* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: September 2007

Blobrana · L

Mercury: at magnitude -1.0, starts the month in the constellation Leo. The Moon is close to Mercury, -0.1mag Separation=2.80°, on the 13th. The planet is at aphelion (distance to sun: 0.467 AU) on the 17th; And at Greatest Elongation on the 29th. Mercury is close to the star Spica: only 4.9' separated, on the 22nd.
(On August 1st, RA= 7h40m08s Dec=+21°38.7' (J2000) Distance=1.140AU Elongation= 15° Phase k=75% Diameter=5.9")

Venus: is an evening morning star of magnitude -4.3, The planet is in constellation Cancer at the start of the month. Venus is Stationary: Getting Prograde, on the 7th. It is best seen from 4.9h -18.4h UT. The Moon is close to Venus, -4.5mag Separation=8.5°, on the 9th.
(On September 1st, RA= 9h10m36s Dec= +8°02.6' (J2000) Distance=0.315AU Elongation= 22° Phase k=7% Diameter=53.0")


	Moon Phase Now!

Earth: Autumn Equinox on 23rd September 10:51.2 UT . On September 11, a partial solar eclipse is visible from South America.

The Moon is at Perigee on the 28th September 03:01.2 UT, and at apogee on the 15th, at 22:13.3 UT. The Moon is 5.7° from Antares on the 18th. The Moon is 1.2 degrees north of the Pleiades cluster (M45) in Taurus at 8:00 UT, 3rd.

Mars: at magnitude 0.3 starts the month in the constellation Taurus. The Moon is close to Mars, 0.2mag Separation=6.8°, on the 4th. The planet is best seen from 23.2h - 5.6h UT.
(On September 1st, RA= 4h58m23s Dec=+21°57.4' (J2000) Distance=1.145AU Elongation= 83° Phase k=85% Diameter=8.2")

Jupiter: is still bright at magnitude -2.2 in the constellation Ophiuchus and close to the bright star, Antares. The planet is best seen from 20.0h -22.8h. The Moon is close to Jupiter, -2.1mag Separation=7.2°, on the 18th.
(On September 1st, RA=16h37m12s Dec=-21°38.6' (J2000) Distance=5.159AU Elongation= 92°)
The planet Jupiter is a source of huge radio storms. Click the link to hear the live audio stream.
The radio outbursts are in the frequency range 18 - 32 MHz. Sensitive receivers translate Jupiter's radio waves to audio sounds.
For alternative listening site.
for Great RedSpot Transit times.
Check forum for Satellite predictions.

Saturn: at magnitude 0.6 sits in the constellation Leo. The Moon is close to Saturn, 0.6mag Separation=2.1°, on the 10th.
The planet is best seen from 5.4h - 5.6h UT.
(On September 1st, RA=10h09m09s Dec=+12°46.8' (J2000) Distance=10.232AU Elongation= 9°)
click here! for interactive Saturn moon calculator .

Uranus is in the constellation Aquarius, near Lambda Aquarii, magnitude 3.7. Uranus at magnitude 5.7, has a bluish-green hue and appears 3.7 arcseconds wide. On the 9th September Uranus is at opposition. The planet is best seen from 21.4h - 4.8h UT.
This month the planet is located 1.5 degrees away from the 4th magnitude star Phi Aquarii.
(On September 1st, RA=23h13m06s Dec= -5°54.9' (J2000) Distance=19.093AU Elongation=172°)

Neptune: in the constellation Capricornus less than 3 degrees northeast of the 4.3 mag star Iota Capricornii. A telescope will usually show a tiny bluish dot, only 2.5 arcseconds wide (mag 8.0). Neptune is best seen from 23.0h - 0.8h UT. The Moon is close to Neptune, 7.9mag Separation=2.15°, on the 23th.
(On September 1st, RA=21h30m02s Dec=-15°04.7' (J2000) Distance=29.089AU Elongation=161°)

Pluto is in the constellation Sagittarius (mag 13.9) is not visible in the southern sky this month. Normally, a finder chart is necessary to help in identifying the 0.1" diameter dwarf planet. On the 19th June the planet was at opposition . The dwarf planet is best seen from 22.2h - 4.0h UT.
(On September 1st, RA=17h44m15s Dec=-16°38.3' (J2000) Distance=31.024AU Elongation=107°)

The Sun enters the zodiac sign Libra on the 23rd September, 10:51 UT.

