InDownton Newsletter
The community newsletter for the village of Downton, Wiltshire
The Sky at Night in Downton: what to look for in September and October
Local resident, Michael F Barratt is a member of the Fordingbridge Astronomers in Hampshire and has his own Facebook Page – Moot Halt Observatory. Here he tells us what to look for in the night skies over Downton.
Michael can be contacted at mootastro@yahoo.com and is always pleased to hear from others with their observations and queries.
This autumn will see three “supermoons”, when the moon is close to the earth and appears to be slightly larger than normal. September’s full moon (the “Harvest Moon”) will be on the 18th, when there will also be a partial lunar eclipse in the early hours (between 3.12 and 4.15). October’s full moon (the “Hunter’s Moon”) on the 17th, will be the brightest of the autumn supermoons.
The autumn equinox on 22 September marks the start of longer nights - which means longer periods of dark sky observing, with the Milky Way at its most prominent in the evening sky. In October, if you stay up into the early hours of the morning, the winter constellations, such as Orion (the Hunter) and Taurus (the Bull) are starting to appear over the eastern horizon.
Planets to look out for this autumn are:
Mars - moving from the constellation Taurus (the Bull) into Gemini (the Twins) in September, passing close by the star cluster Messier 35 on the night of 8/9 - giving a good view with binoculars. It rises after 11pm.
Jupiter - found in Taurus, rising earlier than Mars at around 10:30 pm in September (earlier through October). On the night of 23 September, the Moon will be very close to this gas giant planet which will be far brighter than anything else in the evening sky other than the Moon.
Map of the night sky in mid-September 2024 (around 2100 GMT)
Saturn - closest to the Earth and at its brightest and highest this year on 8 September, when it can be seen opposite the sun. It is visible for most of the night in the constellation of Aquarius (the Water Bearer). Because of the angle at which it appears, its rings seem to be disappearing - this will be the case until 2026.