That's close enough to appear together in binoculars and telescopes at low magnification (red circle). (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: People gas up at a Shell station on Pierson Street in the Dimond District of Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.
Rick Hurd has covered breaking news, crime and public safety since 2011 after spending 16 years covering sports, including the A's and Sharks. In the eastern evening sky on Tuesday, Sept. 1, observers using binoculars and backyard telescopes (red circle) in the eastern half of North America can see the almost-full moon occult the medium-bright (magnitude 4.05) star designated Tau Aquarii or 71 Aquarii. Mars will become a prime target for skywatchers during September — a dress rehearsal for its big opposition event in mid-October — the best in the 2020's. Farther west, the August Complex Fire — which began last month as 37 separate blazes in sparsely populated and mountainous terrain — has grown into the second-largest fire in California history, at more than 420,000 acres, surpassing two others, the SCU and LNU complex fires, which ignited closer to the Bay Area last month after a devastating summer thunderstorm system and so-called “lightning surge.”. Viewed in a telescope during September, Mercury will wane in phase from 91% to 77% illuminated, and the planet's apparent disk size will increase by about 20%. After sunset on Sept. 18, the very slim crescent moon will sit a slim palm's width to the upper right (or 5 degrees to the celestial north) of Mercury. Heavy smoke from Northern California fires combined with a thick marine layer created reddish skies above much of the Bay Area on Wednesday morning. View the comic strip for Red and Rover by cartoonist Brian Basset created September 27, 2020 available on GoComics.com September 27, 2020 GoComics.com - Search Form Search PHOENIX - It’s an eerie sight to see in Arizona: A red sun and moon were captured on Tuesday morning by residents across Arizona, lighting up social media. On Wednesday, Sept. 9, Mars will cease its eastward motion through the distant background stars of Pisces, and commence a retrograde loop (red path with labeled dates) that will last through opposition in October, and end in mid-November. During September, Mercury will steadily swing away from the sun in the western evening sky.
As the winds weaken aloft, gravity will take over as the primary vertical transport of the smoke.Suspended smoke will descend closer to the surface and could lead to darker skies and worsening air quality today. As the month opens, the red planet will rise shortly before 10 p.m. local time and cross the overnight sky as a -1.83 object among the stars of southern Pisces. He commutes by foot, car, BART, bus and ride-hailing app -- sometimes all in one day. On Sept. 6, the waning gibbous moon will be positioned 4 degrees south of Uranus. OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 9: A pedestrian walks around Lake Merritt on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. In Red Deer, Alberta, the first day of September is 13 hours, 30 minutes long. It's easy to measure distances between objects: Your fist on an outstretched arm covers about 10 degrees of sky, while a finger covers about one degree. (NOAA via AP). On Saturday, Sept. 12, Jupiter will appear to stop moving with respect to the distant stars — marking the end of a westward retrograde loop (red path with labelled dates:times) that began in mid-May. “Fires create their own weather,” National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass explained, but usually only on a small scale, in areas close to the flames. September 2020 - Red Deer, Alberta - Sunrise and sunset calendar. Full moons are positioned opposite the sun in the sky, so they rise at sunset and set at sunrise. — NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) September 9, 2020. When the bright, waning gibbous moon rises in the east at about 10 p.m. local time on Sunday, Sept. 6, it will be positioned several finger widths to the lower right (or 4 degrees to the celestial south) of blue-green Uranus. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group), SAN FRANCISCO, CA - SEPTEMBER 9: Jose Castillo has his photo taken with the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco skyline in the background by his friend Laito Miyake, both of San Francisco, as smoky skies from the northern California wildfires casts an orange and yellow color in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.
Brighter stars are magnitude 2 or 1. From time to time, the Great Red Spot (GRS) and the little round, black shadows cast by Jupiter's four Galilean moons become visible in backyard telescopes as they cross (or transit) the planet's disk. “It’s kind of like nuclear winter,” Clements said. You’re …early. But, “This is worse because we have more large fires surrounding the Bay Area than we’ve ever had,” said Craig Clements, director of the Fire Weather Research Laboratory at San Jose State University. Observers in central and northeastern South America, Cape Verde Islands, northern Africa, and southern Europe will see the moon occult Mars around 05:00 GMT on Sept. 6. The week of moonless evening skies that follow last quarter will be ideal for observing deep sky targets. CLICK HERE TO TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS. This bright moon will be too bright for dim-planet hunting. On Sunday night, Sept. 27, the terminator on the waxing gibbous moon will fall just west of Sinus Iridum, the Bay of Rainbows.