Asteroid 4 Vesta, at magnitude 7.2, passes close toJupiter in the constellation Ophiuchus. Best seen from 19.2h -21.1h
(On September 1st, RA=16h39m48.9s Dec=-21°27'40" , Distance to Sun=2.168AU Distance to Earth=1.874AU, hourly motion: dRA= 46.0"/h dDec=-13.9"/h )

Blobrana · L

Sep ?? - Cosmos-Oko N88 Molniya M Launch
Sep ?? - Sumbandila/ Vulcan/Compass 3 (2N)
Sep 01 - MESSENGER at Perihelion (0.33 AU)
Sep 01 - Aurigid Meteor Shower Peak
Sep 01 - Asteroid 115 Thyra At Opposition (9.9 Magnitude)
Sep 01 - Asteroid 1221 Amor Closest Approach To Earth (1.485 AU)
Sep 01 - Asteroid 4149 Harrison Closest Approach To Earth (1.745 AU)
Sep 02 - Insat 4C-R GSLV Launch (India)
Sep 02 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre#125 (OTM-125)
Sep 02 - Asteroid 6984 Lewiscarroll Closest Approach To Earth (3.260 AU)
Sep 02-06 - 23rd Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Astronomical Society, Passa Quatro Brazil
Sep 03 - Asteroid 30 Urania At Opposition (9.7 Magnitude)
Sep 03 - Asteroid 2 Pallas at opposition (magnitude 8.7)
Sep 03-04 - ALMA Community Meeting, Garching, Germany
Sep 04 -

Moon, Last Quarter, 3:32.4 UT
Sep 04 - Comet C/2007 M3 (LINEAR) Perihelion (3.469 AU)
Sep 04 - Comet P/2007 C2 (Catalina) Perihelion (3.780 AU)
Sep 04 - Asteroid 20098 (1994 WC2) Occults HIP 89931 (2.7 Magnitude Star)
Sep 04 - Asteroid 37452 Spirit Closest Approach To Earth (2.410 AU)
Sep 04-07 - Workshop: Initial Conditions in Cosmology, Wurzburg, Germany
Sep 04-18 - 6th NEON Observing Summer School, Asiago, Italy
Sep 05 - JC-Sat 11 Proton M-Briz M Launch
Sep 05 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre#126 (OTM-126)
Sep 05 - Asteroid 4628 Laplace Closest Approach To Earth (1.977 AU)
Sep 05 - 30th Anniversary (1977), Voyager 1 Launch
Sep 05-06 - Workshop: Surveys for ALMA, Garching, Germany
Sep 05-07 - X-Rays fron Nearby Galaxies Workshop, Madrid, Spain
Sep 05-07 - MIRI Workshop, Leiden, The Netherlands
Sep 05-07 - 10th Workshop on Celestial Mechanics, Bellaterra, Italy
Sep 05-09 - IAU Symposium 246: Dynamical Evolution of Dense Stellar Systems, Oxford, United Kingdom
Sep 06 - Asteroid 5649 Donnashirley Closest Approach To Earth (1.180 AU)
Sep 06 - Asteroid 91287 Simon-Garfunkel Closest Approach To Earth (1.508)
Sep 06-09 - 17th Annual Huronia Star Party, Ivy Ontario, Canada
Sep 08 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre#127 (OTM-127)
Sep 08 - Asteroid 570 Kythera Occults HIP 117491 (5.8 Magnitude Star)
Sep 08 - 15th Anniversary (1992), Geotail, Moon Flyby
Sep 08 - 40th Anniversary (1967), Surveyor 5 Launch (Moon Lander)
Sep 09 - Asteroid 2006 BZ147 Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU)
Sep 09 - Asteroid 6758 Jesseowens Closest Approach To Earth (1.766 AU)
Sep 09 - 25th Anniversary (1982), Conestoga I Launch (1st Private Rocket)
Sep 10 - Cassini, Iapetus Flyby
Sep 10 - Moon Occults Saturn
Sep 10 - Uranus At Opposition
Sep 10 - Asteroid 2002 SV Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU)
Sep 10-12 - ESA/AIMES Workshop: Coupling Earth System Models, Frascati, Italy
Sep 10-12 - Workshop: Tropospheric NO2 Measured by Satellites, De Bilt, The Netherlands
Sep 10-13 - First CEAS European Air and Space Conference: Century Perspectives, Berlin, Germany
Sep 10-14 - The MPA/ESO/MPE/USM 2007 Joint Astronomy Conference, Garching, Germany
Sep 10-14 - Meeting: Massive Star Formation - Observations Confront Theory, Heidelberg, Germany
Sep 10-14 - CP#AP Workshop, Vienna, Austria
Sep 10-14 - Conference: Frontiers of Modern Cosmology, Waterloo, Canada
Sep 10-14 - 20th European Conference On Few-body Problems In Physics (EFB20), Pisa, Italy
Sep 10-14 - FINUSTAR-2 Conference: Frontiers In NUclear STructure, Astrophysics and Reactions, Crete, Greece
Sep 10-14 - 30th Spanish Relativity Meeting, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Sep 10-15 - European Radio Interferometry School (ERIS 2007), Bonn, Germany
Sep 11 -

