Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday August 25th through Monday September 1st.
The moon is at first quarter late on Saturday the 30th so we’ll have a waxing crescent moon in the early evening skies for most of the week and start into the waxing gibbous phase on Sunday.
Mars is still low in the west-southwest at sunset and is setting at 9:45 p.m. Look for Mars just to the right of the crescent moon on Tuesday evening.
Saturn and Neptune rise just after 9 p.m. this week so they are both visible for most of the night. Saturn is visible to the naked eye, but you’ll need a telescope to see its rings and to see Neptune a few degrees to Saturn’s left.
In the morning skies, Jupiter is rising at 3:20 a.m. Look for the stars Castor and Pollux of the constellation Gemini the Twins to Jupiter’s left.
Venus is rising at 4:35 a.m., about two and a half hours before the sun.
Mercury is sinking back towards the sun and is rising at 5:55 a.m., a little over an hour before sunrise.
In recent space news, astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have recently announced the discovery of a new moon around the planet Uranus in images taken back in February. The small moon is the 29th discovered in the Uranian system and currently has the temporary designation S/2025 U1. The moons of Uranus are named after characters from the plays of William Shakespeare and Alexaner Pope and once one is chosen for this new satellite, it will be reviewed and approved by the International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature.
Public viewing on UT campus telescopes will resume for the fall semester the first week in September. Check back next week for details on starting dates and times.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.
