the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
Psalm 8:3,4
(From Astronomy and Sky & Telescope Magazines)
Saturday, August 30
Sunday, August 31
First Quarter Moon occurs at 2:25 A.M. EDT this morning. The Moon then passes 0.7° south of Antares at 7 A.M. EDT, although neither is visible at that time. You can catch the pairing in the southern sky this evening, with the waxing Moon now sitting about 7.5° to the left (southeast) of ruddy Antares in the darkening twilight. They remain above the horizon for a few hours, setting around 11:30 P.M. local time.
Bright Venus hangs near the lovely Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer this morning. Both
Monday, September 1
Cepheid variables are some of the most well-known variable stars in the sky. wo hours after sunset, Cepheus is 50° high in the north, standing on the top of its peaked roof, marked by magnitude 3.2 Gamma Cep. The two stars marking the eaves of the house (at the top of its square shape when rightside-up) are above Gamma at this time — they are magnitude 3.2 Beta (β) and magnitude 3.5 Iota (ι) Cep. Above Beta is magnitude 2.5 Alpha (α) Cep, and above Iota is magnitude 3.4 Zeta (ζ) Cep. It is near Zeta that we’ll finally find our target, Delta Cep, which lies about 2.5° to Zeta’s northeast, or that star’s lower right early this evening.
Tuesday, September 2
Now the Moon resides in or near the Teapot's handle. Covering the Moon with your fingertip helps reveal stars near it.
Mercury passes 1.2° north of Regulus at 6 A.M. EDT; the pair is visible in the east just before sunrise, but it might be a challenging observation. You’ll want to get to a location above the surrounding terrain if possible, with an eastern horizon free of tall trees or
Wednesday, September 3
With a waxing Moon lighting the sky for most of the night, we’re focusing on brighter stars this evening. Our target for tonight is a famous asterism that is currently visible all night long. You can catch it already above the horizon in the east an hour after the Sun disappears, then follow its progress as it arcs through the sky overnight.
Look east an hour after sunset and you’ll spot a large diamond of stars — this is the Great Square of Pegasus, which depicts the body of the Winged Horse. It is bounded by four stars; lowest early in the evening is magnitude 2.8 Gamma Pegasi. Moving counterclockwise, some 16.5° to its upper right (west) is magnitude 2.5 Markab (Alpha Peg). The next star is Scheat (Beta Peg), which shines at magnitude 2.5 and sits roughly 13° north (to the upper left) of Markab. As the Great Square is Rising, Scheat appears at
Thursday, September 4
We’re back at Saturn early this morning (or late on the 3rd in the western half of the U.S.) to catch a transit of Titan together with its shadow across the ringed world.
The shadow transits first, beginning at 1 A.M. EDT (again, early on the 4th in the eastern half of the U.S. but late on the 3rd in the Mountain and Pacific time zones). At this time, Saturn is high in the southeast in the eastern U.S., while appreciably lower and in the east on the West Coast.
Watch through a telescope as Titan’s shadow slowly appears at the northeastern limb of the planet, taking some 25 minutes to fully emerge. Titan is still far from the limb as it casts its shadow at this time, as Saturn is still more than two weeks from opposition. The moon’s shadow takes about two hours to reach midway across the disk (around 3 A.M. EDT), as Titan slowly closes in. Titan finally begins its transit, which will carry it only partially across Saturn’s northern polar region, around 5 A.M. EDT — not long after the shadow has begun its half-hour-long disappearing act over at the northwestern limb. Titan’s shadow is fully gone from the disk by 5:15 A.M. EDT, and Titan’s partial transit ends 15 minutes later.
Tenth-magnitude Tethys is also transiting this morning, crossing Saturn between about 4:30 A.M. EDT and 6:25 A.M. CDT (note the time change, as sunrise occurs on the East Coast during the transit). Planetary imagers might be able to pick up the small moon, while it may be invisible to visual observers. Its shadow will likely be indistinguishable as well.
Friday, September 5
The waxing gibbous Moon shines in the south-southeast this evening, on a line between Altair and Fomalhaut. Altair is the bright star three or four fists above the Moon and maybe somewhat to the right. Fomalhaut, the Autumn Star, rises a little after dark depending on your latitude.
Rising before midnight and visible all morning long until dawn, the distant planet Uranus now resides within the domain of Taurus the Bull. Its current location makes it easier than usual to find, just 4.5° south-southeast of the Pleiades (M45). By 4 A.M. local daylight time, the region is some 60° high in the east, above the easy-to-find three-star belt of Orion.
Saturday, September 6
The bright Moon early this evening forms an isosceles triangle (two equal sides) with Saturn to its lower left and Fomalhaut the same distance down to its lower right. At the night advances, the triangle climbs higher while turning clockwise.
 |