Monthly Night Sky Report: September 2021

    August continued with the smoky skies, most notably on the weekends when I am able to go out to the desert.  The thick smoke prevented me from taking out the telescope and doing any type of imaging.  I have a couple of unrelated-to-astronomy trips planned for the last week of August and over Labor Day in September, so I hope to be able to, at the very least, capture some decent images.  

    September will still be a great month for stargazing, granted that the skies are clear.  Jupiter and Saturn will remain excellent targets for the unaided eye, binoculars, and telescopes, this month since they both recently reached opposition.  Unfortunately September will not offer a prominent meteor shower like the Perseids, but observers will still be able to see up to 7 meteors per hour, the average number of background meteors visible.  September will offer observers the chance to see the zodiacal light if they are able to get away from all sources of light pollution.  This month will also offer a few close conjunctions between planets, stars, and the Moon.  Read on to find out more!    

             

Mercury

    The smallest planet, Mercury, will likely be a tough planet to spot for those of us in Utah during September.  An observer will want to have an elevated and clear view of the western horizon after sunset.  Mercury will be dim this month, starting off at magnitude 0.5 and dimming to a magnitude of 1.6 on the final day.  The Moon can help with locating this planet on the 8th, when the pair will be just 7° apart, with the Moon being above Mercury.  Spica, a variable star, and the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, can be found hovering above Mercury on the 18th through the 23rd.  Spica shines at magnitude of 0.89, slightly dimmer than Mercury while the pair are close together.  

  

Venus

    Venus will shine brightly at magnitude -3.9 during the first evening of the month and brighten slightly to -4.08 by the end of the month.  Spica, which will pale in comparison to Venus, can be found less than 2° below our sister planet.  The Moon will move on from Mercury and be found close to Venus on the 9th, with only 4° separating the two.  Venus will be above the horizon for approximately an hour and a half after sunset, making it a great target for the unaided eye, binoculars, or a telescope.  Binoculars and a telescope should reveal the disk of Venus and an observer should be able to see the phases of Venus, much like the phases of the Moon.      

    

Mars

    Mars will be lost from view until December, when it will return to our skies, but will be found in the east before sunrise.  

Jupiter

Saturn

    The two gas giants reached opposition in August and will remain great targets for those into imaging, observational astronomy, or just the casual stargazer spending the night alone under the stars.  

    Jupiter was the last of the pair to reach opposition in August and will be the first to be seen due to its brightness.  The Moon will join Jupiter on the 18th, being found just 4° below this planet.  Using a pair of binoculars will reveal the four Galilean Moons.  By using a telescope, an observer will be able to see the dark cloud bands and the Great Red Spot.  They may also witness one of the Galilean Moons pass in front of or behind Jupiter.  This gas giant will be found on the eastern edge of Capricornus all month.   

    Saturn can be found higher in the sky than Jupiter as it leads the pair across the night sky.  The ringed world will also be found in Capricornus all month but towards the western edge of the constellation.  Saturn will be joined by the Moon on the 16th, two days prior to Jupiter.  If you have a telescope, be sure to target Saturn and share the view with your friends and family.  Many people are blown away by the rings!                

   

Neptune

Uranus

    

    The outer two planets are best viewed through a telescope but can still be seen through a pair of binoculars.  Uranus will have the best views in the early morning hours before sunrise.  This blue-green world will rise around 11:30 on the first night of the month and about 2 hours earlier by the end of the month.  The Moon will join Uranus on the 24th.  This planet will be found in southern Aries this month.  

    The most distant planet in our solar system, Neptune, can again be found between Pisces and Aquarius this month.  Neptune reaches opposition this month on the 14th, but will still be a hard object to spot.  The Moon can be found near Neptune on the 20th.   

Meteor Shower

    As mentioned, there will be no major meteor shower this month, but observers should always be on the lookout for the stray meteor or bright fireball that can occur.  The zodiacal light can be seen in the early morning hours before dawn, looking eastward.  This light during this this time of year is also known as the "false dawn" since it sometimes appears like dawn.  The zodiacal light can be seen stretching from Cancer the Crab into Gemini.  A location far from city lights and other forms of light pollution will increase your chances of witnessing this phenomena.          

