THE FULL MOON APPEARING CLOSE BY TO THE RINGED PLANET SATURN TONIGHT AND TOMORROW 16TH-17TH + 17TH-18TH SEPTEMBER!
Stargazers will be in for a special celestial treat over tonight and tomorrow night.
If you have been out at night stargazing recently you may have spotted a bright star-like objects in the constellation of Aquarius. This star-like object is in fact the amazing ringed planet Saturn.
Whilst out stargazing you may have also noticed that the waxing gibbous Moon has been moving closer towards Saturn over the last few nights and over tonight and tomorrow night they will reach their closest approach to each other in our night time skies.
Tonight and tomorrow night, The pair of luminaries will appear fairly close by to each other, appearing to be separated by less than 7 degrees.
The Moon will also be appearing full on both nights as it reaches it’s full moon phase in the early morning of the 18th of September. The full Moon on the 18th will also see a partial lunar eclipse! We will be making a post about this months full Moon and partial lunar eclipse, so if you would like to know more about this month’s full Moon and partial lunar eclipse please read our post when it is published.
If you would like to know more detailed information about tonight and tomorrow night’s celestial meeting including when/where to look, tips and tricks to help you, plus information on other things to look out for, please read on...
WHEN AND WHERE TO LOOK
On the night of the 16th into the morning of the 17th, the Moon and Saturn will both rise above the East-south-eastern horizon at around 19:00pm.
After they have risen above the horizon, the Moon and Saturn will continue to ascend travelling towards the South. The Moon will slowly but steadily appear closer to Saturn as the night progresses. The Moon will reach its highest point in the sky (aka transit) about 24 degrees high in the South at almost exactly midnight. Saturn will reach its transit about 28 degrees high in the South at roughly 00:30am.
After reaching transit, both the Moon and Saturn will begin to descend in the sky travelling towards the West-south-west where they will both set at around 05:17 and 05:45 respectively.
On the night of the 17th into the morning of the 18th, Saturn will be the first to rise above the horizon at roughly 19:02 towards the East-south-east. The Moon will shortly follow, rising above the horizon in the same direction at 19:10.
The Moon and Saturn will continue to rise towards their transit in the South at 00:52 and 00:12 respectively. At transit, the Moon will reach 31 degrees high and Saturn will reach 28 degrees high.
Following transit, both the Moon and Saturn will descend towards the West-south-west where they will set at 06:45 and 05:40 respectively.
We will attach an image to this post that will hopefully help you find the location of the planets.
EXTRA TIPS ON WHERE TO LOOK
On the 16th-17th, both the Moon and Saturn will appear in the zodiacal constellation of Aquarius the water bearer, Saturn will appear nearby to the star Hydor.
On the 17th-18th the Moon will be in the zodiacal constellation of Pisces the fish.
HOW TO RECOGNISE PLANETS
Planets are very easy to spot and are quite unmistakable when you see them. They will appear as very bright star-like objects that don’t display the twinkling effect that stars display.
TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR
You can tell whether you are looking at a planet or a star by looking out for the twinkling effect. When you look at a star for a short while, you will notice its brightness flickers and it may appear to change colour too. This twinkling effect is caused by the star light interacting with our Earth’s atmosphere. When you look at a planet, it shines with a very consistent solid brightness. This is because the light from planets is effected less by our atmosphere.
If you can remember the famous nursery rhyme – twinkle twinkle little star, this can help you remember that the stars twinkle and planets do not.
OTHER CELESTIAL TREATS TO LOOK OUT FOR
There are so many celestial treats in our night skies at this moment in time, here is a small selection of amazing sights to look out for:
- The bright planets Jupiter and Mars can also be observed later in the evening. Jupiter can be found in the constellation of Taurus the bull and Mars in the constellation of Gemini the twins, both rising from the North-east at 22:07 and 23:12 respectively.
- There are several minor meteor showers active at the moment including the Southern Taurids and the September Perseids. This means that you may have a chance of seeing a meteor or two blazing across the night sky
- The open star cluster the Pleaides (aka the Seven Sisters) can be found close by to the planets Mars and Jupiter.
- The summer Milky Way in all its glory can be seen stretching all the way across the sky at this moment in time.
- Our closest galactical neighbour, the amazing Andromeda Galaxy can be spotted to the eye as a small faint elliptical fuzzy in the constellation of Andromeda.
- The great globular star cluster in Hercules can be seen to the eye as a small faint ball of light in the constellation of Hercules.
- There will also be a super special partial lunar eclipse taking place early in the morning on the 18th. Please see our full Moon post for more details on this.
TIPS AND TRICKS
- Find a nice high location with an unobstructed view towards the South. Having a good view of the horizon will give you the best chance of spotting the planets when they rise.
- The darker your viewing location, the more faint objects you will be able to see in the night sky too! Find a nice safe dark location to stargaze from and you will be able to see many more stars, meteors and deep space objects.
- If you are in a dark location, let your eyes adjust to the darkness. If you don't look at sources of light such as the Moon, streetlights or mobile phones for between 15-30 minutes this will allow your eyes to dilate to their maximum aperture and the receptors in your eyes that are responsible for low light vision to fully activate. This will allow you to see much fainter objects in the night sky.
- If you must use your phone, use it on its lowest brightness setting. Many star-map and planetarium apps have a built-in red light/night mode that can help you keep your night vision. Another tip to help keep you night vision is to cover your phone screen in red cellophane.
- If you must use a light to light your way, use a torch that emits only red light. Red light is much less harmful to your night vision.
- Be mindful of other stargazers when using a torch or your phone. Bright lights can ruin other people’s night vision and stargazing experience!
- Wrap up warm! It can get quite chilly when out stargazing so make sure you are comfortable and warm.
- You don’t need binoculars or a telescope to enjoy this special meeting, just your eyes will easily be able to see the Moon and Saturn.
- If you do you own a pair of binoculars or a telescope you can get a much closer look at the details of the planets and other celestial treats in our skies. The Moon with its craters and seas, Saturn with its majestic ring system, Jupiter with its weather bands and great red spot, Mars with its red hue and frozen ice caps, the amazing elliptically shaped Andromeda galaxy, the glowing open star cluster - the Pleaides, and the sparkling globular star cluster in Hercules are all spectacular to view with binoculars or telescope.
- If you take a closer look at Jupiter with a pair of binoculars you will be able to spot it’s four largest moons. The bright satellites known as the Galilean moons – Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. The moons will appear in an almost perfectly straight line as small points of light nearby to the bright planet Jupiter.
- If you can remember the famous nursery rhyme – twinkle twinkle little star, this can help you remember that the stars twinkle and planets do not.
- There are several meteor showers active at the moment, so keep an eye out across the whole sky for the chance to view some meteors aka shooting stars!
- If you want to know where the Milky way is, finding the asterism known as the “Summer Triangle” can help you. The super bright stars Deneb of Cygnus the swan, Vega of Lyra the harp and Altair of Aquila the eagle create a huge triangle in the night sky. These stars are in the middle of a bright portion of the Milky way. If you follow the length of the cross-like asterism – the Northern Cross that is part of the constellation Cygnus, this will also show you where the rest of the Milky way is travelling across the sky.
- Don’t worry if you can’t get out tonight, the planets will still be easily visible in our skies for a long while.
CLOSING WORDS
We recommend that if you can, please head out to catch a glimpse of this very special meeting. The event will be amazing to view by eye and binoculars/telescope, and will also make for an excellent photographic opportunity.
We ourselves will be heading out to witness this very special meeting of luminaries.
We wish you luck if you head out, and we wish you all clear skies
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