Astronomy / The Sky Report

Looking Up

By Greg Smith

Evening Sky

In mid-September both planets, Jupiter, and Saturn are low in the southern sky at sunset. Jupiter and Saturn are both about a fist and a half high in the south at sunset. They both are grand objects to view, even in the smallest of telescopes. The four major moons of Jupiter are a delight to watch as they do their ballet of changing positions with each other every night. Saturn’s rings are a wonder to behold. These are the most beautiful things to see in the solar system. The rings are tipped toward us at this time, so they are very bright. To see the rings of Saturn for the first time is one of the greatest joys for a beginning astronomer. It may even start you wondering what else you can see in the night sky.

In September and October, Jupiter and Saturn are in the southern sky by 7pm. This is the easiest time to see them. It’s not too late for kids to get a view in a telescope.

The Summer triangle: Made of three bright stars, Vega, the alpha star of Lyre the harp; Altair, the tail of the eagle Aquil; and Deneb, the tail of the swan, are almost directly overhead. At the end of September, the triangle is pointing to the south. Mars: Mid-September will see it rise at about 9pm in the east. By the end of September, it will be rising about 8pm. By Mid-October, Mars will be rising just after sunset (6:45pm). Mars will give great views of itself as it is at its closest approach to Earth and will still be just a bright reddish “star.” A telescope will allow you to see Mars as a round object with maybe some dark markings on it. It is now southern summer on Mars, so the bright ice cap is small and hard to see. The bigger the telescope, the more detail you will see.

Morning Sky

Venus is bright in the eastern sky by 5:00am and will remain visible until disappearing in the morning sunlight.

Night Sky Spectacle:

Double Star Cluster (NGC 884 & 869)

A double star cluster is just what it says, two clusters of stars that are within the view of binoculars. These are what is known as Open Clusters. That means that the stars are not in a tight ball like a globular star cluster. These open star clusters are a gathering of stars that have formed in the same dust cloud. They are loosely gravitationally bound, but not tightly. Our Sun may have formed in a small one of these, but the stars have dispersed over their travels around the Milky Way Galaxy. It is located just below the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia in the northeastern sky. Take the star at the top of the middle of the constellation and drop down to the left bottom star. Then go twice that distance in a straight line and you will see the two groups of stars. Remember these are open groups of stars. Sometimes in a dark sky, you can see them with your eyes without the help of binoculars. See what else you can find in that area.

Moon Phases

New (9/17) 1st Quarter (9/24) Full (10/1) 3rd Quarter (10/9)

End of twilight - when the stars start to come out.

Sept. 15 – 7:50pm; Oct. 1 – 7:19pm; Oct. 20 – 6:45pm. Longview ••• resident Greg Smith is past p r e s i d e n t o f F r i e n d s o f Galileo. Meet him and other club members at monthly meetings in Longview. For more info about FOG, visit friendsofgalileo.com.

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