News on what is visable in this months sky as posted by Adrian Zielonka's in his monthly sky notes.

Thank you Adrian and thank you CADAS.

Astronomy
News

Night Sky 2021 - September

Sunrise	Sunset	Mercury Sets	Venus Sets
1st – 6:25am 10th – 6:39am 20th – 6:54am 30th – 7:10am	1st – 7:56pm 10th – 7:36pm 20th – 7:13pm 30th – 6:51pm	1st – 8:27pm 5th – 8:16pm 10th – 8:02pm 15th – 7:47pm	1st – 8:58pm 10th – 8:38pm 20th – 8:18pm 30th – 7:59pm
Moon Rise	Moon Set	Moon Rise	Moon Set
- - - - - - - 2nd – 12:39am (NE) 3rd – 1:37am 4th – 2:45am 5th – 4:00am 6th – 5:19am (ENE) 7th – 6:39am 8th – 8:00am (E) 9th – 9:22am 10th – 10:46am 11th – 12:11pm (ESE) 12th – 1:37pm 13th – 2:59pm 14th – 4:13pm (SE) 15th – 5:14pm 16th – 5:59pm 17th – 6:33pm 18th – 6:58pm 19th – 7:17pm (ESE)	1st - 5:17pm (NW) 2nd – 6:07pm 3rd – 6:48pm 4th – 7:20pm 5th – 7:45pm 6th – 8:05pm (WNW) 7th – 8:23pm 8th – 8:39pm (W) 9th – 8:56pm 10th – 9:15pm (WSW) 11th – 9:37pm 12th – 10:05pm 13th – 10:43pm 14th – 11:34pm (SW) 16th – 12:38am 17th – 1:53am 18th – 3:12am 19th – 4:32am (WSW) 20th – 5:50am	20th – 7:33pm 21st – 7:48pm (E) 22nd – 8:02pm 23rd – 8:17pm 24th – 8:33pm (ENE) 25th – 8:52pm 26th – 9:17pm 27th – 9:48pm 28th – 10:29pm (NE) 29th – 11:21pm - - - - - - - All times in notes are set for Somerton unless stated	21st – 7:04am 22nd – 8:17am (W) 23rd – 9:28am 24th – 10:39am (WNW) 25th – 11:50am 26th – 12:59pm 27th – 2:06pm 28th – 3:08pm (NW) 29th – 4:01pm 30th – 4:45pm - - - - - - - Moon Phases New Moon – 7th First Quarter – 13th Full Moon – 21st Last Quarter – 29th
A useful site: www.heavens-above.com	A S Zielonka

On the night of the 1^st
there is an occultation of the star Mebsuta (3 mag) in Gemini. At the time 2:01:51am Mebsuta reappears from behind the crescent Moon. (Please note – times for this are set for Yeovilton).

On the 2^nd at 5:00am the star Mebsuta (3 mag) in Gemini is 2 degrees to the upper right of the crescent Moon.

In the early hours of the 3^rd there is an occultation of the star Kappa Geminorum (3.5 mag). At 3:38:16am K.G. disappears behind the Moon and then reappears at 4:33:51am. (Please note – times
for this are set for Yeovilton).

At 5:00am on the 3^rd the star Kappa Geminorum (3.5 mag) is ¾ of a degree to the upper right of the crescent Moon.

On the 4^th at 5:00am the Beehive Star Cluster is 2½ degrees below right of the crescent Moon in the east.

From the 4^th - 6^th Venus passes close to Spica (1 mag) in Virgo. On the 5^th at 8:15pm Spica is 1¾ degrees below Venus. Venus is 5 degrees above the horizon.at 247 degrees
azimuth.

At 5:00am on the 5^th the star Lambda Leonis (3.5 mag) is 4 degrees above a thin crescent Moon and 2 degrees to the left.

Mercury reaches aphelion (its most distant from the Sun in its orbit) on the 6^th.

On the 6^th at 5:40am a very thin crescent Moon may be seen low in the ENE horizon at 69.5 degrees azimuth and 2 degrees above the horizon.

At 8:15pm on the 8^th a very thin crescent Moon will be low in the west at 265.5 degrees azimuth and just 3 degrees above the horizon. The star Porrima (2.7 mag) in Virgo is just 1 degree to the left of the Moon.

On the 9^th at 8:15pm the thin crescent Moon is low in the WSW at 252 degrees azimuth and 5½ degrees above the horizon. Venus is 6 degrees to the left of the Moon and 1½ degrees below.

