Astroblog

The First Quarter Moon is Sunday, September 4. Three bright classical planets in a line in the morning sky, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Mars is between the red star Aldebaran and the Pleiades cluster at the beginning of the week.  Jupiter is now readily visible in the late evening sky below Saturn. Saturn is now past opposition, but will be worthwhile viewing for may weeks to come. The Moon is close to Saturn on the 8th. Mercury is still high in the evening twilight this week.

The First Quarter Moon is Sunday, September 4. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 8th.

Mars is in between the Pleiades and the bright red star Aldebaran.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise. click to embiggen).

Saturn forms a shallow triangle with delta and gamma Capricornii. The waxing Moon is close to Saturn.

Vesta is just visible to the unaided eye between Saturn and Fomalhaut.

Jupiter is above the horizon.

The insets are the telescopic views of Saturn and Jupiter at the same magnification at this time.

 Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.  

Whole sky on Saturday, September 3, 19:22 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). The Milky Way stretches across the mid-sky and the centre of the galaxy is prominent. Mercury and Saturn are both visible.

Scorpius is prominent above the northern horizon with the teapot of Sagittarius below. From the Sting of the Scorpion through the teapot there is a wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover. However the waxing Moon will make these harder to see.

 

  

 Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset). 

 

Mercury is visible above the western horizon high in the twilight below the bright star Spica.

Venus is lost in the twilight.

Mars is between the Pleiades and Hyades, especially the red star Aldebaran. 

Jupiter climbs higher in the evening sky low above the horizon.

Saturn forms a shallow triangle with delta and gamma Capricornii. Saturn was at opposition, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 15th of August. Saturn is close to the waxing Moon on the 8th.

 

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.


 

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 1:05 am 0 comments

The New Moon is Saturday, August 27. Four bright classical planets in a line in the morning sky, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus. Mars is between the red star Aldebaran and the Pleiades cluster.  This is the last week to see Venus is before it disappears in the twilight in the twilight. Venus is close to the thin crescent Moon on the 25th and 26th. Jupiter is now readily visible in the late evening sky below Saturn. Saturn is now past opposition, but will be worthwhile viewing for may weeks to come. Mercury is at its highest in the evening twilight this week and is close to the thin crescent Moon on the 29th and 30th.

The New Moon is Saturday, August 27.

The thin crescent Moon is near to Venus low in the twilight

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (30 minutes before sunrise. click to embiggen).

Mars and in between the Pleiades and the bright red star Aldebaran

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise. click to embiggen).

Saturn forms a shallow triangle with delta and gamma Capricornii.

Vesta is just visible to the unaided eye between Saturn and Fomalhaut.

Jupiter is just above the horizon.

The insets are the telescopic views of Saturn and Jupiter at the same magnification at this time.

 Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.  

Mercury high in the twilight and is easy to see. On the 30th Mercury and the thin crescent Moon are close.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

 

 

Whole sky on Saturday, August 20, 19:15 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). The Milky Way stretches across the mid-sky and the centre of the galaxy is prominent. Mercury and Saturn are both visible.

Scorpius is prominent above the northern horizon with the teapot of Sagittarius below. From the Sting of the Scorpion through the teapot there is a wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover. However the waxing Moon will make these harder to see.

 

  

 Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset). 

 

Mercury is visible above the western horizon higher in the twilight.Mercury is close to the thin crescent Moon on the 29th and 30th.

Venus is lowering in the morning twilight. Venus is close to the thin crescent Moon on the 25th and 26th.

Mars is between the Pleiades and Hyades especially the red star Aldebaran, on the 30th. 

Jupiter climbs higher in the morning twilight below Saturn and above Mars. Jupiter becomes more visible in the evening sky low above the horizon.

Saturn climbs away from Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. Saturn forms a triangle with delta and gamma Capricornii. Saturn was at opposition, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 15th.

 

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.


 

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http:

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 12:28 am 0 comments

The North-east horizon as seen from Adelaide at 20:00 ACST (8:00 pm) showing the location of Vesta (click to embiggen) on Tuesday, August 23, when Vesta is at opposition and at its brightest.Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time.	The approximate binocular view of Vesta and the four guide stars at 20:00 ACST (8:00 pm) on Tuesday, August 23.  The helix nebula is shown but will not be visible in binoculars(click to embiggen, similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time).
Black and white horizon chart facing east suitable for printing showing the guide objects of 4 Vesta Saturn and Fomalhaut as seen from Adelaide at 22:00 ACDST. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. Use the charts above to orient yourself to get to the guide stars.	Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing showing the movement of 4 Vesta over August. The large circle represents the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click to embiggen and print.  Use the horizon chart to the left for orientation first.

