{"id":36407,"date":"2022-09-11T07:03:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-11T07:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=111617"},"modified":"2022-09-11T07:19:09","modified_gmt":"2022-09-11T07:19:09","slug":"star-diary-12-to-18-september-2022","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/star-diary-12-to-18-september-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Diary: 12 to 18 September, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Ezzy Pearson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 11 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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What\u2019s in the night sky in the week of 12th to 18 September, 2022.<\/p>\n\n

Chris Bramley<\/strong>\u00a0Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at night Magazine. You can subscribe to the print edition of the magazine by visiting sky online at skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a> or digital edition by visiting on iTunes or Google Play.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Greetings, listeners, and welcome to Star Diary, a weekly guide to the best things to see in the northern hemisphere\u2019s Night Sky. In this episode, we\u2019ll be covering the coming week from 12th to 18th of September. I\u2019m Ezzy Pearson, the magazine\u2019s features editor, and I\u2019m joined on the podcast today by reviews editor Paul Money. Hello, Paul.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Hello there Ezzy. This is a really interesting week, you know. Really good.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. Oh, well, then, without further ado, please do tell us what we\u2019ve got coming up in our night skies.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Well, for his first start, the first two days, 12th and 13th, there\u2019s nothing happening. Here we start off with it\u2019s an interesting week and that is that the first two days is actually not very good.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s giving you a break to get ready.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Exactly. They\u2019ve got to get ready because on the evening of September 14th, we\u2019ve got one of those wow events well worth trying for, depending on even even if you\u2019re a beginner. Have a look. Because the Moon occults<\/a> the planet Uranus<\/a>. Now, these don\u2019t happen often. So, you know, this is one of those times where it all works together, sort of thing. Some occur when the Moon\u2019s below the horizon and Uranus below the horizon so it doesn\u2019t work for us, but for the UK we actually do get to see this one. You need to be looking from about 10:30 p.m. until about 11:20 for the reappearance. Now, the disappearance of the planet is actually on the bright limb and that always causes problems. Visually, I mean, you\u2019ve got to remember that Uranus is magnitude +5.7. The Moon minus\u2026 it\u2019s about -12,\u00a0 if I remember? Yeah. Pretty bright.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Slight brightness difference there.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Tis a challenge, isn\u2019t it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we\u2019re up for challenges at the magazine. We like our challenges.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Absolutely.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>So, so but it\u2019s worth doing because you see a planet and the thing about stars, when they\u2019re coated, they go out straight away. They\u2019re a pinpoint source. Uranus, I mean, Pete\u2019s got a really good article about this in actual fact in the Sky at Magazine for September. And he actually points out that the disc in about 3.7 arcseconds in diameter, takes about 8 seconds for it to disappear. I mean, 8 seconds is almost an eternity. It\u2019s an eternity Ezzy. you know, it\u2019ll feel like it slightly. But I\u2019ll tell you what those 8 seconds will flash by when you\u2019re trying to image it.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>So, no, it\u2019s a it\u2019s a planet, not a star, because they just, like, blink out.<\/p>\n

