Look At The Sky: September

We enjoy sky gazing and I gather info so we have the opportunity to break out the telescope and/or lounge chairs when there is something interesting going on in the sky.  It just occurred to me that others may like to look up too!

Info will be for the northern hemisphere, in the central time zone.  Times can easily be adjusted for other zones.

SEPTEMBER

Comet c2010c2012 K1 (PANSTARRS)  - getting brighter by the night, this comet rises about 2 a.m. local time in due eastern skies in the constellation of HYDRA.  The comet is presently about magnitude 6.0, which puts it in binocular range, with a huge west-facing tail and large coma.  The comet will be well up in the east by morning twilight. 

September 21 - KAPPA AQUARID meteors - this meteor shower is also directly south of overhead (northern hemisphere) about 11 p.m. local time, and continues until the 22nd way past dawn. This is a very good year to observe this lesser meteor shower, since the new moon will be out of the skies pretty much all night.

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Setember 23 - ALPHA AURIGID meteors - moonlight will NOT be a factor in early morning skies for this year's Alpha Aurigid meteors and hence even the faintest of these meteors are likely to be seen in early morning hours; evening and around midnight are favored.  The radiant  rises in the NE sky about 8 p.m. local time and reaches nearly overhead about 5 a.m. the following morning when the most meteors are usually seen.  These meteors are very fast and frequently leave fantastic trains of smoke in their wakes....Because the shower is in high northern skies, US observers can plan to view these high northern meteors all night long.

Have fun!!!