Event Date: September 11th
Time: 10:00 PM
Brief
When we get into the fall months, particularly the later weeks, the Winter Circle dominates the eastern sky as a large asterism made up of many 1st magnitude stars--or brighter! As the case with all stars, the circle's rise four minutes earlier each day. Of course, when daylight savings ends in early November, it becomes according to our clocks, just under 64 minutes earlier for that one evening. This means with the earlier Sunset, which is already happening quickly, we will see these stars for a much longer time in the sky.
Seen below, we see the stars in the east, as well as the trio of solar system bodies featured yesterday: Jupiter, Venus and finally, the Moon nearing on Venus separation-wise. The celestial equator and grid are shown to show the declination differences for the planets and stars.
Time: 10:00 PM
Brief
When we get into the fall months, particularly the later weeks, the Winter Circle dominates the eastern sky as a large asterism made up of many 1st magnitude stars--or brighter! As the case with all stars, the circle's rise four minutes earlier each day. Of course, when daylight savings ends in early November, it becomes according to our clocks, just under 64 minutes earlier for that one evening. This means with the earlier Sunset, which is already happening quickly, we will see these stars for a much longer time in the sky.
Seen below, we see the stars in the east, as well as the trio of solar system bodies featured yesterday: Jupiter, Venus and finally, the Moon nearing on Venus separation-wise. The celestial equator and grid are shown to show the declination differences for the planets and stars.
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| click on image to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp. |
Detailed
In the past, we have looked at the circle, planets, Moon all grid-free. Now, not only do the planets and Moon add to the bright "open cluster" of stars (yes, very open by appearance, being an asterism!), we can see from their declinations how long we may see them in the sky. Capella is the most northern of the bunch, with Castor and Pollux to follow; Castor being a little more so. Sirius is the most southern of the bunch. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, Sirius is also the last to rise, yet among the first to set. The other labeled stars above, along with the planets, are in between declination-wise. Use the lines to compare, and from our 38ºN location, what does it tell you about which ones rise first? Last? The same for setting, as the gridlines' visibility above the horizon tells us something. Although not shown, the gridline just north of Capella shown here, being 50º, has stars at that declination nearly circumpolar.
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