bcg@ncs-med.UUCP (Brian C. Grande) (08/31/85)
I downloaded this file from the L5-Minn modem (612-920-5566), hope
you find the information helpful some clear night this month.. -brian
Minnesota Starwatch is a tape recorded message describing the night sky in the
midwest, which can be called by telephone at (612) 376-5587. The following is
the text of this message for September 1985.
Hello, this is Minnesota Starwatch for the month of September 1985. As
this month begins the three planets Mercury, Venus and Mars will all be
"morning stars." Venus will rise at approximately 3:40am followed by Mercury
at about 5:00 and last by Mars 15 or so minutes later. On the 4th Mercury and
Mars will be in conjunction and they will rise together at about 5:15am;
Mercury will be brighter than Mars and also more to the south of it. At that
time the sun will be about 16 degrees away and due to rise at 6:39. Mercury
will not remain a "morning star" for long. Its orbital motion around the sun
will make it appear to get closer to the sun. On the 22nd, Mercury will arrive
at its superior conjunction with the sun - it will be behind the sun. Venus
and Mars will remain as "morning stars" all month. With each passing night
they will appear closer together until early next month (on October 4). They,
too, will be in conjunction.
In September each night after sunset three planets will be visible to the
naked eye - they are Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter. At the start of the month
they will set at approximately 10:45pm, 11:50pm and 4:00am, respectively. At
the end of the month those times will have changed to 8:50pm, 9:50pm and
1:50am. Starting on the 5th or so after Jupiter has set no planets will be in
the sky until the rise of Venus in the morning.
On September 8, the sun's north pole will be inclined toward the Earth.
More sunspots occur in the sun's northern hemisphere, so there tend to be more
sunspots visible from Earth around this time of year than around March.
However, the current state of the sunspot cycle is one of low and declining
solar activity - a situation that results in few sunspots and hampers the
ability of the earth's atmosphere to propagate high frequency radio waves.
September 23 is the day of the Autumnal Equinox (the beginning of Fall).
On that day the amount of daytime and nighttime will be almost the same. That
day if you could see Earth from the vantage point of our sun, you would be able
to see both of Earth's poles. Even though Earth is tilted, the "tilt" would be
such that neither pole would be any nearer to the sun.
Comet Halley will be visible on two seperate occasions - once on its way
to the sun, and again as it leaves. The first appearance will be from about
November this year until January 1986. In the spring of 1986 Halley will
reappear and present an even better view of itself.
The new show at the Minneapolis Planetarium is "Catastrophe" and will
begin September 14th. New show times will be Saturday and Sunday at 2:00pm.
The Planetarium is located in the Main Public Library, 300 Nicollet Mall. For
more information, call 372-6644.
Minnesota Starwatch is supported in part by a generous donation from WCCO
TV/Radio.
This has been Minnesota Starwatch, and I am Stan Shankman.
--
Brian C. Grande ihnp4!umn-cs!ncs-med!bcg
National Computer Systems
Health Systems Division
5700 Green Circle Drive Work 612-893-8158
Minnetonka, MN 55343 Home 612-938-2437
Land of two seasons: Winter and Road Constuction (both distroy a car!)