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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through September 4th, 2020. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
Bright moonlight dominates nearly all of the night hours this week. The moon’s phase changes from waxing gibbous to full on the 1st. On the remaining nights through September 4th, the moon is waning gibbous.
As the sky grows dark, the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn are high in the southeast sky where they form a striking pair of objects. Jupiter is the brightest of the two, and Saturn is about 7 degrees to the east, or left, of Jupiter. Notice that over the next three months, the two planets will appear to draw dramatically closer together. In reality, Jupiter is about 400 million miles away from us, and Saturn is nearly a billion miles away, so while they are about the same direction from us, they are not really close together in space. The changing perspective from our rapidly moving planet will make the lineup appear more exact through December, and then the planets will appear to drift apart from each other as Earth moves out of alignment with them.
Both planets appear to the left of the distinctive “Teapot” shaped pattern of bright stars of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer. The Earth’s rotation makes the planets and stars arc westward through the sky during the night; they are at their highest when they reach the meridian in the south at 9:45 p.m., and they set in the west-southwest about 4 ½ hours later.
Well-adjusted astronomical telescopes may show the banded structure of Jupiter’s clouds and its colorful oval storm, the Great Red Spot. Observers on the west coast should be able to see the Great Red Spot on the Earth-facing side of Jupiter at 10:00 p.m. on August 28th, 30th, September 1st, and 4th.
Saturn’s ring system is always a stunning sight through a telescope. Use a magnification of at least 25 to see the rings distinctly.
The coppery gleam of the planet Mars can be seen above the eastern horizon by about 11:00 p.m. Mars is high in the southern sky by about 4:00 a.m. The planet should be worth examining through telescopes of three-inch or larger diameter, while using a magnification of 100 or more, between midnight and dawn. The planet currently displays a gibbous phase. Its white South Polar Cap, now shrinking in the southern Martian summer, appears small. The amber-colored disk of Mars has dusky markings that are sometimes obscured by dust storms and clouds, although the Martian atmosphere has been calm and transparent so far this year.
Even though Mars will not be at its closest to us until late October, it already appears more than 80-percent as large through a telescope as it will then. After this year, it will not look as large through a telescope again until 2033. Repeated observations will help you to recognize its features, which may seem challenging to see at first. Because a Martian day (or sol) is about 39 minutes longer than an Earth day, we can see a slightly different face of Mars at the same time night by night, until the whole planet has turned toward us after 5 weeks.
The brightest planet, Venus, is obvious in the east-northeast by 3:15 a.m., and it is so bright that it can still be glimpsed at sunrise, when it is 40 degrees above the eastern horizon. A telescope may let you observe its gibbous phase.
Because of measures in place that are intended to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 Corona virus, Griffith Observatory remains closed until further notice. Consequently, all public telescopes are closed, and all public events have been cancelled. Please check the Griffith Observatory homepage for current information and continued updates of the situation.
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From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at Anthony.Cook@lacity.org.