Astroblog: Thursday September 5 to Thursday September 12

Tuesday, September 03, 2024

Thursday September 5 to Thursday September 12

The First Quarter Moon is Wednesday, September 11. The Moon occults Antares as seen from central and Western Australia on the 10th. The thin crescent Moon is very close to Venus on September 5 in the evening twilight. Saturn is rising in east when the sky is fully dark, and is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 8th. Mars and Jupiter continue to draw apart as Mars enters Gemini. On the 9th Mars is close to the open cluster M35. On the 12th comet C/2023 A3 might be seen low in the morning twilight.

The First Quarter Moon is Wednesday, September 11. The moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 6th. the Moon occults Antares as seen from central and Western Australia on the 10th.

Western evening sky on Thursday, September 5 as seen from Adelaide at 18:55 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is readily visible now and is now visible when the sky is fully dark.The crescent Moon is very close to Venus. The inset is the binocular view of the pair at the time. The pair will also be visible in low power telescope eye pieces.

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 ACST Sunday, September 8 (90 minutes after sunset) with Saturn at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. It is still best for telescopic viewing in the late evening.

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).

The western sky at 23:50 ACST Tuesday, September 10. The moon is about to occult the Bright star Antares.

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

Adelaide 23:58 ACST
Darwin 23:58 ACST
Alice springs 23:38 ACST
Perth 22:07 AWST

Similar views will be seen from the rest of central and Western Australia at the equivalent local time (see times above).

Morning sky on Monday, September 9 as seen from Adelaide at 05:29 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise), Mars and Jupiter are below the red star Aldebaran.Mars is close to the open cluster M35.

The insets are the telescope view of the Jupiter at this time and the binocular view of Mars and M35.

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 12 as seen from Adelaide at 05:40 ACST (45 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 (45 minutes before sunrise).

Whole sky on Saturday, September 7 as seen from Adelaide at 19:25 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.

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. The crescent Moon is close to Venus on September 5.

Mars is rising in the morning sky and near Jupiter. The pair continue to draw apart as as Mars enters Gemini. On the 9th Mars is close to the open cluster M35.

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 at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, 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