Spot Me....🕵️  

    I've had you try to spot quite a few different objects in the night sky, most of which require a telescope.  Last month, I had you try to spot the Lagoon Nebula (M8), which is where stars are born, as well as the open star cluster NGC 6530, which is like a city of stars.   As a reminder, both of these objects are found close together in the southern Milky Way band.  I also had you try to find the Ring Nebula in Lyra.  I encourage you to again visit these 3 objects this month.  Don't hesitate to look at my August Monthly Night Sky Report if you need help finding these objects.  There are several pictures that I used to assist those who needed it.  

    The end of August through the remainder of the year is a great time for viewing M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.  This is due to the constellation of Andromeda rising above the eastern horizon as the Sun sets in the west.  Waiting an hour or two after sunset will allow M31 to rise higher in the sky and out of the interference from our own atmosphere.  Of course, as the year progresses, this constellation will rise earlier, so this time frame applies to the end of August through September.  Finding M31 is easy, if you know where to look!  M31 can be seen with the unaided eye, but appears as a small fuzzy spot in the sky so it can easily be overlooked.  In fact, if looking directly at M31, you likely won't be able to see it.  Using inverted vision, it should be easier to detect.  Using the constellation of Cassiopeia (aka Weber), find the slanted edge of the "W" (the left edge) and draw an imaginary line starting from the top star, through the bottom star and continue towards the next bright blue star, known as Alpheratz, which makes up the lower part of Pegasus.  Pegasus can be found to the right of Cassiopeia.  About halfway between Alpheratz and the lower star in Cassiopeia, you should notice a faint fuzzy blob in the sky.  See the images below for help in locating M31!

Looking Northeast after sunset.

 

Same as previous image only with constellation lines.

Crude diagram to locate M31.

        The next object I task you to view will be quite challenging.  It is Pallas, an asteroid in the main asteroid belt that can be seen with a pair of binoculars, however, I recommend using a telescope.  Pallas will be visible all month and will reach opposition on the 11th, making it appear brighter and easier to spot.  I also recommend viewing Pallas over a couple of nights as it will change positions in the night sky in relation to the background stars, making it easier to know that you have actually seen it!  To find Pallas on the first evening of the month, look east after sunset to the constellation of Pisces which can be found closer to the horizon than Pegasus.  As the month progresses, Pallas will advance southward, away from Pisces and towards Aquarius and Jupiter.  Pallas will appear as another "star" in your field of view and will be hard to differentiate from the background stars.  As mentioned, check back every few nights to see the asteroid change position against the background stars!  The images below are designed to help locate Pallas.  The constellation to the left, which is not labeled, is Pisces.  

September 1st looking southeast.  Bright "star" is Jupiter.

September 1st with constellation outlines and Pallas in red crosshairs.

What Pallas may look like through a telescope (minus crosshairs and star name).

Pallas location on September 15th.

Pallas location on September 15th with constellation lines.

Pallas location on September 30th.

Pallas location on September 30th with constellation lines.

    Both of these objects, as well as most other objects viewed through a telescope may be a bit underwhelming to beginners because they do not look like pictures seen in magazines or online.  The important thing to remember is that you found this object and are looking at it with your own eyes, instead of an image that has been processed by someone else.  The images above are provided by Stellarium. 

    Now go forth and look at the wonders of the universe!       

Monthly Breakdown

    

    September 05:  Venus and Spica within 2°

    September 06:  New Moon 🌑

    September 08:  Moon passes within 7° of Mercury

    September 09:  Moon passes within 4° of Venus

    September 11:  Asteroid Pallas at opposition

    September 13:  First Quarter Moon 🌓

    September 13:  Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation

    September 14:  Neptune reaches opposition

    September 16:  Moon passes within 4° of Saturn

    September 18:  Moon passes within 4° of Jupiter

    September 20:  Full Moon 🌕 

    September 20:  Moon passes within 4° of Neptune

    September 22:  Autumn Equinox occurs

    September 23:  Mercury and Spica within 2°

    September 24:  Moon passes within 2° of Uranus

    September 28:  Last Quarter Moon 🌗

    September 30:  Mercury and Spica within 2°

    

    Remember to follow me on Instagram @CosmicLure01 to receive notifications for new posts.  You may also follow me on Twitter @CosmicLure.  

