The Moon
Last
Quarter 3rd 00:53
– 10:21
New 10th 07:04 –
17:56 First Quarter 17th 10:02 -- 01:02
Full 25th 17:43 – 06:20
There is a special occurrence this month to look forward to
or be wary of, depending on your outlook. There is a Near Earth Object (2012
DA14) approaching us at some speed, not because it's going very fast, but
because it's very close, 30000 Km from us at its closest on the 15th and 16th.
We should see it on the night of the 15th as it rises above the
horizon at about 8:50pm in the east. By 9:30pm it'll be 3° to the east of
Denebola, the end of Leo's tail, about mag 8.4. From there it moves due north near
the border between Leo and Virgo. It'll be about 1/4 of a degree east of SAO
82106, a yellow mag 6.6 star at 9:50pm and mag 8.7. Getting slower and fainter.
At 11:40pm it will be down to mag 10 and within half a degree of SAO 44002 a
mag 5.2 white star in a small pretty group of 4. It's running almost due north
so should be easy to follow in a telescope using the Dec. motor. Mag 10.7 by
1:00am. At 2:15am it will be due east of mag 2.4 Phecda, bottom left of the
Plough's bowl, by which time it'll be mag 11.2. At 5:00am it will be down to
mag 12, but still going north, soon to be drowned in the morning twilight.
If you still haven't felt a bump before this, you can take
your hard hat off. This is what's forecast to happen, but as to actually seeing
it all, well, that's up to the Cloud God. Worth getting set up for though.
Planets
Mercury is too close to
the Sun till about the 5th when it will set about an hour after the
Sun. It will be 5 arcsec and mag -1.1, and very close to Mars and Neptune. From
the 3rd to the 9th these three will be jostling for
position, till sorted out by the half Moon on the 10th. On the 4th,
Neptune and Mars will set within half a degree of each other and on the 6th
Neptune and Mercury will be similarly close, and on the 8th Mercury and Mars
come within half a degree of each other as they approach the western horizon.
These three are quite close to the Sun, so you must be
careful when observing them. They stay close to the Sun all month, Mercury
pulling away by mid month then coming back to it. Neptune runs behind the Sun
on the 21st then past it to the end of the month. Mars stays an even
distance from the Sun all month, and that's close. All this is as they set in
early dusk, so you're likely to be straining to see them, making the
possibility of catching the Sun in your instrument more likely, so take extra
care.
Venus will not be available all month.
Mars will set at 6:15pm on the 1st,
about an hour after the Sun. A small disc, 4 arcsec and mag 1.2. Difficult in
the lowering dusk. It will maintain a similar position all month, close to the
Sun and the horizon, so not at it’s best.
Jupiter will be available from dusk on the 1st,
about 5:30pm when it will be high in the sky and getting close to due south,
till it sets at 3:30am. On the 28th it will be available, due south
at dusk, about 5:30pm, till it sets at 1:45am, a slightly smaller disc of 39
arcsec at mag -2.4. On the 28th it will be available from dusk till
it sets at 2am with no discernible change in size.
Saturn will rise at 1am on the 1st, a
little nearer to us, 17 arcsec and 0.5 mag, pulling away from Spica, having
left Virgo. It will set soon after midday, but the dawn will have caught up
with it by 7am. At the end of the month it will rise at 11:30pm and be
available till dawn catches up with it at about 6am, a reasonably long time to
observe this beautiful planet, unfortunately not very high up.
Uranus, in Pisces, will rise on the 1st,
in daylight at 9:30am so will not be seen till darkness overtakes us at about
5:30pm. It will exhibit a 3 arcsec disc of mag 5.9, and set at 9:30pm. By the
end of the month it will be available for just a couple of hours after sunset.
Neptune will be with us for even less time as it
sets on the 1st an hour and a half after the Sun. A week later it
will be with us for only an hour, and after that it isn’t safe to search for it
as it will be too close to the Sun as it passes behind it.
Meteor Showers.
None with more than 7/hour at best.
None with more than 7/hour at best.
Comets.
Again none at naked eye visibility, but there are two that should be worth waiting for. C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) is reported to be mag 2 now but in the southern hemisphere, not due to visit us till March the 11th when it's supposed to be mag 0.7 at dusk, setting in the north west.
Again none at naked eye visibility, but there are two that should be worth waiting for. C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) is reported to be mag 2 now but in the southern hemisphere, not due to visit us till March the 11th when it's supposed to be mag 0.7 at dusk, setting in the north west.
The other is C/2012 S1 (ISON), and that can be seen all
this month in Gemini, but at mag 16. So you'll have to wait for it to blossom,
predicted for November.