercury and Spica (15 September 2015)
 |  |
| The crescent Moon, Mercury (above-left of the Moon) and the star Spica (above top of the Moon). Imaged with my Canon IXUS 400, ASA 2.5 second exposure on 15 September 2015 at around 19:00 ACST. Click to embiggen. | The crescent Moon, Mercury (above-left of the Moon) and the star Spica
(above top of the Moon). Imaged with my Canon IXUS, 400 ASA 6 second exposure 3 x Zoom on 15 September 2015 at around 19:00 ACST. Click to embiggen. |
After what feels like months of bad weather, I finally got to see one of the planetary conjunctions that have been gracing our skies (behind clouds in my case). Mercury has been in an ideal position for evening viewing the past month, and the clouds have been an ideal position for hiding it, sadly. But tonight the clouds cleared, and the triangle of the Moon, Mercury and Spica glittered in the sky. The Crescent Moon cradled warm earth-glow. A lovely sight, well worth the wait.
The Sky This Week - Thursday September 17 to Thursday September 24
The First Quarter Moon is Monday September 21. Earth is at Equinox on the 23rd. This is the last week to easily see Mercury in the evening. Saturn is near
the
head of the Scorpion and is visited by the Moon on the 19th. Comet C/2013 US10 may be visible in binoculars. Mars
is visible low in the morning twilight with Venus easily visible above it in the
morning twilight. Jupiter enters the morning sky
The First Quarter Moon is Monday September 21. Earth is at Equinox, when the day and night are approximately equal in length, on the 23rd.
Early
evening sky on Saturday September 19 looking north-west as seen from
Adelaide
at 19:00 ACST showing Mercury and Spica.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).
Mercury continues to lower in the evening sky. This is the last week to see it easily visible in the late twilight where it is the brightest object above the western horizon.
Evening sky on Saturday September 19 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 22:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible high above the western horizon near the
head of the Scorpion with the crescent Moon close by. Comet C/2013 US10 is visible in telescopes (and possibly binoculars) not far from the pointers. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed. On Saturday, the crescent Moon is close to Saturn.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 19:00 until shortly after midnight. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Comet C/2013 US10 is not far from the Pointers, near a brightish triangle of stars in Lupus.It is now brightening very slowly, and may be visible in binoculars by the end of the week in dark sky sites. A black and white spotters map is here.
Early morning sky on Tuesday September 22 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:30 ACST showing Venus, Mars and Jupiter just above the horizon,forming a line with Procyon.
The inset shows the telescopic view of Venus at this time. Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Jupiter returns to the morning skies, but remains close to the horizon and may require a flat unobstructed horizon and binoculars to see it.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing out of the twilight into darker skies it still requires a flat unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is now reasonably easy to see. It is a distinct waxing crescent and impressive in a small telescope. Venus Mars, Jupiter nad the bright star Procyon form a line in the sky. While it is currently not very clear, over the next couple of weeks the sight will improve considerably.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Mercury and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
The First Quarter Moon is Monday September 21. Earth is at Equinox, when the day and night are approximately equal in length, on the 23rd.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).
Mercury continues to lower in the evening sky. This is the last week to see it easily visible in the late twilight where it is the brightest object above the western horizon.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion above the horizon, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed. On Saturday, the crescent Moon is close to Saturn.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 19:00 until shortly after midnight. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Comet C/2013 US10 is not far from the Pointers, near a brightish triangle of stars in Lupus.It is now brightening very slowly, and may be visible in binoculars by the end of the week in dark sky sites. A black and white spotters map is here.
Jupiter returns to the morning skies, but remains close to the horizon and may require a flat unobstructed horizon and binoculars to see it.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing out of the twilight into darker skies it still requires a flat unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is now reasonably easy to see. It is a distinct waxing crescent and impressive in a small telescope. Venus Mars, Jupiter nad the bright star Procyon form a line in the sky. While it is currently not very clear, over the next couple of weeks the sight will improve considerably.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Mercury and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
Friday, September 11, 2015
Aurora happening NOW (11 September)
Aurora are happening now, aurora have been reported from multiple sites in
Tasmania, both visible to the unaided eye and in camera. Some pinks and greens
seen. Currently Velocity: 603 km/sec Bz: -4.0 nT Density = 5.0 p/cc. Kp 5.