Paul<\/strong>\u00a0Exactly. This is the point. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so different and so rare. We don\u2019t have many of these come along. So, you know, it\u2019s well worth having a go at. So you will need a telescope for this. And to be honest, you will ideally need high magnification so you can at least see something of a disc of the planet. But it\u2019ll still be interesting to follow it and see as the Moon creeps up towards Uranus and then begins to cover it. Now it\u2019ll be interesting if anybody does observe it sort of thing, you know, will we be trying and I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll be trying as well. You know, cloud permitting, the usual caveat. There is an unusual thing, and I can understand why Pete didn\u2019t mention it is that, of course there is the moons of Uranus now because the moon is so bright. My suspicion is that they will be to faint. They\u2019ll be swamped by the moonlight. But yeah, I\u2019ll be looking out for them just in case you never know. And if you\u2019re imaging, you\u2019d throw the gain up really high just to see if you picked them out. So you never know, you might pick them out as well. But the main event is this rather unusual occultation of Uranus. So this is on 14th September between 10:30 and 11:20. So do have a go at trying to find this sort of thing because I think I mean, seen again, Solar System in motion, isn\u2019t it? We\u2019re seeing the moon, moving against the background stars and in this case, a planet as well as a bonus. There we are. Now moving on, September 15th. The Moon, of course, is moving along. And any surprise\u2026 That was September 14th. Literally, it\u2019s about 15 degrees further across the sky, the Moon, from Uranus. So Uranus, as I mentioned the other week in actual fact is almost level as it rises in about 10:00 with the Pleiades star cluster<\/a> the Pleiades and Uranus are getting into the evening sky now, a lot easier to see. So 10:00 as seen here. And we\u2019ve got Mars<\/a> in Taurus<\/a> as well. So the Moon on the 15th lies below Messier 45, the Pleiades star cluster. Then on the late evening of the 16th, it actually lies above Mars. So there we are. So we\u2019ve gone from Uranus to the Moon, passing the Pleiades to the Moon, actually passing being above Mars. And Mars will be quite bright. It is heading towards opposition and so\u2026 And it\u2019ll be quite bright. So another star, like another star below the Moon and that\u2019s no star, it\u2019s the planet Mars instead sort of thing. So I\u2019ve been observing it recently and I\u2019ve been quite impressed. I mean, there\u2019s not a lot of data, it\u2019s a small disc. And so, you know, but it\u2019s nice to see it back in the sky. And when it does get higher up, if you if you want to leave it for a few hours, it gets quite high up in the sky now. And so but it\u2019s a colour, you know, that gorgeous orangey, red, you can understand why they thought it was like a piece of fire in the sky itself, sort of thing. So there we are. And it\u2019s in Taurus. I mean, how easy is it to find Taurus? It\u2019s an easy constellation for a start, and it\u2019s got Mars passing through it. Okay. The next, even in the 16th, is also opposition day for Neptune. So we had Juno the other week and this is an interesting fact that when you have an opposition say, we mentioned Juno last week and Neptune<\/a> is to the east of it and it doesn\u2019t take many days before with then opposition for Neptune. So this said be Neptune magnitude 7.8. So it\u2019s now visible all night, it lies in Aquarius, but only just and I say\u2026 It\u2019s a good guide actually, because the Circlet Star Asterism of Pisces is above it, is north of it. And of course, if you can\u2019t find that, well, you\u2019ve got this bright planet called Jupiter to the left. And so there we are. So as a minor planet, Juno is still also to the right. So you\u2019ve got Juno, you\u2019ve got Neptune and you\u2019ve got Jupiter as well. And I say Neptune is now visible. I love it when it gets to this point whereby it\u2019s actually visible throughout the whole night because it becomes easy to see for me from my back garden, because I\u2019ve so much in the way in the sort of thing initially. So they are the September the 16th. Now. Some week\u2019s are a bit shorter than others because there\u2019s not as much happening. We stick with the Moon. But finally, the Moon lies between the actual horns of Taurus. It forms a shallow triangle also, and it of course is now getting a thinner crescent. So it\u2019s heading towards the horizon is getting lower and lower in the sky. And on the 17th it\u2019s actually a last quarter, so it looks like a half phase. So there are the moon\u2019s rising around about 11:00. It will be above the horizon, north east end in the horns of Taurus and Mars will be off to its right as well. So, you know, we have a sequence where we\u2019ve had the Moon going past several objects to finish off the week, but it\u2019s always well worth having a look at and I wonder how many people look at the late night Moon. I do. Sometimes people say, you know where I\u2019m sure the Moon after it\u2019s full, I don\u2019t see it? Well, that\u2019s because you\u2019ve gone to bed. Yeah. You know, that\u2019s that\u2019s the clue, because normal people go to bed, you know, they spend the night asleep. The normal thing. The sensible thing. What do we astronomers do? We stay up! Mind you, we like to sleep during the day, which is alright if you haven\u2019t got a job, I mean our job sort of thing, you know we, we can mix and match a little bit can\u2019t we? We can actually observe because we can put the excuse to our editor. Well we\u2019re doing this for the magazine.<\/p>\n

Ezzy<\/strong>\u00a0I was working last night at 2 a.m. in the morning.<\/p>\n

Paul<\/strong>\u00a0Yes, exactly. So that\u2019s our excuse Ezzy and we\u2019ll stick to it but\u2026 So I mean you\u2019ve not just got the last quarter moon sort of thing you know. It\u2019s one of the things last quarter moon and the first quarter moon it\u2019s a lot harder to see the Earthshine, but it isn\u2019t impossible. Because what you get is a very faint hint of the other off the Moon. So have a look at that as well. So there we are. That\u2019s the end of the week and another sequence of events.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Well, it certainly sounds like this week is going to be a showcase for the outer planets. We\u2019ve got the occultation of Uranus by the Moon, and that\u2019s happening on the 14th of September. That one\u2019s going to be really interesting if you can try and see it. So make sure you pick up the magazine, which will tell you how to go about doing that in a lot more detail. And of course Neptune will be an opposition on the 16th of September. So be sure to get your telescope out for both of those. And if you want to keep up to date with all the best things to see in the night sky every week be sure to subscribe to the Star Diary podcast<\/a> and we\u2019ll see you here next week.<\/p>\n

Ezzy<\/strong>\u00a0If you want to find out even more spectacular sites that will be gracing the night sky throughout the month. Be sure to pick up a copy of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. Well, we have a 16 page Pull out Sky guide with a full overview of everything worth looking out for. Whether you like to look at the moon, the planets, or the deep sky, whether you use binoculars, telescopes on neither our sky guide has got you covered with the detailed star charts to help you track your way across the night sky from all of us here at BBC Sky and Night Magazine. Goodbye.<\/p>\n

Chris <\/strong>Thank you for listening to this episode of Star Diary, our podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. For more of our podcasts, visit our website at www.skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a> or head to iTunes or Spotify.<\/p>\n

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