Asteroid 4 Vesta at the beginning is in the constellation of Virgo. On the 9^th at 8:45pm Vesta is just 2½ degrees above the Moon low in the WSW. The Moon is 1 degree above the horizon at 258 degrees
azimuth.

At 8:15pm on the 10^th Venus is 8 degrees to the lower right of the crescent Moon in the WSW. Venus is 3½ degrees above the horizon.

The Moon is at perigee (368,461km) on the 11^th
at 11:04am. At 8:15pm the crescent Moon will be due south west. The star Zubenelgenubi (2.7 mag) in Libra is 7 degrees to the right of the Moon and 1 degree below.

At 9:20pm on the 12^th the crescent Moon is due south west and only 4½ degrees above the horizon, amongst the stars of Scorpius.

On the 13^th at 9:00pm the star Theta Ophiuchi (3.2 mag) is 1 degree above left of the first quarter Moon.

Mercury is at Maximum eastern elongation on the 14^th.

Neptune is at opposition on the 14^th. Around this date is the best time to view Neptune with binoculars or a small telscope. It will be brighter than any other time of the year

At 9:30pm on the 14^th the star Kaus Borealis (2.8 mag) in Sagittarius is 2 degrees to the upper left of the Moon.

From the 15^th - 30^th Jupiter passes close to the star Delta Capricorni (2.8 mag). On the 20^th at 9:00pm Delta Capricorni is 1½ degrees below Jupiter in the SSE.

There is a planned launch on the 16^th* from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The mission Landsat 9 continues the nearly 50-year old legacy of the
Landsat series. Its an irreplaceable record of Earth's land surfaces as seen from space. The partnership between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, the Landsat program offers the longest continuous global record of the Earth's surface.

On the 16^th at 9:30pm Saturn is 6½ degrees to the upper left of the Moon low in the south.

At 10:30pm on the 17^th Jupiter is 8 degrees upper left of the Moon. The star Delta Capricorni (2.8 mag) is 1½ degrees below Jupiter. The star Zeta Capricorni (3.7 mag) is 1½ degrees below the Moon and ¼ of a degree to the left.

On the 18^th at 10:30pm Jupiter is 8¼ degrees to the upper right of the Moon.

At 10:30pm on the 19^th Neptune is 9 degrees to the upper left of the Moon.

On the 20^th at 10:30pm Neptune is 7 degrees to the upper right of the Moon.

From the 20^th August - 20^th September around 4:00pm the asteroid Ceres (8.8 mag) will pass below the Hyades star cluster in the east. On the 2^nd Sept Ceres is ½ a degree below
the star Theta Tauri (3.4mag). On the 13^th & 14^th Ceres is just under 1 degree below Aldebaran. The Hyades is the nearest open cluster and one of the best-studied star clusters.

At 10:30pm on the 22^nd the star Nu Piscium (4.4 mag) is 3 degrees below left of the Moon.

From the 22^nd - 24^th Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko (11.3 mag – Aug 11th) will pass by the star Ain (3.5 mag) which is in the Hyades star cluster in Taurus. On the 23^rd
at midnight Chur-Gera is a quarter of a degree upper left of Ain in the east. Chur-Gera is 0.537AU from the Earth. Chur-Gera's closest approach to Earth is from the 8^th - 14^th Nov when it will be 0.418AU. Chur-Gera is at perihelion on
the 2^nd Nov. This comet is likely to brighten more over the next couple of months months, though by how much, is anybody's guess.

On the 23^rd at 9:30pm the star Xi Ceti (4.3 mag) in Cetus is 1 degree below right of the Moon.

At 10:30pm on the 24^th Uranus is 3 degrees above the Moon and 1½ degrees to the right.

On the 25^th at 10:30pm the Pleiades star cluster is 5½ degrees to the upper left of the Moon.

At 10:30pm on the 26^th the star Tau Tauri (4.2 mag) is 1½ degrees to the left of the Moon.
The Moon is at apogee (404,640km) at 10:44pm.

On the 27^th
at midnight the star Zeta Tauri (2.9 mag) is 3½ degrees below the Moon and ¾ of a degree to the right.

At midnight on the 28^th
the star Mu Geminorum (2.8 mag) is 3 degrees to the lower right of the Moon.

On the night of the 29^th
at 12:30am the star Wasat (3.5 mag) in Gemini is 3¼ degrees below right of the last quarter Moon.

* = Dates and times are subject to change

News: Mission: Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer. This x-ray astronomy satellite will study active galactic nuclei, microquasars, pulsars and pulsar wind nebulae, magnetars, accreting X-ray binaries, supernova
remnants and the galactic centre.