The Asteroid 4 Vesta is one of the iconic minor planets, and one of two orbited by the Dawn spacecraft. At favorable oppositions Vesta is bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye under dark sky conditions. This year it gets to magnitude 5.8 just over unaided eye visibility at dark sky sites. Not really visible from suburban skies, but it will be easily visible in binoculars and small telescopes.

This year on Tuesday, August 23 is a okay opposition of Vesta, when it will reach a magnitude of 5.8  at its brightest with reasonable guide stars. The next bright opposition is  May 2025 it will reach magnitude 5.6 with good guide stars.

Labels: 4 Vesta, Asteroid, binocular, unaided eye

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 8:41 pm 0 comments

The Last Quarter Moon is Friday, August 19. Four bright classical planets in a line in the morning sky, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus.  Mast is close to the Moon on the 19th - 20th. Venus is becoming harder to see in the twilight. Jupiter is now readily visible in the late evening sky below Saturn. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, last week, but will be worthwhile viewing for may weeks to come. Mercury is easier to see in the evening twilight. The asteroid Vesta is at opposition and (just) visible to the unaided eye.

The Last Quarter Moon is Friday, August 19.   The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 23rd.

The moon is close to Mars and in between the Pleiades and Hyades. Venus is lowering in the twilight

The insets are the telescopic views of Venus and Mars at the same magnification at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (45 minutes before sunrise. click to embiggen).

Saturn forms a shallow triangle with delta and gamma Capricornii.

Vesta is at opposition and is just visible to the unaided eye between Saturn and Fomalhaut.

Jupiter is just above the horizon.

The insets are the telescopic views of Saturn and Jupiter at the same magnification at this time.

 Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.  

Mercury is rising higher in the twilight and becoming easier to see.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

 

 

Whole sky on Saturday, August 20, 19:15 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). The Milky Way stretches across the mid-sky and the centre of the galaxy is prominent. Mercury and Saturn are both visible.

Scorpius is prominent above the northern horizon with the teapot of Sagittarius below. From the Sting of the Scorpion through the teapot there is a wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover. However the waxing Moon will make these harder to see.

 

  

 Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset). 

 

Mercury is visible above the western horizon higher in the twilight.

Venus is lowering in the morning twilight. 

Mars is close tothe Moon on the 19th and 20th, near the Pleiades and Hyades. 

Jupiter climbs higher in the morning twilight below Saturn and above Mars. Jupiter becomes more visible in the evening sky low above the horizon.

Saturn climbs away from Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. Saturn forms a triangle with delta and gamma Capricornii. Saturn was at opposition, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 15th.

 

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.


 

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 12:14 am 0 comments

The insets are the telescopic views of Saturn and Jupiter at the same magnification at this time. 

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time. 

The August edition of Southern Skywatch is now up (sorry about the delay, life happened). The planetary action is in the morning and evening skies with four bright planets, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury in the morning sky. Saturn is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, Jupiter clims higher in the evening sky and Mercury is at its best in the evening this month. The asteroid Vesta also reaches opposition and unaided eye brightness.

August 1-3; Mars and Uranus less than 2 degrees apart (in same binocular field). August 4; Mercury and bright star Regulus close. August 5; First Quarter Moon. August 11; perigee Moon. August 12; Full Moon. August 12; Saturn and Full Moon close. August 15; Saturn at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. August 15; the waning Moon close to Jupiter (1 degree). August 19; Last Quarter Moon. August 20; Mars close to waning moon. August 23; apogee Moon. August 23; Asteroid Vesta at opposition. August 26; the thin crescent Moon is beside Venus low in the twilight. August 27; New Moon. August 29; Mercury close to thin crescent Moon in evening twilight. August 30-31; Mars between Pleiades and the red star Aldebaran.

Mercury  is climbing higher in evening sky, and is at its best this month and until mid-September. It is low in the twilight half an hour after sunset in the first week of the month and get progressively higher. On August 4 it is close the bright star Regulus, It is furthest from the Sun on the 27th when Mercury is visible well after dark has truly fallen On August 29-30 the thin crescent Moon and Mercury are moderately close.

Venus continues to sink towards the horizon and by the end of the month Venus is lost in the twilight glow.

