Eye on the Sky: Planet watchers are in for treat

STARRY NIGHT: The night sky from Lake Tarawera, pictured last month. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER A-280714SP1

With the days lengthening and the cold nights of winter nearly behind us we celebrate the beginning of spring.

On September 22 we cross the equinox and we welcome the sun into the southern skies for the next six months.

Planet watchers are in for a treat. On September 1 there is a conjunction of Saturn, Mars and the moon high in the western sky. The triangle of celestial spheres remaining in the evening sky until well after sunset.

Mercury makes an appearance, setting one hour after sunset at the beginning of the month. Watch out for a series of conjunctions from the 21st through to the 28th between the star Spica, Saturn and the moon.

On the 21st there is a very close - probably less then one degree of separation - conjunction between Mercury and the star Spica.

Followed on the 26th by a conjunction between the moon and Mercury and Spica. And finally, a conjunction between Saturn and the moon.

Welcome back Jupiter. After spending a couple of months behind the sun, the king of the solar system returns, rising a bit earlier each morning as it races ahead of the rising dawn and rising nearly two hours before sunrise by month's end.

Venus on the other hand is heading in the opposite direction. Having come within less than a degree of Jupiter on August 18, we see it sinking eastward each morning and disappearing into the glare of the rising sun come the end of the month.

This month we also see the last of the so called super-moons for this year.

Also this month we celebrate international Observe the Moon Night on September 6. Join us at the Lakefront about 7pm to see the moon through a telescope.

For information about International Observe the Moon Night, or anything else astronomical, contact the Rotorua Astronomical Society or Bay of Plenty Side-Walk Astronomers. Both on Facebook.