The first flight of NASA's X-57, a small, experimental airplane powered by electricity will take place this autumn. All-electric technology will make flying cleaner, quieter and more sustainable. The flight
will take place at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Centre in California.

CAPSTONE – Cubesat Pathfinder Mission will validate new navigation technologies and verify dynamics in Gateway's planned orbit. It will launch aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket this Autumn.

In August astronomers have discovered the two reddest objects in the asteroid belt. A team led by Sunao Hasegawa (Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan) found the two objects. Their named 203
Pompeja and 269 Justitia. Objects this red must have journeyed inward from beyond Neptune's orbit, and their presence in the main belt strengthens the case for giant planet migration early in the solar system's history.

The recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi dramatically brightened from magnitude 11.2 to 4.8 over August 8^th – 9^th. Irish amateur Keith Geary was the first to report the surprise outburst of RS
Ophiuchi, one of the few known recurrent novae. He captured photos of it glaring at magnitude 5 with his DSLR camera at 11:20pm on August 8^th.

September Fact: The Hyades is the nearest open cluster and one of the best-studied star clusters. Its located about 153 light years away and consists of a roughly spherical group of hundreds of stars sharing
the same age, place of origin and motion through space. The brightest star being Aldebaran is unrelated to the Hyades, as it is located much closer to Earth and merely happens to lie along the same line of vision

Hi All

Here is the astronomy news for June.

From Adrian

Astronomy News

Night Sky 2021 - June

Sunrise	Sunset	Mercury Sets / Rises	Venus Sets
1st – 5:02am 10th – 4:57am 20th – 4:56am 30th – 5:00am	1st – 9:17pm 10th – 9:25pm 20th – 9:29pm 30th – 9:29pm	1st – 10:08pm 11th – Inf Conjunction 26th – 4:18am 30th – 4:05am	1st – 10:40pm 10th – 10:52pm 20th – 10:57pm 30th – 10:54pm
Moon Rise	Moon Set	Moon Rise	Moon Set
1st - 2:05am 2nd – 2:26am (ESE) 3rd – 2:43am 4th – 2:57am 5th – 3:11am (E) 6th – 3:25am 7th – 3:41am (ENE) 8th – 3:58 am 9th – 4:20am 10th – 4:48am 11th – 5:25am 12th – 6:11am 13th – 7:09am 14th – 8:16am 15th – 9:29am 16th – 10:44am (ENE) 17th – 12:02pm 18th – 1:20pm 19th – 2:41pm (E)	1st - 11:25am (WSW) 2nd – 12:40pm 3rd – 1:52pm 4th – 3:01pm (W) 5th – 4:09pm 6th – 5:17pm 7th – 6:26pm (WNW) 8th – 7:34pm 9th – 8:42pm 10th – 9:47pm 11th – 10:46pm 12th – 11:35pm 14th – 12:15am 15th – 12:45am 16th – 1:10am 17th – 1:30am (WNW) 18th – 1:48am 19th – 2:04am (W) 20th – 2:21am	20th – 4:05pm 21st – 5:32pm (ESE) 22nd – 7:01pm 23rd – 8:28pm 24th – 9:45pm 25th – 10:47pm 26th – 11:33pm 28th – 12:05am 29th – 12:29am (ESE) 30th – 12:48am - - - - - - - All times in notes are set for Somerton unless stated	21st – 2:40am (WSW) 22nd – 3:04am 23rd – 3:34am 24th – 4:15am 25th – 5:11am 26th – 6:21am 27th – 7:41am 28th – 9:02am 29th – 10:21am (WSW) 30th – 11:36am - - - - - - - Moon Phases Last Quarter – 2nd New Moon – 10th First Quarter – 18th Full Moon – 24th
A useful site: www.heavens-above.com	A S Zielonka

From the 30^th May – 1^st June Mars passes close to the star Kappa Geminorum (3.5 mag). On the 31^st

Kappa Geminorum will be just under 2 degrees to the upper right of Mars.

At 4:00am on the 1^st in the south east Jupiter is 7 degrees to the upper left of the Moon. At the same time Saturn is 13 degrees to the right of the Moon and 5½ degrees above the Moon.

At 4:00am low in the SSE at the beginning of the month the star Theta Capricorni (4 mag) is barely ½ a degree to the left of Saturn. On the 30^th low in the south they will be 1½ degrees apart.

