texas

Skywatchers Report


Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday September 23rd through Sunday September 29th.

The new moon for the month of September is on Saturday night so we'll have a waning crescent moon in our early morning skies for most of the week. This new moon occurs the same day as perigee, the moon's closest point to the earth in its orbit, so there will be larger tides than usual that day.

Mercury and Venus are still too close to the sun to easily see but you might be able to pick them out from the twilight in the next couple of weeks.

Jupiter is still shining brightly in the southwest at sunset and is setting at 11:20 p.m. at midweek.

Saturn is up in the south at sunset and is setting at 1:20 a.m.

Mars is currently the only planet up in the dawn skies but is still too close to the sun to see.

The autumnal equinox for the northern hemisphere occurred at 2:50 a.m. central daylight time on Monday September 23rd. This is the moment when the sun crosses the celestial equator and the amounts of daylight and nighttime are roughly, although not exactly, equal. Also, on the equinox, the sun will rise due east and set due west. For the northern hemisphere, the amount of nighttime will start to overtake the amount of daylight and the arc of the sun across our sky will gradually move to the south until we reach the winter solstice in December.

In space anniversaries this week, Monday September 23rd marks the 20th anniversary of the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter as it attempted to go into orbit around the planet. The failure was later determined to be because of a software issue where two different units of measurement were used, causing an incorrect thruster firing.

Public viewing at the 16-inch reflector on top of Robert Lee Moore Hall is on Wednesday nights currently from 8 to 10 p.m. RLM is located on the southeast corner of Dean Keeton and Speedway. Take the elevator to the 17th floor and follow the signs to the telescope.

Public viewing at the 9-inch refractor at Painter Hall is on Friday and Saturday nights from currently 8 to 10 p.m. Painter Hall is located on 24th street about halfway between Speedway and Guadalupe and is northeast of the UT Tower. Please note that there will be no Painter Telescope viewing on Saturday evenings when the UT football team has a night home game. Logon to TexasSports.com to check the football schedule.

All events are free and open to all ages and no reservations are required. Note that viewing times and availability change throughout the year so please check the schedule before planning a visit. Observing events are weather permitting. Please call 512-232-4265 for weather cancellation information, which is updated 30 to 45 minutes before the scheduled viewing start time.

Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.