2020-09 Chart Front

10:00 pm on September 1 N 9:00 pm on September 15 8:00 pm on October 1

To use this chart: hold the chart in

front of you and turn it so the direction PERSEUS

you are facing is at the bottom of the Cluster

2020 Double

chart. Polaris

DIPPER

Bright Stars BIG

Medium Bright Stars DIPPER CASSIOPEIA

Faint Stars LITTLE ANDROMEDA

Scan dark skies CEPHEUS Arcturus

with binoculars: DRACO

M-31 Mars M-13: Globular star cluster BOOTES

EPTEMBER

Deneb Great Square Great

M-22: Globular star cluster Pegasus of M-13

S

Vega

CYGNUS M-31: The Andromeda Galaxy PEGASUS E

CORONA Double Cluster in Perseus BOREALIS Summer Triangle W PISCES LYRA

HERCULES Autumn is coming! The days are Altair SERPENSCAPUT getting shorter and the nights longer. The autumn equinox is on September 22. On this date, the Sun rises due east and sets due AQUILA west.

SERPENS OPHIUCHUS CAUDA Full Moon From Nashville: CAPRICORNUS Sept. 2 Sunrise Sunset M-22

Sept 1 6:19 AM 7:15 PM Antares Sept 15 6:30 AM 6:55 PM Oct 1 6:42 AM 6:31 PM Last Quarter Fomalhaut Saturn SCORPIUS Sept. 10 Jupiter SAGITTARIUS

New Moon S Sept. 17 Download monthly star charts and learn First Quarter more about our shows at adventuresci.org Sept. 23 Trying to find Polaris in the morning? You’ll have a September 2020 challenge on your hands if you look first for the Big spacecraft from three different countires all lift off to Mars this Dipper — it and the rest of Ursa Major are now hiding After Sunset summer - the trip is relatively short right now! near or below the northern horizon. Instead, locate W-shaped Cassiopeia high in the sky. The central peak As skies begin to darken after sunset, look high overhead In the south are two bright planets, Jupiter and Saturn. If you of the W forms an arrow that points you in the direction for the three bright stars that make up the Summer have binoculars, you may be able to see Jupiter’s four largest of Polaris. Triangle. These may be the first stars you see. Each of moons. Watch them over several nights to watch them orbit these stars is part of its own constellation. Cygnus the around their parent planet. If you have trouble steadying your Just before dawn look for brilliant “morning star” Swan, Aquila the Eagle, and Lyra the Harp are more binoculars on Jupiter, try leaning them up against the side of a Venus. Its bright clouds reflect sunlight to our eyes easily seen under dark skies. building or another steady surface. A small telescope not only making it stand out even as the sky begins to brighten at dawn. Look for a thin crescent Moon near Venus on Look low in the northwest for the Big Dipper. As famous shows the moons of Jupiter, but also its cloud bands. Jupiter has the morning of September 14. as the Dipper is, it’s not always easily visible from stripes! our latitude in Tennessee. In the spring and summer, Saturn is just to the left of Jupiter. At best, binoculars will show Desktop planetarium software like the free, open- the Dipper is easy to find shortly after sunset. As we Saturn as appearing slightly oval in shape. A small telescope source Stellarium (stellarium.org) can show you more approach autumn, it gradually appears lower to the reveals the reason: those beautiful rings. precisely where night sky objects will be on any date northern horizon. and time, and help you plan your observing. Look for the Moon next to Jupiter on September 24th and next The Big Dipper is not officially a constellation; it’s to Saturn on the 25th. what astronomers sometimes call an asterism. It’s a From Dark Skies familiar name for this pattern of stars, especially used Both Jupiter and Saturn are just above the constellation Bright outdoor lighting can make it hard to see all but by observers in the United States, but it’s not one of the Sagittarius the Archer, which looks a lot more like a teapot to the brightest stars. On a clear night, find a dark spot far 88 constellations recognized by astronomers worldwide. modern eyes. away from city lights, give your eyes time to adjust to Ursa Major the Great Bear is the official constellation As Earth and the other planets orbit around the Sun, the planets the dark, and look for even more celestial sights. here, but you’ll need dark skies to see its fainter stars. we see appear to move across the constellations over time. Late summer evenings are great for spotting the Milky Use the two stars at the end of the Dipper’s bowl to lead Some planets, like Mercury, Venus and Mars, move relatively Way coursing from Sagittarius through the Summer you to Polaris, also known as the North Star. Polaris is quickly. Meanwhile, Jupiter and Saturn, being further from the Triangle and on towards Cassiopeia in the northeast. not a particularly bright star, but it does remain fixed in Sun, move far more slowly. These two planets will now be in This hazy band of light is the bulk of our disc-shaped the sky throughout the night and throughout the year. our early evening sky through the rest of the year, and we have galaxy, as we see it from within. When you face the North Star, you’re facing due north. a great opportunity to track their motions. They will appear to As you look towards Sagittarius and its neighbor Polaris is at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. grow closer to each other over the next several months, and by Scorpius the Scorpion, you are looking in the direction This group of stars is also officially known asUrsa Minor mid-December, they will appear extemely close together, from of the dense center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Scan with the Little Bear. our vantage here on Earth. Their closest approach will be on December 21, and you’ll be able to go out in the early evening to binoculars or a telescope in this area to find many faint As the Big Dipper appears lower in the northwestern sky catch this incredible sight. star clusters and nebulae throughout this part of the night by night, Cassiopeia the Queen appears higher in sky. the northeast. The central peak of this constellation’s Look high in the west for the constellation W-shape also points you in the direction of Polaris. Early Morning Hercules Throughout the year, the constellations rise and set just a little and the globular cluster known as the Hercules Rising in the east is planet Mars, looking very bright bit earlier every day. You won’t see much difference from night to Cluster, or M-13. Using binoculars, you may be able to as it nears opposition in mid-October. A planet is at night, but you will over the course of weeks or months. What we spot a round-shaped glow. If that blurry glow doesn’t opposition when it’s opposite the Sun in our sky. That see in today’s pre-dawn sky is a preview of the early evening sky seem impressive, just remember that it’s a collection also means that the planet is making its closest approach in later months. Go out before dawn this month for a look ahead of around 300,000 stars, at a distance of over 22,000 to Earth. Mars will look bright, and a little bigger than at the autumn night sky. light years, at an age of over 11 billion years old. usual in telescopes. It’s also the reason we’ve seen In the hours before dawn, Scorpius, Jupiter, and Saturn have This Month in the Sudekum Planetarium already set. Meanwhile, autumn constellations such as Pegasus the Flying Horse and Andromeda the Princess are high in the west. Mars is now high in the southwest, in Pisces the Fish. Winter constellations Orion the Hunter and Taurus the Bull are high in the southeast.