Monthly Night Sky Report: September 2019

I hope that you were able to get out under the stars in August!  Hopefully you were able to catch the Perseid Meteor Shower, which I heard was pretty good despite the Full Moon around the peak date.  I wasn't able to do much stargazing until the second half of August.  From the 21st until the 25th, I was able to travel to southern Utah to enjoy the dark skies that are offered there.  The night of best seeing occured on the 23rd at Kolob Canyon.  From here, the Milky Way band could easily be seen.  I was able to take quite a few pictures but mostly enjoyed the night under the stars.  I did not take the telescope but did take the binoculars and was able to view the moons of Jupiter.

During the month of September, the temperatures in Utah typically begin to fall making the evenings a little more pleasant for me.  Unfortunately, this month will also start to get busier with school work, my two jobs, and whatever else might come up that needs to be squeezed in.  Astronomically,  Neptune will reach opposition this month, the zodiacal light will be visible and you'll also have the chance to see a comet.   

Mercury

You will be hard pressed to see Mercury this month.  Your best chance of viewing the innermost planet will come towards the end of the month when it will shine at magnitude -0.2.  Mercury will be found so close to the Sun, that you might have to use a pair of binoculars to see it just before the Sun pops up above the mountains. 

Venus

You will have difficulty viewing Venus this month.  The best chance also comes at the end of the month when it rises about 30 minutes before the Sun.  Venus will be a little easier to spot than Mercury since it will shine at a magnitude of nearly -4.0.  The following month, Venus will be much easier to see.

Mars

We will be unable to see Mars during September since it lies so close to the Sun from our vantage point.  October will bring the return of Mars to our skies, at which time it will be found rising before the Sun.

Jupiter

Jupiter will once again be easy to spot throughout the month.  It can be found in the southern region of the sky, outshining all nearby stars.  As previously mentioned, you can use Jupiter to try to detect the Milky Way band, which will lie to the left of this gas giant.  If you haven't had the chance, be sure to use a pair of binoculars to detect the four Galilean Moons of Jupiter.  If you have access to a telescope, you can use it to view the cloud bands, the Great Red Spot, and may even see the shadow of a moon transit the cloud tops.  On September 5th, the Moon will make a close approach to Jupiter.     

Saturn

Saturn will also continue to be a great target and easy to see throughout September.  It can also be found in the southern region of the sky, but slightly more eastward than Jupiter.  Saturn does not shine as brightly as Jupiter, but still shines brighter than the surrounding stars.  If you are having trouble picking out Saturn from the neighboring stars, remember that stars will appear to twinkle while planets do not.  The faint band of the Milky Way can be found to the right of Saturn.  The Moon will pass close by on the evenings of the 7th and 8th this month.  If you have access to a telescope, be sure to look at the rings of Saturn.     

Uranus

Neptune

The outer two planets are best viewed through a telescope but can still be seen through a pair of binoculars.  Uranus will rise above the Rocky Mountains around 11 p.m.  By the end of the month, Uranus will poke above the mountains nearly 2 hours earlier.  Using a pair a binoculars will help find this dim planet since there are no bright neighboring stars to help you find it.  You can of course use an app on your mobile device to assist you.  The Moon will be found below Uranus on the evening of the 17th, which you can use to help find this planet.

Neptune will reach opposition on the 9th and remain visible all night. Locating our most distant planet will also be a challenge.  On the 13th, you can use the Moon to help you locate it.  At this time, Neptune can be found to the upper right of the Moon.   

Meteor Shower

We won't have any major meteor showers this month, but a couple of minor ones.  However, you will have the chance to see the zodiacal light around the 27th of September when the Moon will be out of the eastern sky..  You should still be able to see this light until the Moon returns to the eastern sky which will be around the 11th of October.  During this time period, try to make it to a dark sky site before sunrise to witness this phenomenon.  Special equipment is not required to view this, but if you would like to take pictures, you will want to use the same or nearly the same settings as photographing the Milky Way.  Before sunrise, look to the east to see if you can detect this bright glow.  It will look like the Sun is rising, but it's actually sunlight reflecting off fine dust particles in our solar systems plane.  This is often referred to as "false dawn" since it looks like the Sun is rising.  If I get the chance, I will try to take some images of the zodiacal light to share in a future post.     

