{"id":63961,"date":"2024-09-30T13:05:06","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T13:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/7b07ea52-6b8c-4fb0-98d0-dce6e1ebe481"},"modified":"2024-09-30T13:39:41","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T13:39:41","slug":"comet-a3-planets-star-patterns-and-the-deep-sky-best-things-to-see-in-the-southern-hemisphere-sky-this-month","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/comet-a3-planets-star-patterns-and-the-deep-sky-best-things-to-see-in-the-southern-hemisphere-sky-this-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Comet A3, planets, star patterns and the deep-sky. Best things to see in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Find out what’s in the night sky tonight from your Southern Hemisphere location. <\/p>

By Glenn Dawes\n <\/p>

Published: Monday, 30 September 2024 at 13:05 PM<\/p>

\n\n

If you’re based in the Southern Hemisphere and want to know what you can see in the night sky tonight, this page is for you.<\/p>

Our monthly-updated night-sky guide will show you what you can see in the Southern Hemisphere over the coming weeks.<\/p>

We’ll include monthly highlights, stars, constellations, planets and deep-sky objects.<\/p>

For more advice, read our guides to Southern Hemipshere stargazing<\/a> and the best night-sky targets to see in Australia<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Highlights<\/strong><\/h2>
Comet C\/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) captured by Jos\u00e9 J. Chambo, remotely from Hakos Farm, Namibia, 26 June 2024, 18:03 UTC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Comet C\/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan\u2013ATLAS), having reached perihelion in late September, starts October low in the eastern dawn sky, possibly at third magnitude and a binocular possibility.<\/p>
Moving into the evening, one hour after sunset, from mid-\u200blatitude Australia, C\/2023 A3 is around 5\u00b0 above the western horizon on 15 October.<\/p>
The 20th sees it at 13\u00b0 and it closes the month at 20\u00b0, when it may still be sixth magnitude. Sadly, the Moon will interfere in the first half of October.<\/p>
Stars and constellations<\/strong><\/h2>
While in winter in the south we saw the brilliant Milky Way, now the south presents a bleaker vista.<\/p>
There are few bright stars, with the region unknown (below the horizon) to the ancient Middle Easterners who assigned the stars their mythologies.<\/p>
Today, much more recent constellations are named after scientific instruments, birds and some oddballs.<\/p>
Just south of Grus, examples include Tucana the Toucan, Indus the Indian and Pavo the Peacock.<\/p>
The Planets<\/strong><\/h2>
The early western evening sky sees brilliant Venus still dominating, with Saturn transiting (due north) around 20:00 mid-month.<\/p>
Neptune follows an hour later.<\/p>
Mercury rises quickly out of the solar glow and sets around the end of twilight at month\u2019s end.<\/p>
Uranus is now rising in the early evening, with Jupiter following 2 hours later. This gas giant is best observed in the morning, allowing it time to gain altitude.<\/p>
Mars arrives in the early morning and will look good in the predawn northeastern sky.<\/p>
$\"Saturn$
Saturn by Tom Bishton, Brisbane, Australia. Equipment: Celestron CPC GPS 800 telecsope, Celestron Neximage 5, 2x barlow lens<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Deep-sky<\/strong><\/h2>
This month, we visit Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, starting from brilliant mag. +1.1 Fomalhaut (Alpha (\u03b1) Piscis Austrini).<\/p>
Moving 3\u00b0 south finds the naked-eye Delta (\u03b4) Piscis Austrini (RA 22h 55.9m, dec. \u201332\u00b0 32\u2019).<\/p>
This yellow double star has mag. +4.2 and +9.2 components a tight 5.2 arcseconds apart.<\/p>
From Delta, move 5\u00b0 west to find Beta (\u03b2) Piscis Austrini, which has a mag. +4.3 primary with an obvious, yellow mag. +7.8 companion 30 arcseconds away.<\/p>
Returning to Delta, 0.8\u00b0 westward is Gamma (\u03b3) Piscis Austrini, comprising mag. +4.5 and +8.1 components just 4.3 arcseconds apart.<\/p>
From Gamma, move 1.5\u00b0 southeast to discover the galaxy IC 5271 (RA 22h 58.0m, dec. \u201333\u00b0 45\u2019). At mag. +11.3, this spiral has a faint oval halo (2 x 1 arcseconds) with a wide, bright 1-arcsecond-wide circular core.<\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Charts<\/strong><\/h2>
Access this month’s and all previous star charts for the Southern Hemisphere by clicking on the links below.<\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart October 2024 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart September 2024 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart August 2024 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart July 2024 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart June 2024 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart May 2024 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart April 2024 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart March 2024 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart February 2024 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart January 2024 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart December 2023 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart November 2023 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Southern Hemisphere Star Chart October 2023 (PDF)<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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