In the early evenings of late August the planets Jupiter and Saturn can be seen high up in the north-eastern sky within ten degrees of each other, in Sagittarius – or if you prefer a more homely constellation, next to The Teapot. On the 29th they will have the almost full waxing Moon between them.
(Note: as a rough guide to celestial measurements, the Moon takes up about half a degree of view, and an adult human fist held up at arm’s length takes up about ten degrees.)
Mars is now relatively close to Earth, and almost as bright in the night sky as Jupiter. Rising after 9 pm on the 5th and 6th September, it can be seen very close to the waning gibbous moon.
Venus can be seen in the east before dawn (after about 5 am) in September. On the 2nd it will pass within a few degrees of the bright orange star Pollux (one of the Gemini twins), and on the 14th will be joined by the waning crescent Moon.
The more retiring planet Mercury will form a conspicuous triangle low in the west with the very new Moon and the bright white star Spica in the early evening (about 7pm) of the 19th September, and on the 22nd, Mercury and Spica’s separation will be less than a degree.
Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, the sixteenth brightest star in the sky, and is a binary star: two suns orbiting each other so closely that they are indistinguishable by telescope. An Arabic name for Spica was Azimech, derived from words for the Defenceless One or Solitary One, probably referring to Spica’s relatively large distance from other bright stars in the sky. In northern Australia when one of the Wardaman people dies, their spirit is believed to be taken up to a hole in the sky, seen as the star Garrndarin (Spica).
Jupiter and the Moon will make a striking pair high in the sky in the evening of the 25th September. An interesting alternative time for viewing is during the daylight of that late afternoon. At times, the planets are bright enough to be seen in daylight – the problem is usually knowing where to look for them. Now, Jupiter will be only about three Moon diameters to the north of the Moon- but still somewhat challenging to spot without binoculars in daytime.
In the southern hemisphere, spring equinox this year occurs a little before midnight on the 22nd September. As an alternative to measuring equality of daytime and nighttime, this can be defined more precisely purely by geometry, as a time when the Sun is directly above the Earth’s equator – that is, when the centre of the Sun lies on the (extended) plane of the equator. Due to the tilt of Earth’s polar axis, this only happens two times a year.
By Vlack
The Coburg Meddler 