Look to the sky for inspiration
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THE sky chart view is for 10pmon the 15 September. Sunrise is at 6.43am and sunset at 7.33pm. September is the month of the Autumnal Equinox when the Sun’s apparent path crosses the equator heading south. The equinox occurs at 10.04am BST on Friday 23 September, and from that date till the Vernal Equinox in March, the nights will be longer than the days.
Starting at the Plough (Ursa Major – the Great Bear) we use the right-hand stars of the ‘saucepan’ to point to Polaris, the Pole Star and part of Ursa Minor (the Little Bear). Following the line formed by the saucepan’s handle round in a curve towards the horizon we find Arcturus, a red giant, and one of the brightest stars in the sky at the bottom of the fairly faint kite-shaped constellation of Bootes (the Herdsman). Going back to the Plough and following the line through the pointers and Polaris, we come to the distinctive ‘W’ of Cassiopeia. The star at the centre of the W, is γ Cas with the star at the bottom of the left-hand V, δ Cas forming a line pointing at the famous Double-Cluster (NGC 869 and 884) in Perseus. Returning to Cassiopeia and using the right-hand stars of α Cas (Schedar) and β Cas (Caph) as pointers we come to Cepheus, the mythical King of Ethiopia and husband of Cassiopeia. Both Cassiopeia and Cepheus lie in the Milky Way and are areas well worth sweeping through with binoculars or a telescope. To me Cepheus looks like a bishop’s mitre and below the bottom of the hat, just above IC1396, is μ Cephei or Herschel’s Garnet Star, a red super giant.
Looking south the sky is dominated by the constellations of Cygnus (the Swan), Lyra (the Lyre) and Aquila (the Eagle) whose brightest stars of Deneb, Vega and Altair respectively make up the Summer Triangle. Albireo, a celebrated blue and orange double star in telescopes, marks the Swan’s beak and halfway between Albireo and Altair is Sagitta (the Arrow) a small but lovely constellation representing an arrow sailing harmlessly between the two birds. To the left of Altair is another small constellation Delphinus (the Dolphin) its four principle stars forming a box shape known as Job’s Coffin. Follow a line from Deneb through Vega and you will find an undistinguished constellation Hercules, with its wedge of stars forming ‘the keystone’. Just over halfway up the right hand side of the keystone is a misty patch - Messier13 - one of the brightest globular clusters in the northern sky. M13 is prominent in binoculars and a reasonable telescope will resolve stars giving the appearance of patch of stardust. During September, Comet Garradd is moving from Sagitta towards Hercules, though you’ll need binoculars or a telescope to make it out as a misty patch.
Looking to east you will see a bright star above the northeast horizon, which is Capella the brightest in Auriga (the Charioteer). Follow a line from Capella to the south and you will find the constellations of Perseus, Andromeda, and the Square of Pegasus.
Comet 2009 P1 (Garradd)
Comet 2009 P1 (Garradd) was discovered on 13th August 2009 by G J Garradd of Siding Spring Observatory Australia. While it is presently at Mag 8.0, it’s been seen from Moray’s skies as a hazy patch in binoculars or small telescope. It is predicted to brighten to around Mag 6.0 towards the end of 2011 into 2012.
The Moon
First Quarter is on the 4 with Full Moon on the 12, Last Quarter on the 20 and New Moon on the 27. September’s Full Moon is also called the Harvest Moon, as in earlier times its light allowed farmers to continue to harvest, as it rises in the east after sunset for several nights in succession.
The Planets
Mercury will be visible low in the East for about 1 hour before dawn.
Venus is too close to the Sun.
Mars is a morning object.
Jupiter will be visible for most of the night, and will be a stunning sight as it is comparatively high in the sky.
Saturn can be briefly glimpsed in the evening sky low in the east just after sunset.
Uranus for those with large telescopes and dark skies will be visible most of the night.
The ISS
The ISS is a morning object from 24th to the end of the month visible from around 0620 BST on the 24th. Full details of all ISS passes, as well as Comet Garradd’s position, and much more, can be found at Chris Peat’s website www.heavens-above.com. With thanks to Chris for permission to use his sky chart.
Stan Barber
SIGMA Moray’s Astronomy Club www.sigma-astro.co.uk
Meetings are held at Birnie Village Hall, Thomshill, Elgin, IV30 8GY on the first Friday of the month. Doors open at 7pm doors for a 7.30pm start and the first meeting is free so you can ‘try before you buy’. Full details of all talks can be found on the website.
