Thursday September 12 to Thursday September 19

The Full Moon is Wednesday, September 18, this is a perigee/syzygy moon. The Moon occults Saturn as seen from northern Australia on the 17th. Saturn is just past opposition, and is visible all night long. Venus draws close to the bright star Spica and is closest on the 18th. Mars and Jupiter continue to draw apart as Mars enters Gemini. Mars is close to the star mu Geminorum on the 14th. Comet C/2023 A3  might be seen low in the morning twilight.

The Full Moon is Wednesday, September 18, this is a perigee/syzygy (super) moon. The Moon occults Saturn as seen from northern Australia on the 17th.

 Western evening sky on Thursday, September 18 as seen from Adelaide at 19:04 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).   

Venus is readily visible now and is now visible when the sky is fully dark. Venus has been coming closer the the bright star Spica (alpha Virginis) and is closest on the 18th at two finger-widths away.

 

 

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

 

The eastern sky at 19:26 AEST Tuesday, September 17 as seen from Brisbane (almost 60 minutes after sunset) with Saturn just about to be occulted by the Moon.

 

The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen).

 

 Brisbane see Saturn disappear at 18:26 and reappear at 18:53. Darwin sees it reappear at 18:33. Also visible from Alice springs (reappear at 18:23), Rockhampton (disappear 18:15 reappear at 19:02) , Cairns disappear (18:10 reappear at 19:07) etc.

 

 

Similar views will be seen from northern Australia, the rest of Australia will see a close approach in the twilight at the equivalent local time.

Morning sky on Saturday, September 14 as seen from Adelaide at 05:22 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise), Mars and Jupiter form a line with the red star Aldebaran. Mars is close to the moderately bright star mu Geminorum.

 

The inset is the telescope view of the Jupiter at this time. 

 

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

 

Morning sky on Thursday, September 19 as seen from Adelaide at 05:15 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise), C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS may be visible in the twilight, in the coming days it will rise higher in the twilight and may become visible to the unaided eye with a nice little tail.  

 

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

 

Whole sky on Saturday, September 14 as seen from Adelaide at 19:30 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Saturn is peeking over the eastern horizon as Venus sets on the western horizon. Scorpius is moving off the zenith with the heart of the milky way now at the zenith. The Southern Cross is low in the Southern sky and Canopus can no longer be seen.  The moon makes the fainter clusters difficult to see.

 

 

   

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

 

 

Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus climbs higher in the evening twilight and is readily visible in the evening twilight. Venus draws close to the bright star Spica and is closest on the 18th.

Mars is rising in the morning sky and near Jupiter. The pair continue to draw apart as as Mars enters Gemini. Mars is close to the star mu Geminorum on the 14th.

Jupiter is rising in the the morning twilight sky. Jupiter is below the red star Aldebaran.

Saturn climbs higher in the late evening sky. Saturn is visible all night long. The Moon occults Saturn as seen from northern Australia on the 17th.

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/