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Touring the Evening Skies

Tour the Evening Skies

Unfortunately, like so many other opportunities for unusual astronomical events here in Iowa, the clouds near the horizon stole the opportunity to see the Super Moon last month. Once it cleared the clouds, The Moon looked big and beautiful, but it was so far from the horizon that to me at least, it did not appear to be any larger than other full moons I have seen. It was exciting to prepare for it though and who knows? Perhaps next time the horizon will be clear of clouds and we will get another chance to be wowed by our nearest neighbor in space.

Those same clouds will be a problem for those of you who like to view Mercury. Even though it will shine pretty bright at about zero magnitude this month, it will never get very high and those pesky horizon hugging clouds will be an issue. Mercury will be highest on the evening of September 21. If you do manage to spot it shortly after sunset, try to find Spica which will be just .6 degrees to Mercury’s right. Spica shines at magnitude 1.0 so look carefully you may need binoculars to pull it out of the bright horizon. They will be low, as I said, only 5 to 10 degrees and about 25 degrees left of the point where the Sun dips below the horizon.

Saturn is also headed for the murky skies near the horizon this month. If you want to get a good view be sure to get out early in the month. It will definitely be worth your while to try since Saturn’s rings are tipped more than 23 degrees from edge-on. At the Iowa Star Party last month (August 21-25), Saturn was a big hit with all of the observers. Since it was getting on toward the west, and fairly bright, it was one of the first objects everyone looked for as we waited for the skies to darken. Even though the seeing was not the best since Saturn is getting rather low and there a lot of fronts moving through the hot muggy air, Saturn never fails to thrill. If we watched patiently, we would be rewarded with a few moments of steady air and Saturn would just “pop” into sharp focus. Those rings are just so beautiful! I wonder how the mosquitoes know when the views are the best. It seems like it never fails that at the moment Saturn steadies up, that is when the mosquitoes attack, often two or three at once!

Jupiter and Venus rise ahead of the Sun this month, Jupiter first and then bright Venus. Watch for them if you drive east to work. Jupiter is far away and so looks small in a telescope all month. Venus is moving away from us on its way to pass behind the Sun and so it looks small in a telescope as well even though it shines very brightly in the early morning skies.

The planet that will be the most fun to watch this month is Mars. Not in a telescope; Mars is just too far away to see any interesting details in most amateur scopes, but Mars is on the move this month! Mars will be leaving the constellation Libra and heading to a rendezvous with its arch rival Antares at the end of the month. Mars will move to within about one and a half degrees of the orange colored star on the nights of September 27 and 28. On the 28th, the pair will be joined by a beautiful crescent moon. Be sure to mark your calendar so you don’t forget to get out and see this beautiful trio. The best time to get out and start looking would be around 7:30 pm. The sky will still be pretty bright so Antares might be a challenge to see that soon, but Saturn and the Moon and Mars make a nice arch that will help you out. The Moon will be a waxing crescent, about 22 percent lit and will be right in the middle of the two planets with Saturn on the right and Mars on the left.

The Fall Equinox occurs on September 22nd at 9:29 pm. This is the official start of Fall and the end of Summer. Where did the time go? I hope you got all of your summer projects about wrapped up. It will soon be October which often has very clear skies that get dark early. I love these cooler, drier evenings of fall. Be sure to take advantage of as many of them as you can before the winter cold returns. Clear Skies!