Sep 02 We 1:22 Full Moon (Corn Moon)
Sep 10 Th 5:26 Last Quarter
Sep 11 Fr 15:15 Neptune Opposition
Sep 17 Th 7:00 New Moon
Sep 22 Tu 9:31 Autumnal Equinox
Sep 23 We 21:55 First Quarter
Mars watch: September 1 Mag. -1.81 @ 46 mil. miles - Rises @ 10:30 PM
September 30 Mag. -2.47 @ 39 mil. miles - Rises @ 8:20 PM
Mars will be in good observing range beginning in September, Working up to Opposition on October 13th. So get out and look.
Jupiter and Saturn are well up by dark.
Venus is a bright jewel in the eastern morning sky!
Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) Has left the building! (Mag. +8 or so).
If you are up before sunrise, look to the East/Southeast. The familiar constellations Orion and Gemini will greet you, warning us that something is coming. Do you know what?
Will really notice less and less daylight each day:
September 1st - sunrise 7:10am, sunset 8:14pm
September 30 - sunrise 7:37am, sunset 7:26pm
Oh, and Betelgeuse Is Dimming Again!
Celestron has a YouTube series of videos aimed at those that are new to amateur astronomy. Most of the videos are fairly short. Check them out.
In August we asked, "What comet is the source of the Perseid meteor shower?"
Answer: The periodic comet Swift-Tuttle which has an orbital period of 113 years.
September's Question: The tallest mountain in the solar system is 13.5 miles high. On which planet will you find it?
Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede is 26% larger than the planet Mercury though only 45% as massive.
You'll find several useful astronomy tools at the cleverly named Astronomy Tools website:
Astronomy ToolsOur September meeting will be a Zoom meeting at 7pm on Monday the 7th (Labor Day). Dr. Kaitchuck will give a presentation entitled "Next Month's Mars opposition".
Using Zoom is a learning process for all of us, and I'm making some minor changes for our next meeting that should make things go a little more smoothly. The main change that you'll likely notice is that you will no longer need to wait in the lobby and be let in. Instead, clicking the meeting link will take you directly into the meeting.
Here's the info for joining the meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85773443299?pwd=TG9Vbis4cGxsWXJDdVlWUlpwazVkQT09
Meeting ID: 857 7344 3299
Passcode: 078950
We've added a new feature to the newsletter this month called Beginners Corner. Here we'll answer questions from new comers to the amateur astronomy hobby. Check it out below.
Question: What is the importance of focal length, and how does it relate to different types of telescopes?