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Podcaster: Rob Webb

Title: Last Minute Astronomer September 2024

Organization: Physics teacher at Pequea Valley High School

Link: http://mrwebb.podbean.com ;
https://sites.google.com/site/mrwebbonline/ ;
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrWebbPV
https://sites.google.com/site/pvplanetarium/home

follow me : @MrWebbPV on Twitter ; @lastminuteastronomer on Facebook and Instagram

Don’t forget this podcast is found on my Podbean page, Stitcher, and iTunes.  There’s also a video version on my YouTube Channel and I can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @mrwebbpv. The Pequea Valley Planetarium and its events and updates are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as @pvplanetarium.

Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.

Description: What is gracing the September 2024 skies?  A juuuuust barely partial lunar eclipse, the best viewing for Saturn, 5 lunar close encounters, and the transition to fall.

Today’s sponsor:  Big thanks to our Patreon supporters this month: Rob Leeson, David Bowes, Brett Duane, Benett Bolek, Mary Ann, Frank Frankovic, Michael Freedman, Kim Hay, Steven Emert, Frank Tippin, Rani Bush, Jako Danar, Joseph J. Biernat, Nik Whitehead, Michael W, Cherry Wood, Steve Nerlich, Steven Kluth, James K Wood, Katrina Ince, Phyllis Foster, Don Swartwout, Barbara Geier, Steven Jansen, Donald Immerwahr

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Transcript:

     What is gracing the September 2024 skies?  A juuuuust barely partial lunar eclipse, the best viewing for Saturn, 5 lunar close encounters, and the transition to fall.

Hi everybody, I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  

We’ll start by talking about September’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.  

BIG EVENTS

7th – 8th – Opposition of Saturn – Saturn, Earth, and the Sun are essentially lined up, causing Saturn to rise at sunset, and set at sunrise, with best viewing around midnight.

17th – Just Barely Partial Lunar Eclipse – The Moon passes into the shadow that Earth is casting into the solar system, but only a little.  Times here are Eastern Daylight, so adjust for your location, assuming you are in the Americas, Africa, or Europe.  The penumbral stage will be almost not noticeable, however the hour of partiality will be.  At 10:12pm the Moon will start to graze the dark inner portion of the Earth’s shadow called the umbra.  About half an hour later it’ll be at maximum eclipse, with 8% of it covered up.  Another half hour later, the dark shadow will no longer be noticeable, and the moon will be in the penumbra until 12:47am.

8:41pm – Penumbral Eclipse Starts

10:12pm –  Partiality Starts

10:44pm – Maximum Eclipse (8%)

11:15pm – Partiality Ends

12:47pm – Penumbral Eclipse Ends

Naked-eye PLANETS

Sunset 

Venus – Venus is timidly maintaining its evening presence that’ll last until Mid-March, getting no more than 10° above the horizon.  It’ll be challenging, but possible, given its brightness.  Look WSW and low on the horizon, just after sunset.  Use these next 7 months and your telescope to watch Venus go through its phases.  It’s gibbous right now, will then go half, crescent, and then pass between the Sun and Earth in March. 

Middle of the night 

Saturn – In the beginning of the month, Saturn rises in the East around 8pm, earlier every day, until it is already up in the sky at sunset by month’s end.  Travels West throughout the night.  Sets at sunrise Sept 1, 6am on the 30th.

Morning

Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Mercury – Starting out the month, at sunrise, Jupiter and Mars are over 45° above the SE horizon, with Saturn far in the SW, 20° up the sky.  If you want to see Jupiter and Mars rise, go out around 1am and look E.  By the end of September, Mars and Jupiter rise closer to 10pm. At this point, Saturn will be almost setting around 4am in the W.  Oh, and let’s add Mercury to the list here, but only the first week of the month, where it’s about 15° above the Eastern horizon at sunrise.  Go out after 5:15am, look East, and see if you can find the dim planet.

Lunar Events

LUNAR CYCLE

Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)

New Moon – 3rd (darkest skies)

Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)

First Quarter Moon – 11th (Visible until midnight)

Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)

Full Moon – 17th (Visible all night)

Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)

Last Quarter Moon – 24th (Visible midnight into the morning)

LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS 

The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times. 

1st – VERY thin Waning Crescent Moon 4˚ left of Mercury, after 5:15am, low in East

5th – VERY thin Waxing Crescent just 6˚ left of Venus, after sunset & before 8:45pm, low in West

16th – Full Moon 5˚ to the right of Saturn, after 6:30pm, SE, moves West throughout the night

17th – Full Moon 10˚ to the left of Saturn, after 7:00pm, SE, moves West throughout the night

22nd – First encounter with the lineup of Mars, Jupiter, Taurus, & Pleiades.  Waning Gibbous right next to the Pleiades, after 9pm, and crosses through the Pleiades before dawn

23rd – Waning Gibbous Moon between the Pleiades and Jupiter, with Taurus just below,  after 10pm until dawn

24th – Last Quarter Moon 7˚ left of Jupiter, and 16˚ above Mars, after 10:30pm until dawn

25th – Waning Crescent Moon 5˚ above Mars, after 11:30pm until dawn, ENE

26th – Waning Crescent Moon 10˚ below and to the left of Mars,  after 12:30am until dawn, ENE

And that’s the sky for this month.  If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram.  Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies. 

Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission. 

End of podcast:

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