New Moon, 13:44.2
Sep 11 - Partial Solar Eclipse, Visible from South America, Antarctica
Sep 11 - Asteroid 81 Terpsichore Occults HIP 73896 (6.7 Magnitude Star)
Sep 11 - 10th Anniversary (1997), Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Orbit Insertion
Sep 11-13 - Conference: High Time Resolution Astrophysics , Edinburgh, Scotland
Sep 11-14 - Workshop: Young Massive Star Clusters - Initial Conditions and Environments, Granada, Spain
Sep 11-14 - 4th ESA International Workshop on Tracking, Telemetry, Darmstadt, Germany
Sep 11-14 - UN/Austria/ESA Symposium: Space Tools and Solutions for Monitoring the Atmosphere, Graz, Austria
Sep 11-15 - 10th International Conference on Topics in Astroparticles (TAUP), Sendai, Japan
Sep 12 - Asteroid 5074 Goetzoertel Occults HIP 27164 (6.5 Magnitude Star)
Sep 12 - Asteroid 7291 Hyakutake Closest Approach To Earth (1.560 AU)
Sep 12-13 - Meeting: Frontiers of Astronomy with the World's Largest Radio Telescope, Washington DC
Sep 12-13 - ESA GlobModel Workshop: Earth Observation in Earth System Modelling, Frascati, Italy
Sep 13 - Kagura (Selene 1)/Micro-Labsat 2/R-Star/V-Star H-2A Launch (Japan Lunar Orbiter)
Sep 13 - Wideband Gapfiller Satellite (WGS) F-1 Atlas 5 Launch
Sep 13 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre#128 (OTM-128)
Sep 13 - Comet C/2007 N1 (McNaught) Perihelion (2.048 AU)
Sep 13 - Asteroid 14997 (1997 VD4) Occults HIP 25806 (6.3 Magnitude Star)
Sep 13 - Asteroid 69230 Hermes Closest Approach To Earth (1.231 AU)
Sep 13-14 - Meeting: Origin and Differentiation of the Earth - Past to Present, London, United Kingdom
Sep 13-15 - 8th Hellenic Astronomical Conference, Island of Thassos, Greece
Sep 14 - Foton M-3/ Yes-2 Soyuz U Launch
Sep 14 - Asteroid 8 Flora Occults TYC 0662-00910-1 (11.5 Magnitude Star)
Sep 14 - Asteroid 447 Valentine Closest Approach To Earth (1.899 AU)
Sep 15 - Astronomy Day
Sep 16 - Comet C/2007 H1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (1.299 AU)
Sep 16 - Asteroid 1991 VE Near-Venus Flyby (0.049 AU)
Sep 17 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre#129 (OTM-129)
Sep 17 - Comet Mueller 3 Closest Approach To Earth (1.969 AU)
Sep 17 - 10th Anniversary (1997), Galileo, Callisto 10 Flyby
Sep 17-18 - Workshop: Efficient Management of Coastal Regions and Cities, Tallinn, Estonia
Sep 17-19 - Journees 2007 Meeting: The Celestial Reference Frame for the Future, Meudon, France
Sep 17-20 - Conference: Chaos in Astronomy 2007, Athens, Greece
Sep 17-20 - SPIE Conference on Remote Sensing, Florence, Italy
Sep 17-21 - 5th Solar Polarization Workshop 5 (SPW5), Ascona, Switzerland
Sep 17-21 - Conference: Hydrogen-Deficient Stars, Tuebingen, Germany
Sep 17-21 - Conference: Computational Models of Baryonic Physics in Galaxy Formation, Zurich, Switzerland
Sep 17-22 - IAU Symposium 247: Heating and Magneto-Seismology, Porlamar, Isla de Margarita, Venezuela
Sep 18 - Worldview 1 Delta 2 Launch
Sep 18 - Cbers 2B CZ-4B Launch
Sep 18 - Comet 82P/Gehrels 3 Closest Approach To Earth (3.271 AU)
Sep 18 - Asteroid 51823 Rickhusband Closest Approach To Earth (1.716 AU)
Sep 18-20 - NASA Astrobiology Institute: Biosignatures in Ancient Rocks (BAR), Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Sep 18-21 - Helas Workshop: Low Degree and Low Frequency Modes, La Palma, Spain
Sep 18-23 - 13th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologist (EAA), Zadar, Croatia
Sep 19 -

