| Jupiter will be at opposition in the September night sky Three stars rule our high S sky tonight, while three planets are at their best during September. The stars, Vega, Deneb and Altair, form our Summer Triangle which topples westwards overnight until Altair sets in the W before dawn.The planets are Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. Jupiter, indeed, is marginally closer and brighter at opposition in Pisces on the 21st than it has been for 47 years. It is then 592m km away and conspicuous at mag -2.9 as it climbs from our E horizon at nightfall to pass about 35° high in the S at 01:00 BST. Jupiter shows a large 50 arcsec disc through a telescope, while binoculars reveal its four main moons. Look for it near the Harvest Moon on the 22nd and 23rd.Jupiter also appears close to the distant planet Uranus which is another easy binocular object of mag 5.7. As both creep westwards, Uranus shifts from 1.8° due W (right) of Jupiter tonight to lie 0.8° (less than two Moon-breadths) NNW of Jupiter on the 19th and 1.4° NE of Jupiter by the month's end. Uranus is 2,856m km wide at opposition, its blue-green disc only 4 arcsec wide. Mercury begins its best morning apparition of the year as it emerges from the Sun's glare late next week. From the 13th to the month's end, it rises more than 80 minutes before the Sun, stands between 7° and 10° high in the E 30 minutes before sunrise, and brightens from mag 1.1 to -1.1. Check our next Starwatch for more details.It is hard to be excited about the other naked-eye planets this month. True, Venus is brilliant at mag -4.4 but it stands a mere 6° high in the SW at sunset on the 1st and will soon be lost as it sinks even lower. Mars and Saturn, and Virgo's star Spica, are not far away but already swamped by the evening twilight, at least as seen from our N latitudes.MeteorsSatellitesAlan Pickupguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Strengthening La Nina could mean more hurricanes By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID 2010-09-09T17:21:36ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- The La Nina climate phenomenon is strengthening, increasing the likelihood an active hurricane season could get even busier.... hosted.ap.org |
Study finds predictive power of search A new study claims web search statistics can be used to predict human behaviour - from record sales to the spread of influenza. abc.net.au |
Video: Coach Singletary demonstrates that losers need more than God's help | GrrlScientist Edward Current has some advice for Mike Singletary to improve his American football team's crappy recordIt turns out, the NFL's most God-glorifying Christian is a huge loser! To win, Mike Singletary is gonna need more than wood for Jeebuz, according to Edward Current. Mr Current has some advice for Mike Singletary to improve his American football team's crappy record. GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Scientist at Work: Diversity of Birds and Fishes Scientists find more than 200 species of birds at one site, average for this kind of Amazonian forest, and an incredible diversity of fishes in an Amazonian stream. feeds.nytimes.com |