The Moon will be at First Quarter on the 7th rising at 3.50pm and setting at 10pm. She'll be Full on the 15th rising at 7pm and setting at 6.40am. Last Quarter will be on the 22nd when she'll rise at 10.50pm and set at 4.15pm next day. New will be on the 29th. So, the first and last weeks are more suitable for Deep Sky observers and the middle ones for Lunar folk.
Two more hours of darkness gained during September, the month of the Autumn Equinox, a major improvement for astronomers on the perpetual twilight of the summer months.
Planets. Jupiter will be seen each night shining brightly in the south, setting on the first at 1am, by midmonth at midnight and by monthend it'll be gone by 11pm. Not a good apparition, keeping low in the sky each night, but we hope for more next year.
On the first, Venus, Mars and Mercury, within 5° of each other, together with a thin crescent Moon, will be setting only minutes after the Sun, whose glare will make observing them difficult. You'll need a very low and clear horizon to see them too. Venus, Mars and Mercury will hold station with the Sun close by, till about the 20th, when they'll begin to separate, but still with the problem of the Sun's glare.
On the 11th,Venus and Mars will be within 1/3° of each other, and should be visible at 7.30pm, again, a very low and clear horizon will be needed. If you can, use a GOTO telescope to find them in daylight and follow them down. Venus, at -3.9Mag, will be bright enough. Drop me a note at the website, www.donastro.org.uk for a chart if needed.
Uranus and Neptune, on the other hand will be available all night and all month, from Dusk to Dawn, small but beautifully light blue with optical aid. Blue because of the Methane in their atmospheres.
Asteroid Vesta will be as easy as Neptune, being of similar brightness, but its white appearance will make it difficult to find without a chart. It starts the month rising about 11pm and will be available all night.
Asteroid Pallas, at Mag 9, much dimmer, will rise at 2am on the first, and later each night, staying up all night from then.
Some difficult tasks there, but charts will help.
Meteors. Not much this month at all, several recognised showers, but none of more than sporadic proportions.
Autumn at last, with darker and longer nights, the start of the observing season, though diehards will have been observing all summer. Pegasus is already well up, count stars in the square to judge sky conditions. Andromeda and Triangulum with their big galaxies, M31, easy but bland visually, and M33 difficult, but beautiful when seen. Auriga with its clusters M36, M37 and M38, all easy and very good in good skies. Higher up is Cassiopeia, full of clusters, notably M52, M103 and NGC457, the ET cluster, impressive. Still available at the top of the sky are the clusters and nebulosity of Cygnus, Vulpecula and Lyra. And catch it before it goes, Hercules, with globular clusters M13 and M92. I've seen visitors with tears in their eyes on seeing these.
Bright Iridium Flares.
1st 21:45:20 48° ENE
2nd 02:24:23 37° WNW
5th 02:15:04 32° WNW
8th 20:11:00 24° N
ISS passages
1st 4:31am from 10° up in SW, moving slowly towards E
3rd 3:52am from 21° up in SSW, moving slowly towards E
6th 3:39am from 40° up in SW, moving slowly towards E
9th 3:27am from 59° up in S, moving slowly towards ESE
As ever, check with www.heavens-above.com for more details.
Brian