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Liverpool Astronomical Society News Page


Society News and Night Sky Notes - SEPTEMBER 1999

Lasted updated September 19th 1999.



Society News Headlines


  • 1st Sept - Saturn is 3° North of Moon.
  • 2nd Sept - Aldebaran 0.8° South of Moon.
  • 7th Sept - Venus 8° South of Moon.
  • 8th Sept - Regulus 1.1° South of Moon.
  • 8th Sept - Comet Temel II at Perihelion (1.482AU).
  • 9th Sept - Mercury at Superior Conjunction.
  • 10th Sept - Public Open Night at LAS Pex Hill Observatory. 7:30pm - 9:30pm.
  • 10th Sept - Horncastle Astronomy Weekend, Linconshire.(ends Sept 12th).
  • 11th Sept - Vesta 0.9° North of Moon.
  • 16th Sept - Comet Kearns-Kwee at Perihelion (2.339AU).
  • 16th Sept - Mars 3° North of Antares.
  • 17th Sept - LAS Presidental Address & Eclipse'99 reports, plus Cheese&Wine.7pm at RC Catheral, Crypt Concert Room.
  • 20th Sept - Neptune 0.7° South of Moon.
  • 21st Sept - Uranus 0.6° South of Moon.
  • 23rd Sept - NASA Mars Climate Orbiter reaches Mars Orbit.
  • 23rd Sept - Comet C/1999j3 (Linear) at Perihelion (1.148AU).
  • 23rd Sept - Autumn Equinox 23h:33m UT.
  • 24th Sept - Alston Hall Weekend - Developments in Telescope-Making & White-light Imaging.(Ends Sept 26th).
  • 24th Sept - Whirlpool Star Party, Birr Castle, County Offaly.
  • 25th Sept - Southampton A.S. 75th Anniversary Convention at The Univ of Southampton, 10:15 - 17:00.
  • 26th Sept - Venus at greatest brillancy.
  • 27th Sept - Jupiter 4° North of Moon.
  • 28th Sept - Saturn 3° North of Moon.
  • 30th Sept - Aldebaran 1° South of Moon.
  • 30th Sept - Mercury 1.7° North of Spica.

    • THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 1999

    Will it be cloudy to-night?, ask the The U.K. Goverment Met Office Weather service.
    To make your own star chart fo your location at any time, Click Here.


    and

    The Sun and Moon


    All times are in BRITISH SUMMER TIME (BST). Times For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.

    Latitude 53 degs 24 mins North.
    Longitude +3.0 degs West.

    
            3rd          8th         13th       18th       23rd        28th         3rd Oct
SUNRISE    06:24        06:33       06:42      06:50      06:59       07:08         07:17
SUNSET     19:57        19:45       19:33      19:21      19:09       19:57         18:45

    PHASES OF THE MOON DURING SEPTEMBER 1999
    FIRST QUARTER

    on 17th
    at 20h:07m     		FULL MOON

    on 25th
    at 11h:52m    		 LAST QUARTER

    on 2nd
    at 23h:18m    		 NEW MOON

    on 9th
    at 23h:03m

    AUTUMN EQUINOX - SEPTEMBER 23rd.


    The autumn equinox occurs on the 23rd. This is when the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading south towards the winter solstice in December. At this time, from any point on the Earth's Surface day and night are of Equal length.


    planets THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.

    mercury MERCURY.

    Mercury is at superior conjunction on the 8th and is there unobservable.

    venus VENUS.


    Venus very quickly becomes established in the morning sky passing through the constellation of Leo. On the evening of the 7th the Moon passes 7° North but by the time Venus has risen the following morning this distance will have widened a little. On the 9th look for the naked eye star Omicron Leonis a mere 11' to the North. Venus ' diameter decreases quite dramatically from over 50" on the 1st to 35" at the end of September as the planet heads away from us. As Venus moves around the back of the Sun as seen from the Earth its phase increases to 50% by the end of October and as more of the sunlit hemispere is turned towards the Earth the brightness correspondingly increases.

    mars MARS.


    Mars' elongation has dropped to under 90° so the effect of its phase is at its most noticeable now. By the end of the month Mars sets one and a half hours after the Sun does and is much fainter than it was at the end of April.

    MARSWATCH - latest observations of the red planet.

    ASTEROIDS.


  • 16 Pysche can be found in Capricornus st 10th Mag.
  • 198 Ampella can be found in Pegasus and is at opposistion on the 10th, also at 10th Mag.

    For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

    JUPITER.



    Drawing of Jupiter © Ken Clarke.

    Jupiter is nicely placed in the evening sky in the faint constellation of Pisces. On the 27th it is 4.5° North of the Moon and displays a 47" diameter disk.

    Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.

    SATURN.


    Saturn is now becoming visible in the South East late on in the evening. Its apparent diameter is 19".

    URANUS and neptune NEPTUNE.


    Both Outer planets are slightly past their best, are still available for viewing provided you know their exact locations. have a nice sky and have some kind of optical aid such as binoculars or preferably a telescope..

    Both can be found in the Capricornus, Uranus maybe found close to the naked eye star theta Capricorni, whilst Neptune lies close to Sigma Capricorni.

     
Uranus Positions for the 1st September:

                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      21h:06m:16s           -17°:20':15"                   23h:36m             5.7

    

    
Neptune Positions for the 1st September:

    


                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      20h:17m:02s           -19°:26':03"                   22h:47m             7.9

    PLUTO.


    Pluto is now not favourable for observations until next year.


    METEORS.


  • Alpha-Aurigids on Sept 15th ( 10per hour) Fairly favourable. Moon 6 days old.

  • Piscids on Sept 9th & 21st Double radiant-(8 per hour):
      9th - Favourable/MOON is NEW.
      21st - Unfavourable/MOON 11 days old.


    • comets COMETS.


  • Comet Tempel II at Perihelion on Sept 8th at (1.482AU).
  • Comet Kearns-Kwee at Perihelion on Sept 16th at (2.339AU).
  • Comet C/1999 J3 (Linear) at Perihelion on Sept 23rd at (1.148AU).

    Plus these pages will give daily and weekly reports of this and other Comets progress.

  • BAA Comet Section Home Page
  • Comet Web Sites.
  • NASA/JPL Comet Observations Home Page.
  • The Astronomer Comet Page.


    • occulationsOCCULATIONS.

  • Sept 23rd at 02h:17m:59s Disappearance of lota Aquarii
  • Sept 27th at 23h:09m:49s Reappearance of Zeta Aquarii
  • Sept 29th at 01h:45m:48m Reappearance of SAO93469


    August 1999 News and Sky Notes.

    October 1999 News and Sky Notes


    These pages are maintained by Gerard Gilligan.
    EMail: ggastro@liverpool.ac.uk.

    Return to the The Liverpool Astronomical Society Home Page.

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