Moon, First Quarter, 17:49.7 UT
Sep 19 - Stardust-NEXT, Deep Space Manoeuvre
Sep 19 - Asteroid 5049 Sherlock Closest Approach To Earth (0.847 AU)
Sep 19-21 - 12th European Space Mechanisms and Tribology Symposium 2007, Liverpool, England
Sep 19-21 - 5th Planet Formation Workshop, Braunschweig, Germany
Sep 20 - Cartosat 2-A Polaris (TechSAR)/ Can X-2/ AAU-Cubsat 2/ Cute 1.7/APD-2/ Compass 1/ Delfi C3/Seeds 2 PSLVA-CA Launch
Sep 20 - Asteroid 321 Florentina Occults HIP 80461 (6.8 Magnitude Star)
Sep 20-21 - 2nd ASPERA 'Roadmap' : European Stategy for Astroparticle Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Sep 20-22 - Space Generation Congress 2007, Hyderabad, India
Sep 20-23 - 40th Italian Astroamateurs Union Congress, Faenza, Italy
Sep 21 - Intelsat 11/ Optus D-2 Ariane 5 Launch
Sep 21-23 - 17th UN/IAF Workshop on Sustainable Development: Towards Food Security, Hyderabad, India
Sep 22 - Comet P/2000 U6 (Tichy) Closest Approach To Earth (1.433 AU)
Sep 22 - Asteroid 392 Wilhelmina Occults HIP 27316 (5.8 Magnitude Star)
Sep 22 - Asteroid 5450 Sokrates Closest Approach To Earth (1.889 AU)
Sep 22 - 2nd International Astronomy Fair (AME2007), Schwenningen, Germany
Sep 22-23 - Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Conference 2007, Vellore, India
Sep 22-26 - Workshop: Effect of Target Properties on the Impact Cratering Process, Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada
Sep 23 - Autumnal Equinox, 09:51 UT
Sep 23 - Asteroid 2001 RY47 Near-Earth Flyby (0.092 AU)
Sep 23-26 - 17th Conference on Astronomical Data Analysis (ADASS XVII), London, United Kingdom
Sep 23-28 - Workshop: Using the GTC Adn tis Day One Instruments, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain
Sep 24-25 - Meeting: Exploration of the Moon - A UK Perspective, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Sep 24-27 - International Symposium: Solar Extreme Events 2007, Athens, Greece
Sep 24-27 - VSAT 2007 Conference: Broadening Horizons, London, United Kingdom
Sep 24-28 - 58th International Astronautical Congress, Hyderabad, India
Sep 24-28 - 4th Alfven Conference :The Importance of Plasma Processes, Arcachon, France
Sep 24-28 - 6th International Heidelberg Conference on Dark Matter in Astro (DARK 2007), Sydney, Australia
Sep 24-28 - Workshop: High Energy Phenomena in Relativistic Outflows, Dublin, Ireland
Sep 24-28 - 1st Annual School Of EU Network 'UniverseNet', Mytilene, Island of Lesvos, Greece
Sep 24-28 - Joint 2007 EUMETSAT Meteorological Satellite Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Sep 24-29 - 80th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Astronomische Gesellschaf, Wuerzburg, Germany
Sep 24-30 - International Conference: Finsler Extensions of Relativity Theory, Moscow, Russia
Sep 25 - Asteroid 1998 YM4 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.027 AU)
Sep 25 - 15th Anniversary (1992), Mars Observer Launch
Sep 25-28 - 5th International Symposium on Geophysical Parameters from SAR Data, Bari, Italy
Sep 25-28 - 7th Sino-German Workshop: Galaxies, Super-massive Black Holes, Shanghai, China
Sep 26 -

