MARSHALL'S NIGHT SKY THIS WEEK - September 30th to October 6th
We are proud to present you with another edition of Marshall's night sky events this week! Welcome, we hope you find something of interest! Let us know in the replies if you did, we would love to hear about it! We have also started a look back at events this week in history, hope you enjoy the new segment.
Let's get started by examining the highlights of the night sky this week, September 30th to October 6th. As usual we will list the highlights and discuss a few. We hope you find this info useful and if you have anything you wish to discuss or add, please hit the "Reply" button below and let us know!
Information is freely gathered from various websites. We would encourage you to download and print your finder charts more specific to your location, the charts/graphics included are for basic guidance only. Many websites like Skymaps.com will allow you to download and print out a free planisphere for each month, the link is here: https://www.skymaps.com/.
EVENTS
Zodiacal light is visible in the Northern latitudes in the East before morning twilight for roughly the next two weeks.
30th September
Mercury in superior conjunction at 21:00 UTC.
1st October
IO Transit and Shadow Transit across the Great Red Spot. 04:45 UTC
2nd October
New Moon (lunation 1259) at 18:49 UTC.
Moon at apogee (406 516 km's, 252,597 miles)
Annular Solar Eclipse - View visibility map here: Annular Solar Eclipse
3rd October
4th October
5th October
Venus 3* north of Moon at 20:00 UTC.
6th October
PLANETS
Mercury was at superior conjunction last week and is lost in the Solar glare all this week.
Venus is currently in Libra and is a bright evening star at Sunset all this week.
Mars rises in Gemini in the early hours from Northern latitudes and is close to the Zenith from Southern latitudes.
Jupiter is in Taurus this week nestled between the horns of the bull.
Saturn is in Aquarius this week, rings continuing to close.
Uranus in Taurus this week just a couple of degrees to the West of the Pleiades
Neptune is close to the circlet of Pisces this week and follows Saturn across the sky as the night progresses.
COMETS
C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) has brightened to magnitude 2.2 this week. Visible from southerly skies in the morning twilight. A challenging target from Northern latitudes.
C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)
Magnitude: 2.2 Still Brightening
Coma Diameter: 5.0' Tail Length: 30.0'
Apparent: 10h 55m 13s -06° 04’ 26” in Leo
STARS
Zeta Herculis - An unequal binary pair with a highly eccentric 35 year orbit. Currently at maximum separation. Zeta Herculis is the star at the bottom right of the Hercules keystone asterism.
Sirius - Have you ever tried for Sirius B? Sirius A and B are now at their widest apparent separation in their 50-year orbit, 11 arcseconds apart, and will remain so for the next couple years before they start closing up again. If you can block it out of your FOV you might have a shot at open cluster Gaia 1 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_1)
T Coronae Borealis - A star system, located 3,000 light-years away from Earth, is predicted to become visible to the unaided eye soon. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity as the nova outburst only occurs about every 80 years. Now a challenging evening target on the Western horizon after Sunset, still visible above 10° for a couple of hours from Northern locations. T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB, last exploded in 1946 and astronomers believe it will do so again in 2024. Once in a lifetime event! Plan ahead just in case! Full article here. The TSS TCrB Citizen Science Thread is here.
SPACE LAUNCHES
Two planned launches this week. Info from spaceflightnow.com
September 29/30 Falcon 9 • OneWeb 20
Launch time: 11:54 p.m. PDT (2:54 a.m. EDT, 0654 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the final batch of OneWeb’s Gen 1 satellites to low Earth orbit. Nearly eight minutes after liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, the Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1082, will return for a touchdown at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4).
October 4 Vulcan • Certification Flight 2
Launch time: Three-hour window opens 6 a.m. EDT (1000 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
The second flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket will carry ballast and a collection of small payloads. ULA changed this mission when it became clear the original payload, Sierra Space Dream Chaser cargo ship, would not ready for launch. This second test flight is needed to gain certification from the U.S. military to fly national security payloads. Delayed from September 2024.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
We highly recommend using "Spot the Station" from NASA to find out when the International Space station will be passing over your location. This is a fun object to see flying high above, try using binoculars here, lots of fun!
For the HAM radio enthusiasts among you, please keep a eye on the ARISS website for upcoming contacts or SSTV broadcasts for when the International Space Station is within range. There are several HAMS on board the ISS, they should have a busy radio schedule coming up. AMSAT are another great resource in this regard.
