TRAC Monthly Report: September 2024
- Category: Monthly Reports
- Author: JM
- Published: 01 Oct 2024
- Last updated: 02 Oct 2024
Summer Constellations
We enjoyed one of our most productive stargazing sessions on 28 Sep. The skies were clear and the park was open, so we seized the opportunity to see as many constellations as we could.
We saw almost all of the major summer constellations we had on our September Action Plan, and we even spotted a few early autumn constellations as an added bonus. From the middle of the park, we were able to see the following prominent constellations:
- Aquila – an eagle. Brightest star: Altair.
- Lyra – contains Vega, one of the brightest stars in the night sky.
- Cygnus – a swan with its wings outstretched. Brightest star: Deneb.
- Northern Cross – an easily recognisable asterism found in Cygnus.
- Summer Triangle – formed by joining up Altair, Vega, and Deneb.
- Hercules – named after the Greek hero. I think it looks like a spider or an octopus, but some people say Hercules looks like a giant swastika!
- Cepheus – named after a king in Greek mythology. We had trouble finding this at first because it was almost directly above us!
- Andromeda – Brightest star: Alpheratz. It contains M31, the Andromeda Galaxy (see the October Action Plan).
- Square of Pegasus – a square-shaped asterism found in Pegasus.
- Auriga – the charioteer. Bright star: Capella. Best seen in the winter.
- Aquarius – Latin for “water-carrier.” Saturn is located here currently.
- Perseus – legendary Greek hero who beheaded Medusa.
Saturn and Jupiter were also clearly visible that night. Matey challenged Andrei to estimate the magnitude of Jupiter. His answer was -2.5, which was very close to the measured value of -2.3. I was extremely impressed!
Saturn at Opposition
We saw Saturn at opposition, the closest it gets to Earth, on 08 Sep. The sky was overcast at first, but the clouds soon faded, and the view improved dramatically after 21:30 as Saturn gained altitude.
We achieved outstanding views with the 32mm and 9mm eyepieces, even managing to capture the images below – not bad for a small telescope set up on the pavement!
Image credit: JM/TRAC
Letter to the Council
I've written a first draft of the letter to Medway Council to request permission to access the park after normal opening hours. This letter is very important because it's our best chance to persuade the Greenspaces Team to cooperate with us.
In all likelihood, the council's decision will determine whether we succeed or fail in our main mission this year.
Email From MKAS
We received an email on 23 Sep from the Mid-Kent Astronomical Society (MKAS), the largest astronomy group in Kent. They became aware of our astronomy club and discussed us at their committee meeting on 18 Sep.
We've all been invited to visit them at their Bredhurst HQ any time we like. MKAS members are proficient amateur astronomers, and I'm sure they can give us a great deal of useful advice to help us with our observations.
We'll review their email in October and send a reply as a top priority.
Summary
I was very pleased that we saw Saturn at opposition at the start of September, and we did well to spot all of the main summer constellations at the end of the month. The full moon was disappointing again. Charlie and I went out to see the Moon on 17 Sep, but all we saw were clouds.
October will be important for us. Let's hope for clearer skies!
James M
TRAC Team Leader
01 Oct 2024 – Rainham, Kent
TRAC is an amateur astronomy group based in Rainham (Kent) in the United Kingdom.
On clear nights, you'll find us outside, observing stars, planets, moons, galaxies, satellites, meteors, and comets.
This monthly report is intended to keep club members informed of our observational activities, track progress towards the club's long-term goals, celebrate successes, and record memorable moments.
Unless stated otherwise, all magnitude values refer to apparent magnitude and have usually been rounded to one decimal place.
We welcome any questions, feedback, or suggestions you may have. Please let us know if anything is unclear or if you notice an error, inaccuracy, or typo. Contact us via email.
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