** This week's Sky-at-a-Glance is added to today's transcription courtesy
of Curt Nason. This will be sent out on the BlogSpot and member distribution
list due to its length and completeness. There's lots to see in the night sky
on clear nights of which several are predicted over the next week.
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, August 29 –September 5
Most of the sky activity involves the solar system so we will skip the constellations this week.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:36 am and sunset will occur at 8:04 pm, giving 13 hours, 28 minutes of daylight (6:42 am and 8:08 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:44 am and set at 7:51 pm, giving 13 hours, 7 minutes of daylight (6:50 am and 7:55 pm in Saint John).
The full Sturgeon Moon occurs on Saturday, August 29, one day before it reaches perigee, its closest point to Earth for the month. Expect higher high tides and lower low tides for the weekend and Monday. The full Moon nearest perigee for the year occurs late next month and coincides with a total lunar eclipse. After midnight on Friday evening use binoculars or a scope to watch the Moon approach and occult (pass in front of) the bright star Aldebaran. The occultation begins just after 1 am September 5 and Aldebaran pops out near the top on the dark side of the Moon about 45 minutes later.
Mercury may be seen with difficulty in binoculars a few degrees above the western horizon a half hour after sunset. It reaches is greatest elongation from the Sun on September 4 but that will not place it significantly higher above the horizon.
Brilliant Venus rises an hour and a half to two hours before the Sun over the week and slides up to the right of reddish Mars.
Jupiter rises just ahead of the Sun and won’t be visible comfortably until mid-September.
Saturn is in the southwest at dark and sets around 11 pm by the end of the week. Its rings are at their best viewing in a decade so give them a try with your spotting scope, and look for its brightest moon Titan nearby.
Neptune is at opposition on September 1 in Aquarius and can be seen with binoculars and a little luck throughout autumn. It will look like a star but you can use the Uranus/Neptune map from the Sky & Telescope Web site (see link below) to distinguish it from nearby stars. It will be around magnitude 8 in brightness, just brighter than the dimmest stars shown in the map. A telescope at 100x or more could show its pale blue disc.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/WEB_UrNep_Finders.pdf
The NB Centre of the RASC is co-hosting a star party at Fundy National Park, South Chignecto campground on September 4-6. In addition to public observing Friday and Saturday evenings there will be solar observing, a telescope clinic, children’s activities and What’s Up presentations. See the RASC NB Web site (link below) for details.
http://www.nb.rasc.ca/starparty/FundyStarGaze/fundystargaze.pdf
Questions? Contact me at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Most of the sky activity involves the solar system so we will skip the constellations this week.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:36 am and sunset will occur at 8:04 pm, giving 13 hours, 28 minutes of daylight (6:42 am and 8:08 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:44 am and set at 7:51 pm, giving 13 hours, 7 minutes of daylight (6:50 am and 7:55 pm in Saint John).
The full Sturgeon Moon occurs on Saturday, August 29, one day before it reaches perigee, its closest point to Earth for the month. Expect higher high tides and lower low tides for the weekend and Monday. The full Moon nearest perigee for the year occurs late next month and coincides with a total lunar eclipse. After midnight on Friday evening use binoculars or a scope to watch the Moon approach and occult (pass in front of) the bright star Aldebaran. The occultation begins just after 1 am September 5 and Aldebaran pops out near the top on the dark side of the Moon about 45 minutes later.
Mercury may be seen with difficulty in binoculars a few degrees above the western horizon a half hour after sunset. It reaches is greatest elongation from the Sun on September 4 but that will not place it significantly higher above the horizon.
Brilliant Venus rises an hour and a half to two hours before the Sun over the week and slides up to the right of reddish Mars.
Jupiter rises just ahead of the Sun and won’t be visible comfortably until mid-September.
Saturn is in the southwest at dark and sets around 11 pm by the end of the week. Its rings are at their best viewing in a decade so give them a try with your spotting scope, and look for its brightest moon Titan nearby.
Neptune is at opposition on September 1 in Aquarius and can be seen with binoculars and a little luck throughout autumn. It will look like a star but you can use the Uranus/Neptune map from the Sky & Telescope Web site (see link below) to distinguish it from nearby stars. It will be around magnitude 8 in brightness, just brighter than the dimmest stars shown in the map. A telescope at 100x or more could show its pale blue disc.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/WEB_UrNep_Finders.pdf
The NB Centre of the RASC is co-hosting a star party at Fundy National Park, South Chignecto campground on September 4-6. In addition to public observing Friday and Saturday evenings there will be solar observing, a telescope clinic, children’s activities and What’s Up presentations. See the RASC NB Web site (link below) for details.
http://www.nb.rasc.ca/starparty/FundyStarGaze/fundystargaze.pdf
Questions? Contact me at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