On the 1^st at 9:45pm Venus is 7 degrees above the horizon in the WNW at 300.5 degrees azimuth. Mercury is 5 degrees to the lower right of Venus at 303 degrees azimuth. The star Elnath (1.6 mag) in Taurus is 8 degrees to the right of Venus.

On the 2^nd at 4:00am Jupiter is 9½ degrees to the upper right of the Moon. The star Tau Aquarii (4 mag) in Aquarius is 1¼ degrees to the upper right of the Moon.

There is a planned launch on the 3^rd* of SpaceX Commercial Resupply Mission-22 to the ISS. It will be launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

At 4:00am on the 3^rd Neptune is 5 degrees above the Moon and 1½ degrees to the left.

On the 6^th at 4:00am a crescent Moon will be 4½ degrees above the eastern horizon and at 84 degrees azimuth.

From the 5^th – 7^th at midnight the two stars Zosma (2.5 mag) and Chertan (3.3 mag) in Leo point the way to the asteroid Vesta. On the 6^th two degrees to the lower left of Chertan in the west is Vesta.

At 4:00am on the 7^th a thin crescent Moon will be 2 degrees above the horizon at 73.5 degrees azimuth. Uranus is 3 degrees to the left of the Moon and 2½ degrees above.

On the 8^th at 4:15am a very thin crescent Moon is 1½ degrees above the horizon at 66 degrees azimuth. The Pleiades star cluster is 9 degrees to the left of the Moon and 3½ degrees above.

From the 9^th – 12^th Venus passes close to Mebsuta (3 mag) in Gemini. On the 10^th at 10:00pm Mebsuta is 1 degree upper right of Venus low in the WNW at 301.5 degrees azimuth and just 8 degrees above the horizon. Venus is at perihelion (closest point from the Sun in its orbit) on the 12^th.

Mercury is at aphelion (furthest point from the Sun in its orbit) on the 10^th.

There is an annular Solar Eclipse on the 10^th. Totality will start in mid Canada and travel across north western Greenland, the Arctic, including the North Pole ending in Siberia. The partial phase of the eclipse for us starts at 10:04:07am and ends at 12:18:04pm. Mid-eclipse is at 11:08:31am.

At 10:00pm on the 11^th a very thin crescent Moon will be 4½ degrees above the WNW horizon at 305 degrees azimuth. Venus is 5 degrees above left of the Moon. The star Mebsuta (3 mag) in Gemini is 1¾ degrees to the right of Venus.

On the 12^th at 10:00pm Venus is 6 degrees lower right of the thin crescent Moon. The star Wasat (3.5 mag) in Gemini is 2¾ degrees to the lower left of the Moon.

At 10:00pm on the 13^th Mars is 2 degrees to the lower left of the crescent Moon. The Beehive star cluster is 6½ degrees to the left of the Moon and 1 degree above.

Comet C/2020 T2 Palomar (11 mag – May 17^th) is at perihelion on the 11^th July and 2.055AU from the Sun. On the night of the 13^th June looking approximately 45 degrees above the horizon in the south west the two stars Arcturus (0.05 Mag) and Muphrid (2.6 mag) in Bootes point the way to comet Palomar. At midnight Comet Palomar is 4 degrees to the lower right of Muphrid.

On the 14^th at 10:00pm the Beehive star cluster is 6½ degrees to the lower right of the crescent Moon. Its approximately midway between the Moon and Mars.

At 12:30am on the night of the 15^th the star Eta Leonis (3.4 mag) in Leo is ½ a degree above the crescent Moon low in the WNW at 290 degrees azimuth. The star Regulus (1.3 mag) is 2 degrees above the horizon at 266.5 degrees azimuth.

From the 16^th – 18^th Venus passes close to the star Wasat (3.5 mag) In Gemini. On the 17^th at 10:15pm Wasat is just 1½ degrees to the lower left of Venus. Venus is 5½ degrees above the horizon at 301 degrees azimuth.

On the 17^th at 11:30pm the star Nu Virginis (4 mag) in Virgo is ½ a degree upper left of the crescent Moon.

At 11.30pm on the 18^th The star Porrima (2.7 mag) in Virgo is 2¾ degrees to the left of the Moon.

On the 19^th at 11:30pm the star Spica (1 mag) in Virgo is 5½ degrees below left of the Moon. The star Theta Virginis (4.3 mag) is 4 degrees to the lower right of the Moon. Both of the stars to the Moon form a perfect 90 degree rightangle.

At 10.30pm on the 20^th the star Kappa Virginis (4.1 mag) in Virgo is 1½ degrees to the upper right of the Moon.

