The Aurigid meteor shower started Sunday, peaked Thursday and ends Monday. It’s a small one, rated at just six meteors per hour. It gets its name from the constellation of Auriga since that’s the radiant point. Viewing conditions aren’t ideal right now since the moon is at its first quarter on Saturday. Then begins it will begin its waxing gibbous phase on Sunday. In other words, it’s on its way to being full.
As the Aurigid meteor shower is ending, the Epsilon Perseid (ε-Perseid) meteor shower begins Monday, as well. It peaks Friday and goes until Sept. 21. It’s another small one rated at just five meteors an hour. The constellation Perseus is the radiant point for this meteor shower, as the big one that recently finished, the Perseid meteor shower. Unfortunately, it peaks the night before the full moon. So once again, viewing conditions are far from good.
The moon will surely outshine any “shooting stars.” Since it will continue as the moon gets smaller, there still will be a chance to see some “shooting stars.” As with most meteor showers, it’ll be best to look for them before dawn. Since these are small meteor showers, you’ll have a better chance of seeing “shooting stars” if you get away from light pollution and city lights. Almanac.com has a great analogy for meteor watching, they compare it with fishing – you go for the good company and, if you’re lucky, you’ll catch something!
If you haven’t heard yet, Jupiter and Saturn have been hanging out in the south after sunset. Saturn rises before sunset and Jupiter. It rises 6:37 p.m. Saturday and a few minutes earlier each day for the rest of the week. Sunset will be at 7:36 p.m. Saturday so Saturn is visible as soon as it gets dark. (The sun is also setting a minute or two earlier each night.)
Saturn looks like a bright star so it might be difficult to distinguish it from other stars, that’s when using a star app is helpful. It’ll display a map of the stars and usually identify planets. However, an app isn’t need to spot Jupiter. It rises 8:36 p.m. Saturday and Saturn will rise a few minutes earlier each night as the week passes. It’s the brightest object in the south. Both planets will rise in the southeastern sky and travel west as the night passes. The moon and Saturn will have a close approach 5:35 a.m. Thursday. Friday night the moon will travel between the two planets. Jupiter and the moon will have a close approach on Sept. 11 but it won’t be visible since it occurs after sunrise.
Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astronomical questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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