NASA Skywatching Tips: Pay Attention to the Night Sky This September, Interesting Things Are Happening
This month seems to be rewarding skywatchers with a full range of binoculars and telescope sights for the time being. Throughout September, exciting cosmic events will take place and can be seen on the horizon, according to NASA. The space agency says in its monthly update, astronomers and space enthusiasts will have to prepare earlier than Mercury, the smallest object planet in the Solar System will appear low in the west shortly, about half an hour after sunset. Because Mercury is so small, only slightly larger than Earth’s Moon, and so close to the Sun, it is difficult to see with the naked eye.
There’s more. A clear view of the horizon will provide some spectacular planetary groups in the first half of this month. Mercury will stay on the horizon longer, before it sets, if you are observing it from further south. Once you’ve found Mercury, turn a little south for a much brighter Venus, which is also closest to Earth. planet neighbor. On the 9th and 10th, the couple will be joined by the Crescent Moon.
All of this and more “sky-watching tips” were shared by NASA in an Instagram post.
Between the two planets will be the bright star Spica. Two other bright stars that can be easily spotted in the early evenings throughout September are Arcturus, the brightest orange star in the northern sky, and Altair, the bright white star that hangs just above Saturn. month. The Altair rotated so fast, it flattened it into an oval.
To easily find Arcturus in the night sky, first look for the Big Dipper or the “Plow”, known as the constellation Saptarishi in ancient Indian astronomy. Follow its arc, handle, south and the bright star there will be Arcturus.
“Just 37 light-years from our Solar System, Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern sky,” NASA said.
Compared to other stars, Arcturus moves very quickly relative to our Solar System. Before this interesting aspect of star motion was discovered, it was assumed that the positions of stars were fixed. Edmund Halley discovered for the first time that stars move around as independent objects.
On September 16, the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter will be close together. The September equinox will occur on the 22nd of this month when the Sun will be exactly above the Earth’s equator, so night and day will have the same time period.
