Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers' Report for September 19th through the 25th.
The moon will be at third quarter late on Saturday the 24th. The moon will be close to Mars on the night of Wednesday September 21st. Mars will be to the lower right of the moon and the Pleiades star cluster will be visible to the lower left. The trio will all be above the eastern horizon by a little after 10 p.m.
The autumnal equinox for the northern hemisphere occurs at 5:23 p.m. central daylight time on Thursday the 22nd.. The equinox is the point where the sun crosses the celestial equator and the day and night are roughly equal.
Venus and Jupiter are still in the western skies at sunset, although Jupiter is now setting about an hour after the sunsets. Venus is higher and is very bright. If you look at Venus with a telescope, you will see that it is showing a gibbous phase, similar to the moon a few days before full.
Wednesday night viewing on the Robert Lee Moore Hall telescope will resume at the end of the month, pending the completion of roof construction.
The Painter Hall telescope is open to the public on Friday and Saturday nights from 8 to 10 p.m. Painter Hall is located on 24th street about halfway between Speedway and Guadalupe.
All events are free and open to all ages and no reservations are required. Note that star party times and availability change throughout the year. Please call this recording before planning a visit to the telescopes. Observing events are weather permitting. Please call 232-4265 for weather cancellation information, which is updated 30 to 60 minutes before viewing start time only on nights when star parties are cancelled.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers' Report.