    

Now get outside and look up!

Planet images taken by NASA.

Andrew vs. the Cosmos taken by Jeff Greenland.

    

Midmonth Check-In: August 2021 and Celestial Coordinates

Introduction and Monthly Reminders   

    August has been horrible for stargazers in Utah for the first half of the month!  We have had smoke from California and Oregon blowing into the state, giving us the worst air quality in the world!!  Hopefully the second half of the month will bring clear skies for the Perseid Meteor Shower and for observers to enjoy the opposition of Jupiter and Saturn and all of the other night sky delights.  

    The Perseids peaked on the night of the 12th/morning of the 13th but observers will still be able to see meteors from this shower for the next week or so as the Earth plows through the debris field of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.  Saturn has already reached opposition this month, but will still be an excellent target for a telescope.  Remember that Jupiter will reach opposition on the 19th.  Jupiter is always a great target with binoculars and any size of telescope.  Don't forget to look for the Lagoon Nebula and NGC 6530 in the southern Milky Way band and the Ring Nebula (M57) in the Summer Triangle.  If you need help finding these objects, click here to go to my post on how to find these objects! 

Think About This....💡

   

    Locations on Earth can be found using their latitude and longitude coordinates.  For those unfamiliar, latitude are the lines that circle the Earth parallel to the equator while longitude are the lines that connect the North Pole and the South Pole.  For example, Salt Lake City, Utah has the coordinates: 40.7608° N, 111.8910° W.  This means that Salt Lake City is 40.7608° North of the Equator and 111.8910° West from Greenwich, England.  Greenwich is designated as the starting point for longitude.  The North Pole has the coordinates 90° N, 135° W.  Latitude runs between 0° and 90° while latitude runs between 0° and 180°.  In addition, these coordinates can be written in degrees (°), minutes ('), and seconds ('').  Each degree can be subdivided into 60 arcminutes and each minute can be subdivided into 60 arcseconds.  For Salt Lake City, the latitude and longitude would be 40° 45' 31.3236'' N, 111° 52' 34.2588'' W.  Most telescopes that I've used have used this format for the location.  This may sound confusing, but the more you use it, the more familiar it will become!      

    

    Astronomers use a similar system called Celestial Coordinates.  Imagine that the Earth is at the center of a sphere, which we will call the celestial sphere.  The stars, planets, galaxies, and your favorite nebulae all can be found on this sphere.  Their distance from the Earth is irrelevant, only their location on this sphere is important.  Now imagine that Earth's equator is projected on this sphere, which would slice it into two equal halves, like an orange.  This line is called the (surprise!) celestial equator.  Similarly, if a line is drawn straight up from the North Pole or straight down from the South Pole, we get the north celestial pole and south celestial pole, respectively.  So far, all we have is a larger sphere and have relabeled the equator and poles as the celestial equator and poles.  

    Now things start to get a little tricky.  Instead of latitude and longitude, we now have declination and right ascension.  Declination is the celestial latitude and extends from 0° to 90°, just like terrestrial latitude.  Declination is also written in degrees, minutes, and seconds.  One small difference is that instead of writing all the positions as positive, southern latitudes are written with a negative number.  Right ascension is celestial longitude and runs from 0° to 360° instead of 0° to 180° East and 0° to 180° West like terrestrial longitude.  In addition, right ascension is typically measured in hours, minutes, and seconds instead of degrees.  The Earth takes 24 hours to complete one day/night cycle or spin 360° on its axis.  This means the Earth spins 15° per hour!  We need to know where to "start" right ascension like we do with longitude on Earth (Greenwich, England).  This point is known as the First Point of Aries which is the imaginary point in space where the celestial equator and the ecliptic (the path where the Moon, Sun, and planets seem to follow) intersect.  This point is the location of the vernal equinox which occurs in March.  When right ascension and declination were first introduced, this point was in the constellation of Aries.  Today it can be found in Pisces and in about 5 more centuries, it will be in Aquarius.  This location changes due to the wobble of Earth's axis.          

    

Remember to follow me on Instagram @CosmicLure01 to receive notifications for new posts.  You may also follow me on Twitter @CosmicLure.  

    

Now get outside and look up!