Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fri | The waxing gibbous Moon does not interfere with observing the Alpha Aurigids. |
| Moon occults Antares: visible from the southern tip of South America from about 0100 UT. | ||
| Mercury at superior conjunction | ||
| 2 | Sat | |
| 3 | Sun | |
| 4 | Mon | |
| 5 | Tue | Uranus at opposition |
| 6 | Wed | |
| 7 | Thu | Moon occults Uranus: visible in Australia from about 1400 UT. |
| Because next month's Full Moon is nearer to the equinox than this one, "Harvest Moon" occurs in October rather than in September. | ||
| Tonight's partial lunar eclipse is visible from Africa, Asia and Australia. | ||
| 8 | Fri | The Delta Aurigids are washed out by the nearly Full Moon. |
| Moon at perigee: Expect unusually high tides since perigee occurs so close to Full Moon. | ||
| 9 | Sat | The north pole of the Sun is most inclined towards the Earth. |
| 10 | Sun | |
| 11 | Mon | |
| 12 | Tue | |
| 13 | Wed | |
| 14 | Thu | Last Quarter Moon |
| 15 | Fri | |
| 16 | Sat | |
| 17 | Sun | |
| 18 | Mon | |
| 19 | Tue | |
| 20 | Wed | |
| 21 | Thu | Moon occults Venus during daylight hours. |
| 22 | Fri | Moon at apogee |
| Today's annular solar eclipse is visible from the south Atlantic with partial phases visible from parts of Africa. | ||
| New Moon | ||
| 23 | Sat | Earth at equinox; day and night are of equal length. |
| 24 | Sun | Moon occults Spica during daylight hours. |
| 25 | Mon | |
| 26 | Tue | |
| 27 | Wed | |
| 28 | Thu | Moon occults Antares: visible from southern parts of New Zealand from about 0700 UT. |
| 29 | Fri | |
| 30 | Sat | First Quarter Moon |
The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars.
| Object | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Leo -> Virgo |
The north pole of our star is most inclined towards Earth this month. |
| Mercury | Leo -> Virgo |
The closest planet to the Sun is at superior conjunction on the first of the month. By mid-month it reappears in the west after sunset and gets quite high in the sky for southern hemisphere observers. |
| Venus | Leo -> Virgo |
Best seen from the northern hemisphere this month, the "morning star" is easing towards the eastern horizon. |
| Mars | Virgo | Setting just after sunset, the red planet is probably too close to the Sun to be seen this month. |
| Jupiter | Libra | The largest planet in the solar system passes close by the star Zubenelgenubi mid-month. It sets shortly after sunset so look for Jupiter in the west as the sky darkens. |
| Saturn | Leo | The ringed planet rises early in the morning. |
| Uranus | Aquarius | Because it reaches opposition on 5 September, this gas giant is visible all night. |
| Neptune | Capricornus | This distant planet was at opposition last month so it is still on view for most of the night. |
Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.
Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.
| Local Time | Northern Hemisphere | Southern Hemisphere |
|---|---|---|
| 1730 hours (1830 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 1930 hours (2030 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 2130 hours (2230 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 2330 hours (0030 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0130 hours (0230 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0330 hours (0430 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0530 hours (0630 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop at Furman University.
The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. The composite image from May 1998 combines EIT images from three wavelengths (171Å, 195Å and 284Å) into one that reveals solar features unique to each wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
Copyright © 1995-2006 by David Harper and L.M. Stockman