(there is also a geomagnetic alert current which suggests activity will continue
through the night on and off)
Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.
As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora and a large green "blob" has been seen.
The all sky aurora camera in Northern Tasmania at Cressy may be helpful.
<http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/4/2>
SUBJ: IPS GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE WARNING 15/41
ISSUED AT 0017UT/11 SEPTEMBER 2015
BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE.
A high speed solar wind stream from a coronal hole is expected
to arrive late on 11 September. This may result in the geomagnetic
activity rising to Active to Minor Storm levels. This rise in
geomagnetic activity is expected to continue on 12 September.
INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY EXPECTED
DUE TO CORONAL HOLE HIGH SPEED WIND STREAM
FROM 11-12 SEPTEMBER 2015
_____________________________________________________________
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST
11 Sep: Initially Quiet to Unsettled, then Unsettled to Minor Storm
12 Sep: Active to Minor Storm
Further monitoring at
http://www.ips.gov.au
Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.
As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora and a large green "blob" has been seen.
The all sky aurora camera in Northern Tasmania at Cressy may be helpful.
<http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/4/2>
SUBJ: IPS GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE WARNING 15/41
ISSUED AT 0017UT/11 SEPTEMBER 2015
BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE.
A high speed solar wind stream from a coronal hole is expected
to arrive late on 11 September. This may result in the geomagnetic
activity rising to Active to Minor Storm levels. This rise in
geomagnetic activity is expected to continue on 12 September.
INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY EXPECTED
DUE TO CORONAL HOLE HIGH SPEED WIND STREAM
FROM 11-12 SEPTEMBER 2015
_____________________________________________________________
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST
11 Sep: Initially Quiet to Unsettled, then Unsettled to Minor Storm
12 Sep: Active to Minor Storm
Further monitoring at
http://www.ips.gov.au
Labels: aurora
Tuesday, September 08, 2015
The Sky This Week - Thursday September 10 to Thursday September 17
The New Moon is Sunday September 13. Mercury lowers
in the evening twilight and is close to the crescent Moon on the 15th. Saturn is near
the
head of the Scorpion. Comet C/2013 US10 may be visible in binoculars. Mars
is visible low in the morning twilight. Venus climbs higher in the
morning twilight. The crescent Moon is close to Venus and Mars on the 11th.
The New Moon is Sunday September 13. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 14th.
Early
evening sky on Tuesday September 15 looking north-west as seen from
Adelaide
at 19:00 ACST showing Mercury and the crescent Moon.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).
Mercury starts lowering in the evening sky, but is still readily visible in the late twilight as the brightest object above the western horizon. It is close to the crescent Moon on the 15th.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
Evening sky on Saturday September 12 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 22:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible high above the western horizon near the
head of the Scorpion. Comet C/2013 US10 is visible in telescopes (and possibly binoculars) not far from the pointers. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion rising up to the zenith, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 19:00 until shortly after midnight. By 22:00 Saturn is above the western horizon. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Comet C/2013 US10 is not far from the Pointers and is brightening, and may be visible in binoculars by the end of the week. A black and white spotters map is here.
Early morning sky on Friday September 11 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:30 ACST showing Mars and Venus just above the horizon, with the crescent Moon forming a triangle with Mars and Venus.
The inset shows the telescopic view of Venus at this time. Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing out of the twilight into darker skies it still requires a flat unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is now reasonably easy to see. It is a distinct crescent and impressive in a small telescope. Venus is near the crescent Moon on the 11th forming a triangle with Mars.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Mercury and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
The New Moon is Sunday September 13. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 14th.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).
