The Moon
New 8th 07:27
-- 16:24
First Quarter 16th 14:24 -- --:--
Full 22nd 20:36 -- 04:52
Last Quarter 29th 23:37 -- 13:57
High summer,
but we’re past the longest day so the nights are beginning to shorten, slowly.
I’m heartily sick of those short light skies of summer, get us back to the long
dark nights of winter, but without the cold please.
Planets
Mercury,
Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune are all morning objects this month with only
Saturn visible in the evenings
Mercury can be seen an hour before the Sun rises on the 20th, and it
will rise earlier as the rest of the month progresses, so that by the end it
will be up 90 mins before the Sun. It can be seen earlier in the month, by a
few days, but closer to the Sun so more dangerous with optical aid. On the 20th
it will be mag 2.2 with a 12% illuminated disc of 10 arcsec. A nice little
crescent you’ll not see with the naked eye. By the end of the month it will mag
0.1 with a 42% illuminated disc of 7 arcsec. Worth following if you have a
clear eastern horizon.
Venus will set 80 mins after the Sun in the WNW on the 1st,
so will be easy to see. It will keep the same position all month too, gradually
moving further westwards from the Sun from 25° to 32° away, but maintaining it’s
-3.9mag and 12 arcsec presence. Its phase will change from 90% to 84% during
the month.
Mars is also to be
seen in the east, at 3:35am, well before the Sun, but still in dawn twilight.
It will show a tiny 4 arcsec disc of mag 1.5. It will change little in size or
mag. But will be up half an hour earlier. On the morning of the 22nd,
it will rise next to big brother Jupiter, just ¾ of a degree away. On the 27th
it will have Jupiter 2°20’ away to the south and Mercury 7°30’ away on the other side. And 12°
further north from Mercury will be comet ISON, the supposed “Big One” for this
year. But it will be at mag 13, so will not be visible. Mars will rise at 3am
on the 31st but with little change to its size or brightness.
Jupiter will rise at 4:15am on the 1st,
a mag -1.9 and 32 arcsec disc, but spoiled by the morning twilight, so don’t
expect much. By the end of the month it won’t have changed it’s presence but
will be up by 2:45am and before twilight starts, so just beginning to be worth
seeking, not that you’ll have to seek it, at mag -1.9 it will be difficult to
miss.
Saturn will be alone among the planets visible
in the evenings this month, and not very well at that, as it will be setting in
evening twilight and be visible on the 1st, from about 11pm till it
sets at 1:30am, an 18 arcsec disc of mag 0.5. On the 15th it will
set at 12:45am and at the end of the month at 11:30pm.
Uranus will rise on the 1st, in
Pisces, just before 1am, a tiny 3 arcsec disc of mag 5.8. The sky would be dark
enough to find it but for the half Moon 6° away to its left, brightening the
sky. But this will only intrude on the first couple of days, thereafter it will
be marginally easier to find with binoculars as a small blue dot. A well set up
goto telescope would make it easier still. For the rest of the month it will be
as easy, or difficult, until the 28th when the Moon gets too close
again, 3° away. On the 31st it will rise at 11pm, but unchanged in
size or brightness, or ease of finding with little in the way of guiding stars
to help.
Neptune, in Aquarius, will be even tinier at
mag 7.9 and 2 arcsec on the 1st,
and without a guiding star, much more difficult to find without a goto system.
It will also be available all the short night, all month as is Uranus. On the 24th
it will have the the almost full Moon on its shoulder so will be more difficult
to find as though it wasn’t difficult enough.
Meteor Showers. There isn’t
much in the way of showers to be seen this month, several showers but all of
faint and minimal ZHR.
Comets. Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS is still visible at mag 10.9, in the bottom end
of Ursa Minor, 8° south of Kochab, and C/2012 S1 (ISON) is available in the
morning sky with the planets, but is very faint so is better to wait till October.
You can look for
yourselves on the Minor Planets site. http://minorplanetcenter.org/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/index.html
The latest from a few
years ago, are listed there. Click on one for the ephemeris. If you like it,
download it as a KML file by clicking on the KML file link. Then click on it on
your desktop, which is where it’ll land when it gets to your machine. Click on
it there and it will ask you to run google earth then to change it to google
sky and the path of the comet will be drawn across the google sky for you.
Don’t bother with any that show a mag number larger than 7 or 8. Most on the
list are more than 15, which is very faint indeed.