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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through September 11th, 2020. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
The brilliant planet Jupiter will likely be the first object in the sky to attract your attention during evening twilight. Look for it in the east-southeast sky. Saturn, also bright but fainter than Jupiter, is 8 degrees to Jupiter’s left, and it will become visible as the sky darkens. Both planets are located in the eastern part of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer. Look to the immediate right of Jupiter for the distinctive “Teapot” pattern made by the bright stars of Sagittarius.
A telescope may show Jupiter’s four large Galilean moons, and the banded structure and irregular disturbances of Jupiter’s clouds. West coast observers should look for Jupiter’s colorful giant oval storm, the Great Red Spot, when it is visible at 9:00 p.m. on September 4th, 6th (when it is just coming into view), 7th (as it moves out of view), 9th, and 11th.
Saturn’s rings are a treat to see through telescopes that are capable of producing clear images with a magnification of 25 or more. Unless Earth’s atmosphere blurs the image because of turbulence, a three-inch diameter telescope used with a magnification of at least 80 should let you glimpse the ring feature called Cassini’s Division. The division, named after its eighteenth-century discoverer, astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, appears as a narrow gap between Saturn’s outer “A” ring, and the broad inner “B” ring.
Earth’s rotation causes everything in the eastern sky to arc over to the west. Jupiter and Saturn are at their highest in the south at about 9:15 p.m., and then they gradually make their way to the west-southwest horizon where Jupiter sets by 1:42 a.m.
The fiery glow of the brilliant planet Mars is easy to see above the eastern horizon by 10:30 p.m. Now set against the faint backdrop of stars provided by the constellation Pisces the Fishes, Mars arcs westward and high into the sky over the course of the night. It crosses the meridian in the south at 3:30 a.m. before moving to the west-southwest at dawn.
This week, a telescope may let you observe the interesting details of Mars, only weeks from its closest approach to Earth in over two years. Look for the bright white region of the Martian South Polar Cap. The cap is now shrinking quickly in the planet’s austral summer.
The most distinctive dark marking on Mars, a dark triangular volcanic plain called Syrtis Major, will be in view when the planet is highest for west coast observers.
The brightest planet, Venus, blazes in the east-northeast after it rises at 3:07 a.m. By sunrise, the planet may still be visible against the blue sky, then 41 degrees above the eastern horizon.
The time of the rising of the waning moon occurs an average of 40 minutes later from one night to the next; as a result, the moon rises at 8:55 p.m. on the 4th and at 12:18 a.m. on the 11th. Its phase is gibbous before the 10th, when it is last quarter. It appears waning crescent starting on the 11th.
The moon appears only half a degree (its own angular width) from Mars at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night, the 5th. Because of the eastward revolution of the moon around the Earth, the gap between the moon and Mars will grow to three degrees before sunrise on Saturday.
The moon passes the bright orange star Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull on the 9th. On the 10th it appears midway between Mars and Venus.
The International Space Station should rival the brilliance of Venus as it crosses the sky high over Los Angeles on the morning of the 11th. The ISS will glide from the northwest to the southeast between 5:57 a.m. and 6:03 a.m., and it will reach its highest when it is 81 degrees high in the northeast at 6:00 a.m. At that time, the space station will be 263 miles from Griffith Observatory.
Because of measures in place that are intended to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 Corona virus, Griffith Observatory remains closed until further notice. Consequently, all public telescopes are closed, and all public events have been cancelled. Please check the Griffith Observatory homepage for current information and continued updates of the situation.
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From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at Anthony.Cook@lacity.org.