Astronmomy Update September

[lisaw]

I didn't know that about the rabbit either, one of those handy pieces of trivia to store away :thumbs_up:

[Watchinherskip]

Not much of any significance this month, so we will do some basic stuff if you like

Moon

New moon (no moon visible) was on the First and Full moon will be on the 15th - If you are planning on looking at the moon during a clear spell in the weather the best time is not at full moon as it is so bright all you will be able to pick out are the dark bits (seas) - the best part of the moon to look at is the terminator ( no not Arnie) - this refers to the part of the moon where The sun is either rising or falling and it sends the craters into stark contrast. The lovely thing about the moon is that each night you get a new show as a differnt part of the moon is put on display - If you are watching through a telescope over a few hours you can actually see the shadows of the mountains change as the sun comes up/down.



The Seas of the Moon

Each of the lava flooded plains of the moon is given a name - here is a quick resume for you



Traditionally people in the west see a Face in the moon ( man in the moon) whilst Eastern cultures see a Rabbit ( bottom right)



The phases of the moon

Some people get confused by this - clearly the moon is always there and you are just seeing a different amount of the moon illuminated directly by the sun. Waxing - bright bit getting bigger /waning bright bit getting smaller

For example if you were to look up a few days after a new moon you might see


where the right side of the moon is lit by the setting sun to the right of the picture.

However let your eyes get dark adapted and you will see the rest of the moon Illuminated by light reflecting from the Earth

.

We are featuring the moon in our October show at the planetarium. It is called Moon Witch (as you might be able to make out a witch's face in the moon). One part mentions that the Indians of Mexico saw a three toed frog in the moon.

[Keith]

What happened to Pluto??!!!

it missed out on one criteria of being "a planet" so it's no longer a planet! poor thing got demoted officially a dwarf planet I believe

[Watchinherskip]

Yeah, got the pink slip. Several objects were found beyond Pluto which were larger in size. They drew a line in the sand and these objects are usually considered TNO (Trans Neptunian Objects). Pluto is more or less like a comet nucleus rather than like other planets (terrestrial or jovian)

[ukwdwnut]

great stuff chris and dan

bored of this chris are you mad man, its really very interesting and awesome photo's

thx for taking the time to post it

[Skywatcher]

The Frog looks really obvious now you pointed it out - thanks Dan

[Watchinherskip]

The September sky is a fascinating one. The summer triangle is high up in the sky by mid evening (brightest stars of three constellations - Vega in Lyra, Altair in Aquila the Eagle and Deneg in Cygnus the Swan). I think it is neat to think of how the ancients tried to make sense of the changing sky over the seasons and make it relevant to their daily life. The native peoples of North America had some neat insights into the cycle of the changing sky. One of my favorite stories involves the story of the celestial bear. We know a part of it as the Big Dipper and I believe that my UK friends may know it as the plow. The story goes about the bear leaving his cave in the spring (appears to be rising out of the northen horizon on spring nights) and heading back into his or her cave during fall (as evening falls the "bear" is heading down into the northern horizon). It is the movement across the sky that they were interested in. They even danced around their camp fires to keep the natrual rhythem and movement of the cycle.

In the following story the bear is followed by seven birds (stars that make the handle of the big dipper) Robin, Chickadee, Moosebird (a gray jay about the size of a blue jay, but with a smooth head), then Pigeon, Blue Jay, Owl, and finally little Saw-Whet Owl. The three main stars are Robin, Chickadee (with his cooking pot), and Moosebird (He who comes late). THis is a story from the Mic Mac tribe of Nova Scotia.

Read the short story here. Fascinating to think they had an explanation for the changing seasons, and the changing leaves.


Here is the link to the story:
http://www.katedudding.com/celestial_bear.shtml

[Keith]

This is just brilliant stuff! Really enjoying this thread

[ukwdwnut]

absolutely fascinating thanks guys

[Skywatcher]

It is a shame the weather is so bad or I would post more - we have had 1 solitary clear evening all month with no real prospect of any at least in the next week.

managed to lok at the Andromeda galaxy with my binos last night but it clouded over within 5 minutes

Will do something on constel;a$ltions to look out for when we have a clear spell looming

For thos who have not yet seen Jupiter it is very close to the moon - low in the south over the next 2 nights - try and see it if you can