Mars is becoming brighter as it nears opposition, it is in an area devoid of bright stars so is readily identifiable. On August 22, Mars is 3° from the crescent Moon. The pair easily seen together in binoculars. On the 1 to 3rdst Mars and Uranus easily visible together in binoculars (closes on 1 August). On August 20th , Mars is 5 ° from the waning Moon. The pair just seen together in binoculars. From the 20th on Mars passes between the Pleiades and Hyades, an excellent morning sight, on the 30-31st Mars is directly between the Pleiades and the bright red star Aldebaran.

Jupiter climbs higher in the evening sky and is an good telescopic object in the late evening sky, although still best telescopically in the morning. On the 15th Jupiter is close to the waning Moon, with the pair in the same binocular field and Jupiter only 1° away.

Saturn is climbing higher in the evening sky but remains seen in the morning skies. Saturn is at opposition on the 15th, and is visible the whole night. Saturn will be high enough for good telescopic observation in the evening and early morning. Saturn forms a shallow triangle with delta and gamma Capricorn, becoming more elongated as the month wears on. On the 12th (morning 13th) the Full Moon is close to Saturn.

Moon: August 11; perigee Moon and August 26; apogee Moon

Labels: southern skywatch

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 10:31 pm 1 comments

The Full Moon is Friday, August 12. Four bright classical planets in a line in the morning sky, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus.  Venus is becoming harder to see in the twilight. Jupiter is now readily visible in the late evening sky below Saturn and is close to the Moon on the 15th. Saturn is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 15th and close to the full Moon on the 12th. Mercury is easier to see in the evening twilight.The Perseid meteor shower is on the 12 but will be basically unobservable from Australia.

The Full Moon is Friday, August 12.  The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 11th.

 Morning sky on Saturday, August 13 as seen from Adelaide at 06:19 ACST (45 minutes before sunrise). Venus is lowering in the twilight

The insets are the telescopic views of Venus and Mars at the same magnification at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (45 minutes before sunrise. click to embiggen).

Saturn is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. Saturn also forms a triangle with delta and gamma Capricornii.

Jupiter is just above the horizon and is within binocular distance of the waning Moon.

The insets are the telescopic views of Saturn and Jupiter at the same magnification at this time.

 Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.  

Mercury is rising higher in the twilight and becoming easier to see.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

 

 

Whole sky on Saturday, August 13, 19:05 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). The Milky Way stretches across the mid-sky and the centre of the galaxy is prominent. Mercury and Saturn are both visible.

Scorpius is prominent above the northern horizon with the teapot of Sagittarius below. From the Sting of the Scorpion through the teapot there is a wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover. However the waxing Moon will make these harder to see.

 

  

 Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset). 

 

Mercury is visible above the western horizon higher in the twilight.

Venus is lowering in the morning twilight. 

Mars forms a line with Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus (and Uranus and Neptune). 

Jupiter climbs higher in the morning twilight below Saturn and above Mars. Jupiter becomes more visible in the evening sky low above the horizon and is visited by the Moon on the 15th/16th.

Saturn climbs away from Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. Saturn forms a triangle with delta and gamma Capricornii. Saturn is near the Full Moon on the 12th. Saturn is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 15th.

 

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.


 

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 9:05 pm 0 comments

The First Quarter Moon is Friday, August 5. Four bright classical planets in a line in the morning sky, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus.  Jupiter is now readily visible in the late evening sky below Saturn. Saturn is brightening ahead of opposition next week. Mercury is low in the twilight and is close to the bright star Regulus on the 4th.

The First Quarter Moon is Friday, August 5. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 11th.

The insets are the telescopic views of Venus and Mars at the same magnification at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise. click to embiggen). 

Saturn forms a triangle with delta and gamma Capricornii, and Jupiter is just above the horizon.

The insets are the telescopic views of Saturn and Jupiter at the same magnification at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time. 

Mercury is close to the bright star Regulus, low on the horizon.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (45 minutes after sunset).

 

Whole sky on Saturday, August 6, 19:04 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). The Milky Way stretches across the mid-sky and the centre of the galaxy is coming into view. 

Scorpius is prominent above the northern horizon with the teapot of Sagittarius below. From the Sting of the Scorpion through the teapot there is a wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover. However the waxing Moon will make these harder to see.

 

  

 Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset). 

 

Mercury is visible above the western horizon low in the twilight next week. It is close to the bright start Regulus on the 4th..

Venus is lowering in the morning twilight. 

Mars forms a line with Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus (and Uranus and Neptune). 

Jupiter climbs higher in the morning twilight below Saturn and above Mars. Jupiter enters the evening sky low above the horizon.

Saturn climbs away from Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. Saturn forms a triangle with delta and gamma Capricornii.

 

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.


 

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 1:20 am 0 comments