Editor’s Note: HMNS Astronomer James Wooten informs that a partial eclipse is on the horizon. Read ahead for what onlookers should look for.
Saturn is now an evening object. Look in the east-southeast at dusk. Saturn is up literally all night long on September 7.
Venus has also emerged into the evening sky. Look for low in the west near the point of sunset.
Jupiter is high, almost overhead at dawn and outshines all the stars we ever see at night.
Mars is also in the morning sky, in the east at dawn. Mars brightens each morning this month as it pulls away from Jupiter.
The Big Dipper is to the left of the North Star at dusk, with its handle pointing up. From that handle, you can ‘arc to Arcturus’. Arcturus is the brightest star we see on September evenings.
The Summer Triangle is high overhead at dusk. This consists of Deneb, Vega, and Altair, the brightest stars in Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila respectively. Scorpius, the Scorpion, is in the south, with the ‘teapot’ of Sagittarius to his left. When you face between these two constellations, you face the direction of the galactic center, which all stars in the Milky Way orbit. The Great Square of Pegasus rises in the east, heralding the autumn.
If you are far enough from bright city lights, you might look for the Milky Way band. This band is brightest near the galactic center and extends from there right through the Summer Triangle. In fact, every star we ever see in the sky with the naked eye is in our Milky Way. Indeed, our galaxy is so big that only stars relatively close to us appear as distinct stars; the rest of our galaxy blurs out and appears as the Milky Way band across our sky. For example, Deneb is about 2600 light years away, which is quite far. The entire Milky Way, however, is 100,000 light-years across, making Deneb one of our relative ‘neighbors’. Thus, we see our Milky Way as a blur in the background with stars like Deneb (and Vega, Altair, Arcturus, etc.) in the foreground.
The Summer Triangle is overhead. This consists of the brightest stars in Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila. Scorpius, the Scorpion, is in the southwest, with the ‘teapot’ of Sagittarius to his left. Saturn is in the southeast in Aquarius. From the Big Dipper’s handle, ‘arc to Arcturus’ in the west. The Great Square of Pegasus is high in the east, heralding autumn.
Moon Phases in September 2024
New Sept 2, 8:55 p.m.
1st Quarter Sept 11, 1:06 a.m.
Full Sept 17, 9:34 p.m.
Last Quarter Sept 24, 1:50 p.m.
The Full Moon of September 17 barely enters the Earth’s shadow, causing brief partial lunar eclipse. Look for a small ‘bite’ taken out of the Moon between 9:13 and 10:17 pm.
At 7:44 am on Sunday, September 22, 2024, the Sun is directly overhead as seen from the equator, shifting southwards. This is therefore the autumnal (fall) equinox for us in the Northern Hemisphere. You have probably already noticed that the Sun set earlier and earlier each night during August. After the equinox, night becomes longer than day for us. Below the equator, on the other hand, days have been lengthening, and day becomes longer than night as of this equinox. For folks down there, this is the vernal (spring) equinox.
Our George Observatory is now open every Saturday night for observation! Purchase tickets in advance on our website.
Clear Skies!
Looking for August’s sky happenings? Click here.
