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Manchester Astronomical Society
Established 1903
Manastro Journal for September
Unfortunately with the country still in lockdown, the Godlee Observatory is still closed for the foreseeable future. Why not join us instead for a 'Zoom' webchat, most Thursday evenings. See Facebook for details.
In the Sky for the next few weeks (images taken at 10pm on 15th):-
North
East
South
West
The Moon
New Moon on 7th
1st Quarter on the 13th
Full Moon on 21st
3rd Quarter on the 29th
Planet of the month:Neptune
Diameter: 49528 km 3.883 Earths
Mass: 17.15 Earths
Density: 1.62 g/cc (water=1)
Gravity: 1.14 G
Rotation Period: 0.67 days = 0d 16h 06m 36s
© NASA/JPL-Caltech
Neptune will reach opposition this month on the 14th Sept, when it lies opposite to the Sun in the sky. Lying in the constellation Aquarius, it will be visible for much of the night, reaching its highest point in the sky around midnight local time.
From Manchester, it will be visible between 22:16 and 03:57. It will become accessible around 22:16, when it rises to an altitude of 21° above your south-eastern horizon. It will reach its highest point in the sky at 01:07, 32° above your southern horizon. It will become inaccessible around 03:57 when it sinks below 22° above your south-western horizon
Constellation of the Month: Aquarius (shown 15th September 00:00)
Aquarius constellation is located in the southern hemisphere. It is one of the 12 zodiac constellations. The constellation’s name means “the water-bearer” (or “cup-bearer”) in Latin
Aquarius lies in the region of the sky which is sometimes referred to as the Sea, because it contains a number of other constellations with names associated with water; Pisces (the fish), Eridanus (the river), and Cetus (the whale), among others. Like other zodiac constellations, Aquarius was catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century
Aquarius contains the famous supergiant stars Sadalsuud (Beta Aquarii) and Sadalmelik (Alpha Aquarii), and a number of notable deep sky objects: the globular clusters Messier 2 and Messier 72, the asterism Messier 73, the Aquarius Dwarf Galaxy, Atoms for Peace Galaxy (NGC 7252) and two well-known nebulae: the Saturn Nebula and the Helix Nebula. As well as hosting Neptune during it's opposition this month.
Copyright - Alan Beech
Copyright - NASA/JPL-Caltech
Meteor Showers
September is a quiet month for meteors, with no major showers predicted. There are 2 minor showers: The Alpha-Aurigids on 1st September and the Epsilon-Perseids on 9th September.
MAS Society & MAS Facebook members' recent images
Here is a selection of some of the recent images from our members; there are far more excellent pictures on our Facebook page and in the images section of this website, check them out.
Andromeda galaxy © Kai Ojo - 17/08/21
Dumbbell Nebula © Rik Patel - 14/08/21
North American Nebula © Steven Healey - 08/08/21
Bubble Nebula © Martyn Jones - 03/08/21
