Actual Astronomy - Observer’s Calendar For September
The 365 Days of Astronomy
Intro
This chapter highlights the Origids meteor shower and its historical link to Comet Keiss, encouraging stargazers to appreciate lesser-known celestial events. The hosts also discuss the visibility of Venus near the Beehive Cluster as a promising sight for observers in early September.
Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan. actualastronomy@gmail.com
- Sept 1 - Aurigids ZHR=10 related to Comet Keiss
The comet was discovered by Carl Clarence Kiess at Lick Observatory on a photographic plate obtained in the morning hours of 6 July 1911 with the Crocker photographic telescope. The comet appeared as a distorted nebulous object with a short tail. The presence of the comet was confirmed visually the next day. The comet had a well condensed nucleus and a faint tail. In photographs the tail was four degrees long. The comet then was of seventh magnitude and moving southwards. A preliminary orbit suggested the comet was past its perihelion upon discovery and it was calculated that it would approach Earth at a distance of 0.27 AU (40 million km; 25 million mi) on 20 August. On 19 August the comet was reported to be visible with the naked eye, peaking at an estimated apparent magnitude of 5.
The comet had been suggested in 1911 to be the return of comet C/1790 A1 (Herschel), also known by its old designation, 1790 I.However, further calculations revealed that the orbit of comet Kiess had an eccentricity too high for an orbital period of 122 years, with the orbit calculated by Louis Lindsey in 1932 indicating an orbital period of 1,903 years.
- Venus 1.5° from Beehive in morning sky
- Sept 5 - Wargentin Pancake Visible - Bottom left of Moon
- Sept 7 - Full Moon & Lunar Eclipse - Can’t see it here but Central to West Au and centered on India.
- Sept 8 - Saturn, Neptune & Moon congregate in late evening sky
- Sept 11 - Carbon Star R Fornacis best tonight
- Sept 12 - Moon 1° North of Pleiades
- Sept 14 - Last quarter Moon
NGC 7552 well placed tonight
- Sept 15 - Lunar Curtis X Visible
Zodiacal light visible in Eastern morning sky next two weeks
- Sept 16 - Jupiter South of Moon
- Sept 17 - Follow Capella unaided eye into daylight this week.
- Sept 19 - Regulus, Venus & Moon form a tight triangle in early morning sky. Moon Occults Venus at 7am est.
- Sept 21 - Saturn at opposition
Partial Solar Eclipse
- Sept 22 - Fall Equinox and Gegenshein visible from dark sites, high in S at midnight
- Sept 23 - Neptune at Opposition
- Sept 25 - Comet 414P visible this morning Faint?
- Sept 26 - Carbon Star R Leporis best tonight
- Sept 29 - Last Quarter and Maginus Ray feature visible on Moon
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