Last Minute Astronomer - September Episode

What is gracing the September 2024 skies?  A juuuuust barely partial lunar eclipse, the best viewing for Saturn, 5 lunar close encounters, and the transition to fall. Hi everybody, I’m Rob Webb, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.   We’ll start by talking about September’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.   7th – 8th – Opposition of Saturn – Saturn, Earth, and the Sun are essentially lined up, causing Saturn to rise at sunset, and set at sunrise, with best viewing around midnight.   17th - Just Barely Partial Lunar Eclipse - The Moon passes into the shadow that Earth is casting into the solar system, but only a little.  Times here are Eastern Daylight, so adjust for your location, assuming you are in the Americas, Africa, or Europe.  The penumbral stage will be almost not noticeable, however the hour of partiality will be.  At 10:12pm the Moon will start to graze the dark inner portion of the Earth’s shadow called the umbra.  About half an hour later it’ll be at maximum eclipse, with 8% of it covered up.  Another half hour later, the dark shadow will no longer be noticeable, and the moon will be in the penumbra until 12:47am. 8:41pm - Penumbral Eclipse Starts 10:12pm - Partiality Starts 10:44pm - Maximum Eclipse (8%) 11:15pm - Partiality Ends 12:47pm - Penumbral Eclipse Ends   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].