Astroblog: Thursday September 26 to Thursday October 3

Monday, September 23, 2024

Thursday September 26 to Thursday October 3

The New Moon is Thursday, October 3. Saturn is just past opposition, and is visible all night long. Venus draws away from the bright star Spica heading towards Libra. Mars and Jupiter continue to draw apart and Mars is in the heart of Gemini. Comet C/2023 A3 may be seen low in the morning twilight, it is closest to the Sun on September 27.

The New Moon is Thursday, October 3. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth on the 3rd as well.

Western evening sky on Saturday, September 28 as seen from Adelaide at 19:12 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is readily visible now and is now visible when the sky is fully dark. Venus is now moving away from the bright star Spica (alpha Virginis) towards Libra. The inset is the telescopic view of Venus at this time.

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

The eastern sky at 19:42 ACST Saturday, September 28 as seen from Adelaide (90 minutes after sunset).

Saturn is just past opposition and is visible all night long. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen).

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

Eastern morning sky on Saturday, September 28 as seen from Adelaide at 05:02 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise), Mars and Jupiter form a line with the red star Aldebaran. Mars is in the heart of Gemini.

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).

Eastern morning sky on Saturday, September 28 as seen from Adelaide at 05:02 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise), C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is binocular visible in the twilight.

It seems a little brighter than predicted and in the coming days it will rise higher in the twilight. On the 27th it is closest to the Sun and may become visible to the unaided eye with a nice little tail. Detailed printable chars are at my comet page.

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 28 as seen from Adelaide at 19:42 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Saturn is well above the eastern horizon as Venus sets on the western horizon. Scorpius is now prominent in the west with the heart of the milky way now just off the zenith. The Southern Cross is low in the Southern sky and Canopus can no longer be seen. The moon being new makes this a good time to see the fainter clusters and nebulae.

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 away from the bright star Spica heading towards Libra.

Mars is rising in the morning sky and near Jupiter. The pair continue to draw apart as as Mars enters the heart of Gemini.

Jupiter is rising in the the morning twilight sky. Jupiter is below the red star Aldebaran forming a line with Mars.

Saturn climbs higher in the late evening sky. Saturn is visible all night long.

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