The June solstice occurs on the 21^st at 4:21am. The North Pole of the Earth will be tilted toward the Sun, which will have reached its northernmost position in the sky and will be directly over the Tropic of Cancer at 23.44 degrees north latitude, which marks the first day of summer.

On the 21^st at 10:30pm the star Zubenelgenubi (2.7 mag) in Libra is 5½ degrees to the right of the Moon and 1 degree above.

At 11:30pm on the 22^nd the star Sigma Scorpii (2.9 mag) in Scorpius is 4 degrees below the Moon and 1 degree to the left. The star Antares (1 mag) is 2 degrees to the lower left of Sigma Scorpii.

On the 23^rd at 11:30pm the star Theta Ophiuchi (3.2 mag) in Ophiuchus is less than ½ a degree to the left of the Moon.

On the 24^th and 25^th Castor (1.5 mag) and Pollux (1.1 mag) point the way to Venus. At 10:15pm Venus will be 6 degrees above the horizon at 299 degrees azimuth.

At midnight on the 24^th the star Kaus Borealis (2.8 mag) in Sagittarius is 1¼ degrees above the Moon low in the SSE.

On the night of the 26^th at 12:05am the Moon is due south east and just 3 degrees above the horizon. Saturn is 8 degrees to the left of the Moon and 2½ degrees above. The star Theta Capricorni (4 mag) is 1¼ degrees to the left of Saturn.

At 12:30am on the night of the 27^th the Moon is 2½ degrees above the south east horizon. Saturn is 9 degrees above right of the Moon. Jupiter is 13 degrees to the left of the Moon and 2 degrees above.

On the night of the 28^th at 1:00am the Moon is 3½ degrees above the south east horizon with Jupiter 5½ degrees above the Moon... ...Then at 4:00am Jupiter is 6 degrees above right of the Moon.

On the 29^th at 4:30am Mercury is low in the ENE at 63 degrees azimuth and just 3 degrees above the horizon. Aldebaran (0.8 mag) in Taurus is upper right of Mercury at 70.5 degrees azimuth and 5½ degrees above the horizon.

At 4:00am on the 30^th Neptune is 7 degrees upper left of the Moon.

On the 30^th at 10:15pm Mars will be 7 degrees left of Venus and 2½ degrees above with the Beehive Star cluster approximately midway between them.

* = Dates and times are subject to change.

News: China launched the Tianhe module on the 29^th April into orbit, which contains living quarters for crew members for a new space station which should be operational by 2022. The new, 66 tonne, multi-module is set to be operational for at least 10 years. Beijing plans to have at least 10 more similar launches, carrying all the additional equipment into orbit, before the completion of the station next year. It will orbit Earth at an altitude of 340 to 450km (210-280 miles) which is much the same as the ISS. The ISS is due to be retired after 2024, which could potentially leave Tiangong as the only space station in Earth's orbit. When the Tiangong is up and running, it will be only a quarter of the size of the ISS.

China and Russia have announced plans to build a lunar space station. It comes as Russia prepares to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of its first-ever manned space flight. They will use their accumulated experience in space science, research and development and use of space equipment and space technology to jointly devlop a road map for the construction of an “international lunar scientific research station” the statement (in Mandarin) said.

On the 15^th May China successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars. The six-wheeled Zhurong robot was targeting the region Utopia Planita, a vast terrain in the planet's northern hemisphere. Only the Americans have really mastered landing on Mars until now. All other countries that have tried have either crashed or lost contact soon after reaching the surface.

NASA's Osiris-Rex leaves asteroid Bennu, and heads for home. After five years on mission, including more than two years spent exploring the 500 metre asteroid 101955 Bennu Osiris-Rex fired its thrusters for 7 minutes on Monday 10^th May. This burn set the spacecraft moving 600mph relative to the asteroid to start its 2½ year journey back to Earth.

Saturn is the only planet we know of whose magnetic field is almost exactly aligned with its axis of rotation. In a new analysis of data collected during the final orbits of the Cassini mission, astronomers propose the field's unique nature might come from a thick layer of helium ”rain” that's falling slowly onto the planet's mettalic hydrogen core.

In mid-May a star in the constellation of Cassiopeia that flared into view during mid-March has erupted to naked-eye visibility at 5.5 mag. The end two stars Schedar (2.2 mag) and Caph (2.2 mag) of the “W” shaped constellation point towards the Nova. The Nova is approximately 6 degrees from Caph.

Facts: China sent its first astronaut Yang Liwei (b.1965) into space in 2003 making it the third country to do so, after the Soviet Union and the United States.