SKY REPORT Although it began Monday – you can catch this all week, Venus & Saturn are making their appearance at dusk. In the southwest sky appearing as if the brightest star will be Venus and next to Venus, though some binoculars may be needed, will be Saturn. As they are following close to the Sun, they will sink below the horizon about an hour after the Sun, so be sure to catch them in time! Here’s the really cool part – even the smallest of backyard telescopes should find Saturn’s majestic rings and perhaps even some of its brighter moons such as Titan or Enceladus. On Wednesday, the harvest moon makes its debut. Watch it rise soon after sunset on the 18th and when 7:13 comes, it will have reached “official full-moon status’. Keep out the telescope and you should be able to spy the many craters and patches that are darker in nature. Some should be visible by the naked eye. The full moon that appears the closest to the fall equinox is called the Harvest Moon. It is believed that the phrase ‘Harvest Moon’ was coined in New Hampshire due to the extra light it offered so they might capture their crops in the early evening. ALL NIGHT – THURSDAY! The 19th brings the seventh planet from the Sun, better known as Uranus, to a spot next to the moon. The green colored ice giant is far away (1.9 million miles). Having a width that is 4 times the width of Earth, you should be good if the sky is dark enough and the nearby moon chips in some light look for the tiny greenish-blue dot and if you have binoculars or a telescope. FYI-the absorption of red light by methane in Uranus’ atmosphere is what gives it the greenish-blue color.
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 23:28:22 +0000
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