This video is from the ISS live feed on YouTube. Watch live video from the International Space Station, including inside views when the crew aboard the space station is on duty. Views of Earth are also streamed from an external camera located outside of the space station. During periods of signal loss due to handover between communications satellites, a blue screen is displayed.
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
September 30
144 years ago, in 1880, using an 11 inch Clark Brothers photographic refractor, Henry Draper is the first person to photograph the Orion Nebula.
29 years ago, in 1995, NASA terminates routine contact with Pioneer 11.
14 years ago, in 2010, The Russian (previously Soviet) Molniya-M carrier rocket makes its final flight.
8 years ago, in 2016, the Rosetta probe ends its mission by landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
October 1
74 years ago, in 1950, the Soviet R-2, with twice the range of the R-1, makes its first flight.
66 years ago, in 1958, the NASA agency becomes operational.
21 years ago, in 2003, with the merger of three previously independent organizations, the Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA) is formed.
14 years ago, in 2010, Chang'e 2, an unmanned Chinese lunar probe, is successfully launched.
10 years ago, in 2014, communication is lost with the solar probe STEREO B.
October 2
62 years ago, in 1962, Explorer 14 is launched to measure cosmic-ray particles, solar wind protons, and interplanetary magnetic fields.
53 years ago, in 1971, Luna 19 (USSR) goes into orbit around the Moon, returning data for the next year.
33 years ago, in 1991, on board the Soyuz TM-13 mission to Mir, Franz Viehbock becomes the first Austrian to visit space.
33 years ago, in 1991, the Japanese Hiten moon probe is placed into temporary lunar orbit.
7 years ago, in 2017, OSIRIS-REx takes a picture of the Earth and Moon from a distance of just over 5 million km's ( 3 million miles).
6 years ago, in 2018, one of the Insight probe's deep-space CubeSats, MarCO-B, takes the first picture of Mars ever taken by a CubeSat.
October 3
82 years ago, in 1942, the first V-2 rocket is launched from Peenemunde, Germany, and reaches 85 km (52 mi).
62 years ago, in 1962, Mercury/Sigma 7 does 6 earth orbits with astronaut Wally M. Schirra.
39 years ago, in 1985, the shuttle Atlantis (STS-51-J) lifts off for its maiden flight.
6 years ago, in 2018, the third rover from Hayabusa2, MASCOT, lands on the surface of asteroid Ryugu.
6 years ago, in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe makes its first flyby of Venus.
October 4
25th Annual World Space Week Day 1
67 years ago, in 1957, the Soviets launch Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite.
65 years ago, in 1959, Luna 3 is launched to the Moon.
64 years ago, in 1960, Courier 1B is launched by the USAF, becoming the world's first active repeater satellite.
59 years ago, in 1965, Luna 7 is launched to the Moon.
20 years ago, in 2004, the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne makes its second (and winning) flight for the Ansari X PRIZE.
October 5
25th Annual World Space Week Day 2
66 years ago, in 1958, Explorer 4's high-power transmitter ceases sending signals.
45 years ago, in 1979, Pioneer 11 begins the Pioneer Interstellar Mission.
40 years ago, in 1984, Marc Garneau, aboard the shuttle Challenger (STS-41-G), becomes the first Canadian in space.
31 years ago, in 1993, Landsat 6 is launched, but fails to reach orbit.
8 years ago, in 2016, Blue Origin's New Shepard (NS2) makes its fifth sub-orbital spaceflight, with a successful fifth time reused booster launch and landing.
6 years ago, in 2018, one of the gyroscopes fails on the Hubble telescope, sending it into protective safe mode.
October 6
25th Annual World Space Week Day 3
65 years ago, in 1959, Explorer 6 makes its final transmission.
57 years ago, in 1967, after 180 days, Lunar Orbiter 4's decaying orbit crashes it into the Moon.
34 years ago, in 1990, the Ulysses spacecraft is launched from shuttle Discovery (STS-41) to study the Sun.
29 years ago, in 1995, the first confirmed exoplanet around a sun-like star, 51 Pegasi b, is discovered.
27 years ago, in 1997, after almost 32 years, Pioneer 6 is tracked with the 70 meter Deep Space Station 43 in Australia.
16 years ago, in 2008, Messenger makes its second Mercury flyby.
14 years ago, in 2010, Chang'e 2, an unmanned Chinese lunar probe, enters lunar orbit.
11 years ago, in 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) goes into orbit around the Moon.
And that is it for the upcoming week. We hope you can all get out and do some observing, sketching and imaging.
Clear skies!
The TSS Team.