Spot Me....🕵️  

So far, I've had you try and spot M44 - Beehive Cluster, M13 - Hercules Cluster, M19 - Globular Cluster, and the Galilean moons of Jupiter as well as some surface details of this giant planet.  I also had you look at the rings of Saturn and a comet.  Last month I had you find the double cluster (NGC 869 and NGC 884) and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31).  I hope that you have been able to view at least one of these awesome sights.  If not, please try to do so!

Since September is a busier month for me as it is for most of you since school has started back up, I will have you try and spot just one object this month.  We have another comet passing close to Earth!  This comet is named Comet Africano (C/2018 W2) and can be seen anytime this month, but the views will be best towards the final week as Africano brightens and the New Moon is out of its region of sky.  At the beginning of the month, Africano will glow around 11th magnitude and can be found in the constellation of Perseus.  It will remain visible all night and can be found nearly overhead just before sunrise.  Towards the end of September, Africano will brighten to 9th magnitude and can be found traveling through the edge of the constellation Andromeda (September 22nd) and into Pisces (September 24th - 30th).  Since this comet has a dim glow, you will need a pair of binoculars or telescope to view it.

As always, let me know what you see!

Monthly Breakdown

September 05:  First Quarter Moon 🌓
September 06:  Moon and Jupiter pass within 2°
September 08:  Moon and Saturn pass within 0.5°
September 10:  Neptune reaches opposition
September 13:  Moon and Neptune pass within 4°
September 14:  Full Moon 🌕
September 17:  Moon and Uranus pass within 5°
September 21:  Last Quarter Moon 🌗
September 23:  Autumnal Equinox
September 28:  New Moon 🌑

Think About This....💡

When I was young, I remember hearing the question, "Why is the sky blue?"  Perhaps some of the parents have been asked this question by their offspring or even my younger readers may have wondered about this.

The two incorrect answers that I have heard most frequently are:
1) The color of the ocean reflecting off particles in the atmosphere
2) The amount of nitrogen in our atmosphere

The ocean idea doesn't make sense because there are several places in the world that are not even close to the ocean, like Utah!  Yes we have the Great Salt Lake, but the only thing it's good at giving off is a bad smell.

The nitrogen idea is partially correct, but not in the way that you are imagining.  Nitrogen, oxygen, and all the other tiny gas particles that make up the atmosphere contribute to scattering the light that is given off by the Sun.  If you recall a few months ago when I explained the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum, we can only see a small part of the spectrum known as the visible range.  The whole range of the EM spectrum travels at the speed of light in a vacuum, such as space, but when light travels through a medium, such as water or Earth's atmosphere, different parts of the spectrum travel at different speeds.  While these speeds are still extremely fast and cannot be detected by the human eye, they do indeed vary.  Blue light travels more slowly than any of the other colors in the visible range so it gets scattered less by the gas molecules in our atmosphere.  You may notice that if you look in different areas of the sky, some places might appear less blue than others.  In fact, if you look west after sunrise earlier in the morning, you might notice that the sky in this region appears to be more white.  This is caused by the sunlight traveling through more of the atmosphere so the already scattered blue light is scattered even more, combining all of the colors to make white.

You have no doubt noticed that the sunset contains red, orange, and yellow colors.  During this time, the Sun's light travels through more atmosphere which in turn scatters even more of the blue light, leaving the red, orange, and yellow colors.  Clouds, smoke, and other forms of pollution enhance the red colors which create the beautiful sunsets that many of us enjoy.
     
For the remaining posts of 2019, this section will include some astrophotography images that I have taken over the summer.  I hope that you will find them enjoyable and motivate you to get out under the stars!

Stay tuned for more exciting news and events!                      

Now get outside and look up!

Planet images taken by NASA.

Andrew vs. the Cosmos taken by Jeff Greenland.