Backyard Stargazer
By Francis Parnell
It’s September and the Autumnal Equinox is almost here. The term equinox is Latin for equi (equal) and nox (night).
After sunset on the 1st, Venus and “Spica”, the brightest star in VIRGO, form a neat pair about 1-degree apart in the west-southwest. Use binoculars. The duo leads an arc of planets that stretches from Jupiter, to Saturn, and then to Mars.
On the 7th, Neptune is at opposition, 2.7-billion miles (4 light-hours) away. In astronomy, the term “opposition” simply means the Earth has gone around the Sun and caught up with an outer planet.
Neptune’s orbital period is 164.8 years, so we catch it every 367.5 days! If you have a telescope and star charts showing Neptune’s position, or a computerized telescope, try tracking down the 8th planet. You’ll see a very small blue disk.
The waxing crescent Moon is 9-degrees upper right of Venus at dusk on the 12th.
At dusk on the 13th, the crescent Moon, Jupiter, and “Zubenelgenubi”, the Alpha star in LIBRA, form an almost perfect equilateral triangle with sides 4-degrees long. Nice binocular view.
On the 15th, look southwest to see the Moon 8-degrees above bright red “Antares”, the heart of SCORPIUS, with Jupiter to the west and Saturn do the east.
Find the 1st-quarter Moon 8-degrees to the right of the ringed planet Saturn on the 16th; on the 17th the Moon is 4-degrees to Saturn’s left.
On the 19th, spot blazing red Mars 4-degrees below the gibbous Moon.
Earth is at the Equinox with the Sun directly over the equator at 9:54 p.m. on the 22nd.
FAST FACT: At the center of the Sun, where nuclear fusion converts 600,000,000 tons of Hydrogen into Helium every second, the temperature is 27,000,000 degrees.
Let’s reduce light pollution and “Keep looking up!”Francis Parnell of Darlington has been an amateur astronomer for nearly 50 years. He was on the staff and helped out at the Francis Marion University Observatory from 1982 until 2006 by showing visitors “what’s out there.” With the help of a friend, Mr. Ernest Lowry, he built his own telescope in 1986. And, because of light pollution, for the last 31 years he has been advocating for the advantages of using fully-shielded lighting at night.