Starwatch Newsletter Minnesota Starwatch is a tape-recorded message describing the night sky in the Midwest, which can be called by telelphone number (612) 624-2001 It is updated montly, and is produced by the Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

The Moon is new on the 6th, at first quarter on the 13th, full on the 21st, at last quarter on the 29th. The waning crescent Moon on the 1st will be about 5 degrees above Saturn in the morning sky just before sunrise. Three days later it will be about the same distance from Jupiter. On the 29th it will again be only a few degrees from Saturn..

Venus shines incredibly bright, very low in the western sky just after sunset and will be at its brightest near the end of the month. In a telescope it will appear as a very thin crescent. It will be visible in the evening twilight, not very far above the horizon, for about an hour after sunset.

Mercury will also be visible in early September but actually seeing it will be a major challenge since it will be closer to the Sun and even lower in the sky than Venus.

Mars will be difficult to see in the morning sky since it rises only half an hour before the Sun at the beginning of the month. It should be easier to see at the end of September when it rises about 1½ hours before the Sun. NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter has just discovered water ice, buried just below the surface of the planet. This is great news for the supporters of life on Mars.

Jupiter is also in the morning sky and located very close to the star cluster M44, also known as the Beehive, in the constellation of Cancer. This should be a pretty sight with binoculars.

Saturn rises around midnight and is readily visible the rest of the night in the constellation of Gemini. Even a small telescope will show the rings of Saturn which are very favorably inclined towards the Earth this year; a very beautiful sight!

The Sun passes through the autumnal equinox just before noon on the 23rd, heralding the official arrival of fall.

Finally we note that astronomers searching for planets around other stars have found over 100 such planets, including the first two that have Jupiter-like masses and orbits. Most previously discovered planets are much larger than Jupiter and have orbits very close to the central star. It is expected that continued observations will add many more planets with Jupiter-like masses and orbits to the list. Discovery of planetary systems like our own may be just around the corner.

The Minneapolis Planetarium offers a wide variety of programs for all ages. For more information, call 612/630-6150.

For those interested in the Minnesota Astronomical Society, call 651/649-4861 for information on their upcoming events.

Minnesota Starwatch is available on-line at http://www.astro.umn.edu/Outreach/pub_out.html

This has been Minnesota Starwatch, produced by the University of Minnesota Astronomy Department in cooperation with WCCO Weather Center.

Last Updated: Tue Aug 20 13:32:09 2002