Mercury starts lowering in the evening sky, but is still readily visible in the late twilight as the brightest object above the western horizon. It is close to the crescent Moon on the 15th.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion rising up to the zenith, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 19:00 until shortly after midnight. By 22:00 Saturn is above the western horizon. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Comet C/2013 US10 is not far from the Pointers and is brightening, and may be visible in binoculars by the end of the week. A black and white spotters map is here.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing out of the twilight into darker skies it still requires a flat unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is now reasonably easy to see. It is a distinct crescent and impressive in a small telescope. Venus is near the crescent Moon on the 11th forming a triangle with Mars.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Mercury and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
Aurora Alert-Aurora watch tonight (8 September)
The Australian IPS has just issued an aurora alert for high latitudes and the
NOAA site a G2 storm current BUT of course it is daytime still. Whether it will
persist into dark hours here in Australia is uncertain. Currentlt the magnetic
field is relentlessly northward, which does not bode well for Australian aurora,
but it may have episodes of southward deflection during the evening. (there is
also a geomagnetic alert current)
Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.
As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora and a large green "blob" has been seen.
The all sky aurora camera in Northern Tasmania at Cressy may be helpful.
<http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/4/2>
SUBJ: IPS AURORA ALERT HIGH LATITUDES
ISSUED AT 0120 UT ON 08 Sep 2015 BY IPS RADIO AND SPACE SERVICES
FROM THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE
GEOMAGNETIC STORM IN PROGRESS. AURORA MAY BE OBSERVED
DURING LOCAL NIGHT TIME HOURS IN GOOD OBSERVING CONDITIONS
AT HIGH LATITUDES.
Follow the progress of this event on the IPS web site
by following the links to the Space Weather Status Panel,
Home > Space Weather
IPS would appreciate any feedback from people observing an
aurora giving details of location and time. Please provide
details at: http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/2/5
Previous reports of observed aurora are archived under
http://www.ips.gov.au/mailman/listinfo/ips-aurora-sightings
Follow the progress of this event on the IPS web site
by following the links to the Space Weather Status Panel,
Home > Space Weather
SUBJ: IPS GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE WARNING 15/40
ISSUED AT 0132UT/08 SEPTEMBER 2015
BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE.
The effect of a high speed solar wind stream from a coronal hole
is keeping geomagnetic activity enhanced. Geomagnetic activity
is expected to remain mostly enhanced to Active levels on 8 September
with the possibility of some minor storm periods.
INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY EXPECTED
DUE TO CORONAL HOLE HIGH SPEED WIND STREAM
FOR 08 SEPTEMBER 2015
_____________________________________________________________
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST
08 Sep: Active
Further monitoring at
http://www.ips.gov.au
Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.
As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora and a large green "blob" has been seen.
The all sky aurora camera in Northern Tasmania at Cressy may be helpful.
<http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/4/2>
SUBJ: IPS AURORA ALERT HIGH LATITUDES
ISSUED AT 0120 UT ON 08 Sep 2015 BY IPS RADIO AND SPACE SERVICES
FROM THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE
GEOMAGNETIC STORM IN PROGRESS. AURORA MAY BE OBSERVED
DURING LOCAL NIGHT TIME HOURS IN GOOD OBSERVING CONDITIONS
AT HIGH LATITUDES.
Follow the progress of this event on the IPS web site
by following the links to the Space Weather Status Panel,
Home > Space Weather
IPS would appreciate any feedback from people observing an
aurora giving details of location and time. Please provide
details at: http://www.ips.gov.au/Geophysical/2/5
Previous reports of observed aurora are archived under
http://www.ips.gov.au/mailman/listinfo/ips-aurora-sightings
Follow the progress of this event on the IPS web site
by following the links to the Space Weather Status Panel,
Home > Space Weather
SUBJ: IPS GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE WARNING 15/40
ISSUED AT 0132UT/08 SEPTEMBER 2015
BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST CENTRE.
The effect of a high speed solar wind stream from a coronal hole
is keeping geomagnetic activity enhanced. Geomagnetic activity
is expected to remain mostly enhanced to Active levels on 8 September
with the possibility of some minor storm periods.
INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY EXPECTED
DUE TO CORONAL HOLE HIGH SPEED WIND STREAM
FOR 08 SEPTEMBER 2015
_____________________________________________________________
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST
08 Sep: Active
Further monitoring at
http://www.ips.gov.au
Labels: aurora
Friday, September 04, 2015
Southern Skywatch September, 2015 edition is now out!
