Jared May: What's Up, September 2 - September 9, 2021

What’s Up This First Week of September

As we slowly move towards fall, the days and nights will be cooling down and the fall constellations and deep-sky objects will appear higher in the sky with each passing day. This week Ohio may give us all a handful of clear nights! Once the sun has set (around 8:00 PM), the temperature will slowly drop into the lower 60s. So, despite the warm and humid days, it might be a good idea to pack a light jacket if you’re stargazing late into the night.

This week be on the lookout for the moon near a famous open cluster, low-hanging Venus next to Spica, Saturn and Jupiter high in the sky, and the rising Andromeda Galaxy. I will also include a section on how to use “clear sky charts”.

If you wake up early for work or find yourself outside before sunrise, you will see a thin waning crescent moon. Over the next few days, the moon will pass into its new moon phase. On September 2nd, the moon will be sitting roughly 10° above Messier Object 44, better known as the Beehive Cluster. On September 3rd the moon will have moved enough so that it sits just 4° north of the cluster. If you use binoculars or a telescope, the crescent moon will be a fantastic sight with deep craters easily visible along the terminus (where the light meets the dark on the lunar surface). With your binoculars, try spotting the Beehive. It will look like a dense collection of bright stars. This cluster consists of younger stars and sits 570 light-years away!

On the morning of September 2, the moon passes by “The Beehive” cluster in the constellation Cancer. This will be a wonderful view in Binoculars.

All week, just after sunset Venus will be shining bright and low in the western skies. Starting around 8:30 PM, a star will appear next to Venus – this is Spica. A view through a telescope may reveal what phase Venus is in (much like the phases of the moon).

Spica is the 16th brightest star in the sky, and it is not just a single star – it is two. Stars that form in pairs, called binary systems, are actually more common than just single, alone stars, like our sun. The binary stars of Spica orbit each other once every four days. Most binary stars have orbital periods of several years or decades. The stars of Spica are so close together than they cannot be discerned in a telescope as individual stars.

The brightest “Star” in the evening sky is (and will continue to be for three more months) Venus.

For the past several months, just after the sun has set, two very bright objects appear in the eastern skies. These two objects are Jupiter and Saturn, the brighter of the two being Jupiter. A pair of binoculars can resolve the four Galilean moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. A steady hand with the binoculars will also reveal the massive ring system of Saturn. If you have a telescope on hand, use a higher power eyepiece to see the red stripes in Jupiter’s atmosphere caused by its rapid rotation and try to spot the gap in Saturn’s rings (the Cassini Division).

As soon as it is dark, Jupiter and Venus are seen over the southeast horizon.

If you’re familiar with the night sky, you know that the Cassiopeia constellation hangs in the northeast skies in the evening hours at this time of year.

Nearby is the Andromeda constellation- which is home to the famous Andromeda Galaxy. This object, also called Messier 31, is visible to the naked eye in very dark locations (like JGAP) but a pair of binoculars or a telescope will reveal more features. The Andromeda Galaxy is more of a winter and fall “target” for stargazers and astrophotographers, and we are on fall’s doorstep. This galaxy is home to roughly 1 trillion stars and will collide with our galaxy in about 4 billion years.

A photographic view of the closest large galaxy to the Milky-Way- The Andromeda Galaxy.

For stargazing or astrophotography to happen, there needs to be a clear night. If you live in Ohio, you know that clear nights are somewhat of a scarce commodity. In fact, Ohio only sees 173 clear days per year (as compared to the US average of 205 clear days). Many tools can be used to track when the next clear night will be and how clear it actually is. One of the best resources for this is called the Clear Sky Chart (https://www.cleardarksky.com/c/JGAPOHkey.html - for JGAP). This colorful chart shows the cloud coverage, transparency, seeing, and overall darkness (it also includes things like smoke, wind, and more). Each of these “sky clearness components” can affect what stargazers or telescope users can see on a given night. The website also provides a handy description and legend of how the components can affect your night-sky viewing.

JGAP’s website also has a link to the clear sky prediction for JGAP:

jgap.org

Since the upcoming nights will be cool, comfortable, and most importantly clear, bring your binoculars or telescope outside to explore the cosmos. This week try spotting the crescent moon nearing the Beehive Cluster, Venus next to an interesting double star, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Andromeda Galaxy. Use the Clear Sky Chart to plan your next stargazing session out in your backyard or at the John Glenn Astronomy Park.

Clear Skies!