Backyard Stargazer – Exploring the skies of September
By Francis Parnell
In September, the summertime constellation of Sagittarius is in the south at sunset with Scorpius and Libra to the west.
Francis Parnell, the Backyard Stargazer of Darlington
In the north-northwest, Ursa Major (the Great Bear) is getting ready to hibernate till spring.
If you have a smartphone app or star charts, watch the sky slowly change over the next few months.
In the south-southwest after sunset on the 5th, find the 1st quarter Moon 7 degrees above red Antares and bright Jupiter much closer to its left; a beautiful celestial triangle!
On the 7th, the waxing gibbous Moon is about 6 degrees to the right of Saturn, and 5 degrees to the lower left of Saturn on the 8th.
On the 10th, Neptune is at opposition, 2,770,083,049 miles (4 light-hours) from Earth.
If you have a telescope and a star chart with Neptune’s orbit plotted, you should be able to spot the small blue-green disk without too much trouble.
On the 13th, it’s the Full Harvest Moon. From the 12th to the 16th, observe the full Moon effect.
A nearly full Moon appears low in the sky at the same time, around 9 p.m., on consecutive nights.
The Sun is at the Equinox, directly over the equator, at 3:50 a.m. on the 23rd marking the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere.
And before dawn, the Moon, in Gemini, forms a triangle with the twins, Castor and Pollux.
An hour before dawn on the 26th, a very thin waning lunar crescent is 3 degrees left of Regulus, the brightest star in Leo.
FAST FACT: Everything in the universe is moving. Mercury speeds along its orbit at 105,944 mph. Earth orbits at 66,628 mph, comets can approach the inner solar system at well over 150,000 mph and the Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way at 514,489 mph. Our galaxy is speeding toward the Andromeda Galaxy at 894,763 mph. In 4.5 billion years, the two galaxies will merge to become “Milkomeda.”
Enjoy the cooler fall weather and “Keep looking up!”