The September edition of Southern Skywatch is now up. This month features some nice planetary planetary action this month with Mercury close to Spica, and Vensu, Mars and Jupiter forming a line in the morning sky. Comet C/2013 US10 may become easy to see in binoculars.
Jupiter enters the morning twilight mid month.
Mars is just visible low in the early morning sky.
Saturn is in the western evening sky.
Venus is prominent in the morning twilight and is close to the crescent Moon on the 10th. Towards the end of the month it forms a line with Mars and Jupiter
Mercury is prominent in the evening sky in the first half of the month and is forms a triangle with Spica and the Moon on the 15th.
Comet C/2013 US10 is brightening and may become visible in binoculars towards the end of the month.
Labels: southern skywatch
Wednesday, September 02, 2015
A Series of Bright ISS passes Wednesday 2 September - Monday 8 September 2015
 |  |
| The ISS passes between Arcturus and Vega, as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Wednesday September 2 at 19:22 ACST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen. | The ISS passes near Spica and Mercury, as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Friday September 4 at 19:14 ACST. After this it passes over Hadar (Beta Centauri) Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen. |
 |  |
| All sky chart showing times from Heavens Above for Wednesday 2 September for Adelaide. | All sky chart showing times from Heavens Above for Friday September 4 for Adelaide. |
This week there are a series of bright evening passes of the International Space Station. In some places in Australia it comes close to Mercury later in the week. After this it glides either through the pointers or over the pointers, depending on where you are.
When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use either Heavens Above or CalSky to get site specific predictions for your location. Even the difference between the city centre and the suburbs can mean the difference between seeing the ISS go over Hadar or between Hadar and Rigel Kent, let alone the differences between cities in different states.
Start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, on the night there may be slight differences in the time of the ISS appearing due to orbit changes not picked up by the predictions.
If you are trying to take pictures, make sure you have a tripod and have the camera in night mode (or a mode were you can take exposures of around 5 minutes), if you can set the camera to take multiple exposures unattended that would be best.
Labels: ISS, Mercury, Satellite, unaided eye
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
The Sky This Week - Thursday September 3 to Thursday September 10
The Last Quarter Moon is Saturday September 5. Mercury is at its highest in the evening twilight. Saturn is near
the
head of the Scorpion. Mars
is visible low in the morning twilight. Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is visited by the crescent Moon on the 10th.
The Last Quarter Moon is Saturday September 5.
Early
evening sky on Saturday September 5 looking north-west as seen from
Adelaide
at 18:30 ACST showing Mercury.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).
Mercury climbs higher into the evening sky, becoming readily visible in the late twilight as the brightest object above the western horizon. It is at its highest in the early evening sky on the 4th. This and next week will be the best time to watch this fleeting world in dark skies.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
Evening sky on Saturday September 5 looking west as seen from
Adelaide
at 22:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible high above the western horizon near the
head of the Scorpion. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion rising up to the zenith, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 19:00 until shortly after midnight. By 22:00 Saturn is above the western horizon. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Early morning sky on Thursday September 10 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 5:30 ACST showing Mars and Venus just above the horizon, with the crescent Moon close to Venus.
The inset shows the telescopic view of Venus at this time. Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing out of the twilight into darker skies it still requires a flat unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is now reasonably easy to see. It is a distinct crescent and impressive in a small telescope. Venus is close to the crescent Moon on the 10th.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Mercury and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
The Last Quarter Moon is Saturday September 5.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).
Mercury climbs higher into the evening sky, becoming readily visible in the late twilight as the brightest object above the western horizon. It is at its highest in the early evening sky on the 4th. This and next week will be the best time to watch this fleeting world in dark skies.
Jupiter is lost in the twilight.
Saturn is easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion rising up to the zenith, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 19:00 until shortly after midnight. By 22:00 Saturn is above the western horizon. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
Mars remains low the morning skies this week. While it is climbing out of the twilight into darker skies it still requires a flat unobstructed horizon to see effectively.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight and is now reasonably easy to see. It is a distinct crescent and impressive in a small telescope. Venus is close to the crescent Moon on the 10th.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Mercury and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
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