Nature Moncton Nature News: September 15 2023

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

September 15, 2023

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

Proofreading courtesy of Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca

**Chris Antle had a Monarch Butterfly spend the afternoon nectaring on her Zinnias at Maquapit Lake on Thursday.
It is only the fourth Chris has seen this season and the only one that stayed long enough for a photo. She didn’t observe it visiting the adjacent milkweed.
(Editor’s note: this butterfly would appear very fresh, so was probably recently emerged and is fueling up to head for Mexico.)

**Jane LeBlanc in St. Martins found 4 American Dagger Moth caterpillars on Thursday. Two were on water lily pads in the pond, and 2 were on her brightly coloured wheelbarrow.

She also put the last Monarch Butterfly chrysalis in the greenhouse for safekeeping. She has seen the Common Milkweed plants broken by strong winds and heavy rain.

She also still has at least one Ruby-throated Hummingbird, not coming to her feeders but to a red flowering clematis near the feeders.

**It’s Friday and the day we review what we may see in the night sky over the next week courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason. It would appear Mother Nature may close off the sky for a few nights!

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2023, September 16 – September 23
Autumn arrives next weekend, and dedicated stargazers are happy to have the longer observing time afforded by earlier sunsets. The summer constellations appear reluctant to move on, however; emerging from twilight in nearly the same place each night because the earlier darkness masks that they rise four minutes sooner each day. But move on they do, and by mid-evening the two groups of autumn constellations lord over us.

Perseus sits below W-shaped Cassiopeia in the northeast these evenings. Cepheus is a house-shaped constellation north of Cassiopeia, and Andromeda lies with her feet below Cassiopeia and her head sharing a star with Pegasus. The asterism called the Great Square of Pegasus rises as a large diamond, a harbinger of the baseball postseason. These constellations relate to a classic tale in Greek mythology, as does Cetus, playing the role of a ferocious sea monster. Cetus is actually a whale, and this segues to the second group - the water constellations.

To the southeast in evening twilight is the chevron-shaped Capricornus the sea goat. Above and left is the source of all this water; Aquarius, the water-bearing servant of the Olympian gods. Saturn is situated in the middle of Aquarius, and below them is the southern fish, Piscis Austrinus with its bright star Fomalhaut. Later and further east we have Pisces the fishes with Cetus swimming below them, and well above Capricornus we see Delphinus the dolphin trying to leap back into summer.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:58 am, and sunset will occur at 7:29 pm, giving 12 hours 31 minutes of daylight (7:02 am and 7:33 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:07 am and set at 7:15 pm, giving 12 hours, and 8 minutes of daylight (7:12 am and 7:20 pm in Saint John). We are one week away from the autumnal equinox.

On Saturday afternoon, while parts of the province are likely being inundated with rain, the Moon will be passing in front of Mars, making a very difficult observation impossible. Such is the hobby of astronomy. The Moon is at first quarter next Friday, leading us into Fall Astronomy Day. Venus is at its brightest this week, and on Friday, Mercury will be a hand span to Venus’s lower left as it reaches its greatest elongation from the Sun. Saturn rings in the evening sky in the southeast, awaiting Jupiter’s rising two hours after sunset. Neptune officially enters the evening sky as it reaches opposition on Tuesday.

The RASC NB star party at Kouchibouguac National Park takes place on Friday and Saturday of next weekend, September 22-23. Also, Astronomy Day public observing will be held at the Irving Nature Park in Saint John next Friday from 8 – 11:30 p.m., with a back-up date of September 23.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.