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Celestial
Events Calendar
Wednesday, September 1, 2004:
11 PM CDT (August 31) The equation of time is zero, that
is, the midpoint between sunset and sunrise is exactly at midnight.
1 PM CDT Mercury is stationary in right ascension.
Relative to the stars, the apparent motion of Mercury in the morning sky ceases
to be westward (away from the Sun, retrograde) and begins to be eastward
(towards the Sun, prograde).
Friday, September 3, 2004:
1:35 AM CDT The Moon is at its ascending node. The Moon is
crossing the plane of the Earths orbit (ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun
through the sky) and heading northeast.
Monday, September 6, 2004:
10:10 AM CDT Last Quarter Moon
Wednesday, September 8, 2004:
7 AM CDT Mercury is at its ascending node. Mercury is
crossing the ecliptic and heading northwest.
10 PM CDT The Moon is at apogee, the point in its orbit
where it is furthest from the Earth ~ 254,000 miles
Thursday, September 9, 2004:
Delta Aurigid meteor shower active September
5 to October 10, ZHR = 5 meteors/hour, the Moon rises with the radiant (the
point in the sky where the meteors appear to be coming from).
9 AM CDT Mercury is at its greatest elongation west, 18o
from the Sun. Mercury is at its apparent furthest distance from the Sun in the
morning sky.
Friday, September 10, 2004:
1 AM CDT Mercury is 3 arcminutes south of the star
Regulus, in Leo the Lion, in the morning sky.
Monday, September 13, 2004:
12 AM CDT The asteroid Vesta is at opposition. The Earth
is between the Sun and Vesta. Vesta rises when the Sun sets and Vesta sets when
the Sun rises, hence it is visible all night. Opposition is the best time to
view an object whose orbit is outside the Earths orbit.
11 PM CDT Mercury is at perihelion, the point in its orbit
where it is closest to the Sun ~ 29 million miles
Tuesday, September 14, 2004:
9:28 AM CDT New Moon, the beginning of lunation cycle
#1011.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004:
8 AM CDT Mars is at superior conjunction. The Sun is
between Mars and the Earth. Mars now rises before the Sun in the morning sky.
Thursday, September 16, 2004:
7 AM CDT The apparent position of the Sun leaves the
constellation of Leo the Lion and enters the constellation of Virgo.
Friday, September 17, 2004:
10 AM CDT The Moon is at its descending node. It is
crossing the ecliptic and heading southeast.
Sunday, September 19, 2004:
Piscid meteor shower active September
1 30, ZHR = 3 meteors/hour. The Moon sets an hour before midnight when Pisces
is overhead so it should not interfere.
Monday, September 20, 2004:
10 PM CDT Summer solstice on Mars
Tuesday, September 21, 2004:
10:54 AM CDT First Quarter Moon
7 PM CDT Jupiter is at conjunction with the Sun. The Sun
is between Jupiter and the Earth. Jupiter now rises before the Sun in the
morning sky.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004:
11:30 AM CDT Atumnal Equinox
The Sun, which appears to move along the ecliptic, crosses
from the north to the south of the plane of the Earths equator (celestial equator).
The astrological sign changes from Virgo to Libra.
Friday, September 24, 2004:
65th Meeting of the North Houston Astronomy
Club Speaker: Dennis Webb
Monday, September 27, 2004:
Sextanid radio meteor shower
Tuesday, September 28, 2004:
8:08 AM CDT Full Moon, fruit Moon and since
it is the nearest full moon to the equinox it is also the harvest moon.
1 PM CDT Venus is at its ascending node
Wednesday, September 29, 2004:
3 AM CDT Mercury, Mars and Jupiter and all within a degree
of each other in the morning sky just before sunrise.
Thursday, September 30, 2004:
9 AM CDT The Moon is at its ascending node
Friday, October 22, 2004:
4th Annual Houston/Beaumont Regional Astronomy
Meeting, 8 PM, St. Thomas University, The NHAC meeting scheduled for this night
will be held at St. Thomas University with the other four clubs.
Saturday, October 23, 2004:
Astronomy Day 2004, The George Observatory, 3 to 11 PM.