Full Moon, 20:45.2 UT
Sep 26 - Dawn Delta 2 Launch (Asteroid Orbiter)
Sep 26 - New Horizons, Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre
Sep 26 - Asteroid 1691 Oort Closest Approach To Earth (1.765 AU)
Sep 26 - Asteroid 232 Russia Closest Approach To Earth (1.972 AU)
Sep 28 - Asteroid 51826 Kalpanachawla Closest Approach To Earth (1.946 AU)
Sep 28 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Manoeuvre#130 (OTM-130)
Sep 28 - 45th Anniversary (1962), Alouette Launch (Canada's 1st Satellite)
Sep 2

ct 05 - IRAM Observing School: mm-Observing in Times of Herschel, Sierra Nevada, Spain
Sep 29 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation
Sep 29 - Asteroid 2000 TH1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU)
Sep 29 - 30th Anniversary (1977), Salyut 6 Launch (USSR Space Station)
Sep 30 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione, Enceladus & Telesto
Sep 30 - Comet 188P/LINEAR-Mueller Closest Approach To Earth (1.608 AU)
Sep 30 - Comet P/1998 VS24 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (2.587 AU)
Sep 30 - Asteroid 2002 TA67 Near-Earth Flyby (0.093 AU)

Blobrana · L

There are no major meteor showers this month...
September is a month with the best sporadic rates and a few mysterious minor showers.
The Alpha Aquarids are active from Aug. 25 to Sept. 5, normally with a ZHR of 10. this year it may be quite active
The Delta Aquarids are active September 5 thru October 10, with a ZHR of 6. It is on view until dawn. Faint, swift meteors are likely and the brighter ones may leave persistent trains.
These two form part of what is known as the Auriga-Cassiopiea-Perseus-Aries-Triangulum radiants, active from late August until mid-October.
The Piscids, active September 1 - 30, have a ZHR of 3.
The Sextanids are active September 9 through October 9. Though, this one is more of a radio/radar showerA new meteor shower,called the September Taurids, might peak this month on the evening of September 1314, 2004. The exact date and time of maximum activity, however, are uncertain. The radiant, which lies between the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters, produces only 7 meteors per hour, with an average brightness of magnitude 2.7.
You can listen to them by tuning to the 67 MHz meteor radar in Roswell, NM.

Shower	Activity Period	Maximum	Radiant		Velocity	ZHR
		Date	R.A.	Dec.	km/s
Alpha Aquarids	Aug 25 - Sept. 5	1 September	5.5h	41°	66.0km/s	10
October Arietids	Sept-Oct	8 September
Piscids	Sept 1 - 30	19 September	0.7h	9.2°	30.0km/s	5
Sextanids	Sept-Oct	25 September
Andromedids		26 September		58.1°	59.3km/s
Gamma Piscids		28 September	23.4h	11.0°	19.2km/s	4
Pi Virginids		29 September	12.6h	-16.0°	8.6km/s	3
	for UK (A.Smith)	Radio Meteor Observation Station Track

Blobrana · L

2007 09 09 19 UT    Uranus at opposition
2007 09 15 21 UT    Moon at apogee, 252,054 miles (405,642 km)
2007 09 23 9:51 UT Fall (Northern Hemisphere) begins at the equinox
2007 09 23 23 UT    Venus at greatest illuminated extent (morning)
2007 09 28 2 UT    Moon at perigee, 223,332 miles (359,418 km)
2007 09 29 16 UT    Mercury at greatest elongation, 26.0° east of Sun (evening)

Blobrana · L

Blobrana · L

Blobrana · L

Vesta and Jupiter

Blobrana · L

September 2007