However, it's unsafe to look at the sun without protective eyewear. At closest approach on Tuesday morning, Venus will be positioned about two finger widths to the right (or 2 degrees to the celestial south) of Vesta. During a two-week period that starts just before the September new moon, look above the eastern horizon for a broad wedge of faint light rising from the horizon and centered on the ecliptic (marked by a green line), which extends below Venus toward the bright star Regulus in Leo. Zenith: The point in the sky directly overhead. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group), SAN FRANCISCO, CA - SEPTEMBER 9: Smoky skies from the northern California wildfires casts a reddish color in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.
(Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: Orange sky glows above the Fox Theater on Telegraph Avenue in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. Generic astronomy calculator to calculate times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset for many cities, with daylight saving time and time zones taken in account. Algol, also designated Beta Persei, is among the most accessible variable stars for skywatchers. On Sept. 5-6, the bright, waning gibbous moon will pass only 1 degree to the southwest of Mars.
Since Mars' solstice occurs on Sept. 3, the planet's bright southern polar cap will be tipped towards Earth — shrinking as it warms, but still prominent in telescopes. CLICK HERE if you’re having a problem viewing the photos on a mobile device. The smoke that smothered the Bay Area on Wednesday, though, was coming from hundreds of miles away. The evenings surrounding first quarter are the best ones to see the lunar terrain when it is dramatically lit by low-angle sunlight. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to 37prime and content author with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. That’s why you’re seeing an orange glow,” Bay Area Air Quality Management District spokeswoman Tina Landis said. The Red Sox rotation has recovered from a dismal start this season. The unusual orange and re-hued skies were a result of smoke from the Northern California wildfires. By the time the moon and Saturn set shortly before 1 a.m. local time, the moon will be farther from Saturn — and the diurnal rotation of the sky will lower Saturn to the moon's right. The trio will remain visible until Io's shadow moves off Jupiter at about 08:30 GMT. Idiots In Cars: Left Turn Lanes are for Chumps. Like nearby Jupiter, Saturn will be well-positioned for evening observing during September — although they will remain rather low in the sky for mid-Northern observers. A A A; North American greenhouse grower Red Sun Farms says new lighting technology in its facility is enabling it to bring a year-round supply from Canada. With Jupiter positioned nearby, the scene will make a beautiful wide field image. On Thursday, Sept. 3, the southern polar axis of Mars will reach its maximum tilt of 24 degrees towards the sun, triggering the solstice, and the beginning of winter in Mars' Northern Hemisphere. From that point on, Jupiter's faster orbit will cause it to diminish its angular separation from slower Saturn. Canada: New greenhouse lighting tech creates year-round produce supplies - Red Sun Farms. But to fully enjoy the heavens — especially a meteor shower, the constellations, or to see the amazing swath across the sky that represents our view toward the center of the Milky Way Galaxy — rural areas are best for night sky viewing. Find it 11 degrees south of Aries' brightest star Hamal, or 5 degrees north of the stars that form the top of Cetus' head. September 9, 2020: My Red Sun. In a tweet, the National Weather Service warned that the smoky conditions were “beyond the scope of our models.” Those models, which predicted temperatures in the 80s across parts of the Bay Area on Wednesday, don’t take into account the potential for smoke to be so thick that it blocks sunlight and keeps temperatures cool, Gass said. Its apparent disk diameter will shrink from 44 To 40 arc-seconds. On Sept. 11, Neptune will reach opposition. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Fire danger also prompted the closure of every National Forest in California; after closing eight forests for the same reason Monday, U.S. Forest Service officials announced they would close the 10 remaining forests at 5 p.m. Wednesday. That reversal will keep the planet within the V of Pisces all month long.
Previous Post Previous That’s Some Kind of Paste. “Until we are able to get these fires put under control and turn off that smoke generation,” Gass said, “we are going to continue to have ebb and flows of smoky and hazy conditions into the foreseeable future.”, Get Morning Report and other email newsletters.
Observing the night sky can be done with no special equipment, although a sky map can be very useful. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group), PALO ALTO, CA - SEPTEMBER 09: Bawer Bor of San Francisco takes a photograph of downtown Palo Alto as smoke from wildfires burning in Northern California filter the sun light on Sept. 9, 2020, in Palo Alto, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group), SAN FRANCISCO, CA - SEPTEMBER 9: Patrons have lunch outside a restaurant as smoky skies from the northern California wildfires casts a reddish color around noon in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. The blaze has destroyed homes and businesses in the town of Berry Creek and triggered evacuation warnings that extended into areas devastated by the Camp Fire, including parts of Paradise.
The full moon is minus 12.7 and the sun is minus 26.8. After 24 hours of eastward motion, the bright waxing moon will sit several finger widths to the lower left (or 3.6 degrees to the celestial south of) yellowish Saturn in the southern sky after dusk.
Daytime skywatching: When Venus is visible (that is, not in front of or behind the sun) it can often be spotted during the day.
Editor's note: If you have an amazing skywatching photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, you can send images and comments in to spacephotos@futurenet.com.