SEPTEMBER 2024 (Northern Hemisphere)
3 New Moon at 1:56 UT. Start of lunation 1258.
5 Mercury at greatest elongation west at 2h UT (18° from Sun, morning sky). Mag. –0.2.
5 Moon near Venus at 10h UT (25° from Sun, evening sky). Mag. –3.9. Occultation visible from Antarctica.
5 Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 15h UT (distance 406,211km; angular size 29.4′).
6 Moon near Spica at 18h UT (40° from Sun, evening sky). Occultation visible from Africa.
8 Saturn at opposition (opposite the Sun) at 4h UT. The planet is at its closest and brightest. Mag. 0.6.
8 Mars 0.85° S of M35 star cluster at 19h UT (74° from Sun, morning sky). Mag. 0.7.
10 Moon near Antares at 14h UT (evening sky). Occultation visible from western Australia.
11 First Quarter Moon at 6:06 UT.
17 Moon near Saturn at 11h UT (evening sky). Mag. 0.6. Occultation visible from western US, western Canada, NW Mexico, and NE Australia.
18 Partial Eclipse of the Moon from 2:13 to 3:16 UT, mid-eclipse at 2:44 UT. Visible from the Americas, Africa, and Europe.
18 Full Moon at 2:36 UT. Supermoon.
18 Venus 2.4° NNE of Spica at 10h UT (28° from Sun, evening sky). Mags. –3.9 and 1.0.
18 Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 13:34 UT (distance 357,286km; angular size 33.4′). Only 11 hours after Full Moon.
21 Neptune at opposition at 0h UT. Mag. 7.8.
22 Moon near the Pleiades at 12h UT (morning sky).
22 September equinox at 12:42 UT. The time when the Sun reaches the point along the ecliptic where it crosses into thesouthern celestial hemisphere marking the start of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere.
23 Moon near Jupiter at 23h UT (morning sky). Mag. –2.4.
24 Last Quarter Moon at 18:51 UT.
25 Moon near Mars at 14h UT (morning sky). Mag. 0.5.
More sky events and links at http://Skymaps.com/skycalendar/
All times in Universal Time (UT). (USA Eastern Daylight Time = UT – 4 hours.)
Visit my YouTube Page for captures of many of the Night Sky events for each month.
More sky events and links at http://Skymaps.com/skycalendar/
All times in Universal Time (UT). (USA Eastern Daylight Time = UT – 4 hours.)
Visit my YouTube Page for captures of many of the Night Sky events for each month.
MOON PHASES
New Moon: 3rd
First Quarter: 11th
Full Moon: 18th
Last Quarter: 24th
EASILY SEEN BY THE NAKED EYE
Altair Aql Brightest star in Aquila. Name means “the flying eagle”. Dist=16.7 ly.
Capella Aur The 6th brightest star. Appears yellowish in color. Spectroscopic binary. Dist=42 ly.
Arcturus Boo Orange, giant K star. Name means “bear watcher”. Dist=36.7 ly.
δ Cephei Cep Cepheid prototype. Mag varies between 3.5 & 4.4 over 5.366 days. Mag 6 companion.
Deneb Cyg Brightest star in Cygnus. One of the greatest known supergiants. Dist=1,400±200 ly.
α Herculis Her Semi-regular variable. Magnitude varies between 3.1 & 3.9 over 90 days. Mag 5.4 companion.
Vega Lyr The 5th brightest star in the sky. A blue-white star. Dist=25.0 ly.
Algol Per Famous eclipsing binary star. Magnitude varies between 2.1 & 3.4 over 2.867 days.
Fomalhaut PsA Brightest star in Piscis Austrinus. In Arabic the “fish’s mouth”. Dist=25 ly.
Antares Sco Red, supergiant star. Name means “rival of Mars”. Dist=135.9 ly.
Polaris UMi The North Pole Star. A telescope reveals an unrelated mag 8 companion star. Dist=433 ly.
SEEN BY TELESCOPE
γ Andromedae And Attractive double star. Bright orange star with mag 5 blue companion. Sep=9.8″.
7009 Aqr Saturn Nebula. Requires 8-inch telescope to see Saturn-like appendages.
7293 Aqr Helix Nebula. Spans nearly 1/4 deg. Requires dark sky. Dist=300 ly.
γ Arietis Ari Impressive looking double blue-white star. Visible in a small telescope. Sep=7.8″.
ε Boötis Boo Red giant star (mag 2.5) with a blue-green mag 4.9 companion. Sep=2.8″. Difficult to split.
M51 CVn Whirlpool Galaxy. First recognised to have spiral structure. Dist=25 million ly.
η Cassiopeiae Cas Yellow star mag 3.4 & orange star mag 7.5. Dist=19 ly. Orbit=480 years. Sep=12″.
61 Cygni Cyg Attractive double star. Mags 5.2 & 6.1 orange dwarfs. Dist=11.4 ly. Sep=28.4″.
γ Delphini Del Appear yellow & white. Mags 4.3 & 5.2. Dist=100 ly. Struve 2725 double in same field.
β Lyrae Lyr Eclipsing binary. Mag varies between 3.3 & 4.3 over 12.940 days. Fainter mag 7.2 blue star.
M57 Lyr Ring Nebula. Magnificent object. Smoke-ring shape. Dist=4,100 ly.
M20 Sgr Trifid Nebula. A telescope shows 3 dust lanes trisecting nebula. Dist=5,200 ly.
M17 Sgr Omega Nebula. Contains the star cluster NGC 6618. Dist=4,900 ly.
M11 Sct Wild Duck Cluster. Resembles a globular through binoculars. V-shaped. Dist=5,600 ly.
M16 Ser Eagle Nebula. Requires a telescope of large aperture. Dist=8,150 ly.
M33 Tri Fine face-on spiral galaxy. Requires a large aperture telescope. Dist=2.3 million ly.
M27 Vul Dumbbell Nebula. Large, twin-lobed shape. Most spectacular planetary. Dist=975 ly.