~ St. Maarten’s Backyard Astronomy for September 25 - 27 ~
Sun rises at 6:01am
Sun sets at 6:04pm
Lunar phase: Full moon
Moon sets at 6:48pm, Saturday
Moon rises at 6:01am, Saturday
This weekend, the Harvest Moon will hang in the air like a lantern. If you are old school like this author, you might even recall a song that goes, “Shine on, shine on harvest moon up in the sky. I ain’t had no lovin’ since January, February, June or July.” Well, if you are keen to sing it, this weekend is your chance.
Like all full moons, it rises at sunset and sets at sunrise – a point worth appreciating when you consider the geometry of our planet and the sun and the moon. We call the arrangement “opposition” and it is best demonstrated by standing outside about sunrise or sunset and aiming one arm straight out pointing at the sun, and the other arm straight out pointing at the moon. Then as the one goes up, the other goes down, and you (the observer standing on the earth) are poised right in the middle of the cosmic teeter-totter!
In one week, you will observe the moon half lit and you’ll point one hand to the horizon while the other hand points up overhead. A week after that, both hands point to the same spot on the horizon and you won’t be able to see the moon at all. I’ll let you figure out what happens the following weekend!
Meanwhile, the full moon’s light will be so bright you won’t see any of the fainter stars, but keep your eyes open for Jupiter in the east before sunrise and, of course, Venus in the west after sunset. These are the two brightest “stars” in the sky, although we know they are not true stars but planets shining the reflected light of the sun back in our direction.
Along another point of interest, we just passed the Autumnal Equinox this past Tuesday. This marks the point at which the sun traverses the sky directly above the Equator. Therefore, you may have observed that on that day, the sun rose directly from the east and set directly in the west. For us in the northern hemisphere, this is the official beginning of the fall season – time to notice birds migrating from their northern habitats to warmer climates in the south, like the Caribbean! Usually, during the last week of September to the first two weeks of October is when you get the highest number of migratory birds moving across the area. Our beachgoers often see barn swallows zipping around overhead for a few days before they move on to fly even farther south. Enjoy this magic time of year!
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles, backyard (or beach) astronomy designed for St. Maarten sky viewing. FYI: If you are out later on in the week, note that each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later. Night Sky is researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett. Earthsky.org is a key resource for information and images. Questions or comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
