Credit: Nigel Henbest/Philip's
Credit: Nigel Henbest/Philip's
Mars passes through Gemini to Taurus during the month, gliding below the pretty star cluster M35 (also known as NGC 2168 or the Shoe-Buckle Cluster) in Gemini, look E to SE.
If the sky is clear on 18 September, a partial lunar eclipse will occur during the night, which is when the Moon passes through a section of the Earth’s shadow.
The partial lunar eclipse will begin at 3.14am, when the Moon begins to enter Earth’s umbra (the darkest part of Earth's shadow) and will end at 4.16am when the Moon is outside the umbra. During its maximum at 3.45am, 3.5% of the Moon’s disk will be in shadow.
Late at night on September 25, 26 and 27, 2021, watch as the waning gibbous moon sweeps in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull. You’ll be looking at late evening, or not much before midnight. The bright moon might make it tough to see the starlit figure of the Bull on these nights. But you should be able to make out Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest star, as well as the tiny, misty, dipper-shaped Pleiades star cluster.
Then, when the moon moves away, look for the V-shaped Face of the Bull itself. The bright star Aldebaran marks one tip of the V.
Taurus is a far-northern constellation of the zodiac. That fact causes these stars to rise at an earlier hour in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. The farther north you live, the earlier Taurus climbs above your northeast horizon. The farther south you live, the later Taurus comes up.
The Pleiades also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, is an asterism of an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the northwest of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of about 444 light-years, it is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and the nearest Messier object to Earth, being the most obvious star cluster to the naked eye in the night sky. It is also observed to house the reflection nebula NGC 1432, an HII region.
Credit: EarthSky.com
The constellation Leo is now in the south-eastern sky in the evening. One of the few constellations that genuinely resembles its name, it looks likes one of the Lions in Trafalger Square, with its main and head forming an arc (called the Sickle) to the upper right, with Regulus in the position of its right knee. Regulus is a blue-white star, five times bigger than the sun at a distance of 90 light years. It shines at magnitude 1.4. Algieba, which forms the base of the neck, is the second brightest star in Leo at magnitude 1.9. With a telescope it resolves into one of the most magnificent double stars in the sky - a pair of golden yellow stars! They orbit their common centre of gravity every 600 years. This lovely pair of orange giants are 170 light years away.
Leo also hosts two pairs of Messier galaxies which lie beneath its belly. The first pair lie about 9 degrees to the west of Regulus and comprise M95 (to the east) and M96. They are almost exactly at the same declination as Regulus so, using an equatorial mount, centre on Regulus, lock the declination axis and sweep towards the west 9 degrees. They are both close to 9th magnitude and may bee seen together with a telescope at low power or individually at higher powers. M65 is a type Sa spiral lying at a distance of 35 millin klight years and M66, considerably bigger than M65, is of type Sb. Type Sa spirals have large nuclei and very tightly wound spiral arms whilst as one moves through type Sb to Sc, the nucleus becomes smaller and the arms more open.
The second pair of galaxies, M95 and M96, lie a further 7 degrees to the west between the stars Upsilon and Iota Leonis. M95 is a barred spiral of type SBb. It lies at a distance of 38 million light years and is magnitude 9.7. M96, a type Sa galaxy, is slightly further away at 41 million light years, but a little brighter with a magnitude of 9.2. Both are members of the Leo I group of galaxies and are visible together with a telescope at low power.
There is a further ~9th magnitude galaxy in Leo which, surprisingly, is in neither the Messier or Caldwell catalogues. It lies a little below lambda Leonis and was discovered by William Herschel. No 2903 in the New General Catalogue, it is a beautiful type Sb galaxy which is seen at somewhat of an oblique angle. It lies at a distance of 20.5 million light years.
M35 is an open star cluster comprising several hundred stars around a hundred of which are brighter than magnitude 13 and so will be seen under dark skies with a relativly small telescope. It is easily spotted with binoculars close to the "foot" of the upper right twin. A small telescope at low power using a wide field eyepiece will show it at its best. Those using larger telescopes - say 8 to 10 inches - will spot a smaller compact cluster NGC 2158 close by. NGC 2158 is four times more distant that M35 and ten times older, so the hotter blue stars will have reached the end of their lives leaving only the longer-lived yellow stars like our Sun to dominate its light.
To the lower right of the constellation lies the Planetary Nebula NGC2392. As the Hubble Space Telescope image shows, it resembles a head surrounded by the fur collar of a parka hood - hence its other name The Eskimo Nebula. The white dwarf remnant is seen at the centre of the "head". The Nebula was discovered by William Herschel in 1787. It lies about 5000 light years away from us.
The stars of the Plough, shown linked by the thicker lines in the chart, form one of the most recognised star patterns in the sky. Also called the Big Dipper, after the soup ladles used by farmer's wives in America to serve soup to the farm workers at lunchtime, it forms part of the Great Bear constellation - not quite so easy to make out! The stars Merak and Dubhe form the pointers which will lead you to the Pole Star, and hence find North. The stars Alcor and Mizar form a naked eye double which repays observation in a small telescope as Mizar is then shown to be an easily resolved double star. A fainter reddish star forms a triangle with Alcor and Mizar.
Ursa Major contains many interesting "deep sky" objects. The brightest, listed in Messier's Catalogue, are shown on the chart, but there are many fainter galaxies in the region too. In the upper right of the constellation are a pair of interacting galaxies M81 and M82 shown in the image below. M82 is undergoing a major burst of star formation and hence called a "starburst galaxy". They can be seen together using a low power eyepiece on a small telescope.
As an evening star, Mercury appears in the western sky and sets about an hour after the sun does. As a morning star, it appears in the eastern sky, rising about an hour before the sun. There must be a clear, unobstructed horizon on these occasions.
This will be another "off" year for Mars, as for much of 2024 it will appear relatively dim while dawdling in the morning sky. Mars will actually be invisible for the first 10 days of the new year, too deeply immersed in the bright dawn twilight to be seen.
Always brilliant, and shining with a steady, silvery light, you can catch Venus during mornings in the eastern sky at dawn from Jan. 1 to April 8; evenings in the western sky at dusk from July 30 to Dec. 31
Jupiter will be quite brilliant with a silver-white luster in 2024. It starts the year in the constellation Aries the Ram, then crosses over into Taurus the Bull on April 28 where it will remain for the balance of the year.
During evenings from Jan. 1 to April 26, it'll shine brightly, as well as during mornings from June 8 to Dec. 6. Evening viewing will be optimal again from Dec. 7 to December 31.
Saturn shines like a yellowish-white "star" of moderate brightness. The famous rings, however, are only visible in a telescope.
The rings were at their maximum tilt toward Earth in Oct. 2017, but are now rapidly closing to our line of sight. They will turn edge-on to the Earth during the spring of 2025. The process will begin in 2024 within the boundaries of the constellation Aquarius, the Water Carrier, and the planet will remain there for the rest of the year.
You can catch Saturn during evenings from Jan. 1 to Feb. 11, mornings from March 17 to Sept. 7, then evenings again from Sept. 8 to Dec. 31. Saturn's brightest in 2024 will fall between Aug. 25 to Oct. 1. Saturn will be in opposition to the sun on Sept. 8. Saturn and Venus will appear dramatically close to each other (with Saturn just 0.2-degree S) on the morning of March 21 and will be 0.4-degree S of Mars on April 10.
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