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What’s in the Sky This Month
For September 2007
Planets
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Moon Phases |
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Full Moon
August 28 |
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Last Quarter
September 3 |
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New Moon
September 11 |
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First Quarter
September 19 |
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Full Moon
September 26 |
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While Mercury is technically an evening planet, it is not well placed for viewing, in the Northern Hemisphere.
Just as it dominated the evening sky earlier in the year, Venus is now a standout before dawn. Look to the East about an hour before local sunrise.
Mars now rises in the late evening in Taurus, near Zeta and Beta Tauri, the two stars that mark the tips of the bull’s horns. At just slightly dimmer than 0 magnitude, it is brighter than any stars nearby. It slips into Gemini at the end of the month.
Jupiter, the largest planet, is still bright but is getting progressively lower in the southwestern sky, and is lost altogether from view by the end of the year. Currently it sets in late evening.
Saturn has emerged in the predawn east-northeastern sky, but is very low at the beginning of twilight at the beginning of the month. In the first week it is quite near the bright star Regulus in Leo, both to the lower left of bright Venus.
Dates
Monday, September 3
Moon/Pleiades
The nearly Last Quarter Moon passes just slightly more than a degree north of the Pleiades star cluster, also known as M45, high in the eastern sky.
Saturday, September 8
Moon/Beehive Cluster
As it passed the Pleiades cluster on the 3rd, this morning the Moon passes just north of the Beehive cluster in Cancer (also known as the Praesepe cluster or M44). Unfortunately it does not rise until just before sunrise, but the two are still close at that time. Look to the east about an hour before sunrise.
Wednesday, September 19
First Quarter Moon
Sunday, September 23
September Equinox
Go ahead and be “HC” this time. (“HC” = “hemispherically correct”) If someone calls it the “Fall” or “Autumnal” Equinox, don’t be afraid to correct him or her. Sure, it marks the beginning of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, but for those in the Southern Hemisphere it is the beginning of Spring! This and the corresponding equinox in March mark points in the Earth’s orbit where the planet is not tilted toward or away from the Sun.
Venus at greatest brilliancy
OK, you can’t see it in the evening sky because it is in the morning sky. But look about an hour before sunrise to the east (Saturn and Regulus are slightly below and to the left of brilliant Venus).
Wednesday, September 26
Full Moon, 3:45
Being the nearest Full Moon to the September Equinox, this is the “Harvest Moon.”
Saturday, September 29
Mercury at greatest elongation east
You can’t actually observe this, but it marks the point where Mercury appears farthest to the East from the Sun in this orbit (appears in the evening sky). Unfortunately, the planet is not well positioned for the Northern Hemisphere.
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