Astronomy – September 2019

LAC

DEL

CAP

MIC

TRI

ARI

PER

AUR

ORI

PEG

PHE

FOR

HOR

CAE

COL

LEP

LY N

GEM

CNC

MON

PUP

PYX

VEL

ANT

CRT

HYA

SEX

LEO

CRV

COM

CVn LMi

PsA

CMi

CMa

Celestial equator

Path^

of^ the^ M

oon^

Sun

Moon phases Dawn Midnight

Uranus

Ma

rs

Asteroid Hertha reaches

opposition September 5/6

Neptune reaches its

peak in September

Asteroid Lutetia reaches

opposition September 27

Laetitia

Amphitrite

Vesta Metis

Co

m

et

(^) A
fri
ca
no
Eunomia
1
29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
Ceres
Uranus
Saturn
Pluto
Venus
Jupiter
Jupiter
Earth
Autumnal equinox
is September 23
Mars
Solar conjunction
is September 2
Mercury
Superior conjunction
is September 3
Neptune
Opposition is
September 9/10
Mercury Mars
Venus
Ceres
40 ASTRONOMY • SEPTEMBER 2019
THE PLANETS
IN THEIR ORBITS
Arrows show the inner
planets’ monthly motions
and dots depict the outer
planets’ positions at mid-
month from high above
their orbits.
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase shown for the day
straight up to the curved blue line.
Date
Magnitude
Angular size
Illumination
Distance (AU) from Earth
Distance (AU) from Sun
Right ascension (2000.0)
Declination (2000.0)
PLANETS
Sept. 30
–0.2
5.2"
86%
1.287
0.465
13h30.9m
–10°27'
Sept. 30
–3.9
10.0"
98%
1.666
0.723
13h11.2m
–6°32'
MERCURY VENUS
PATHS OF THE PLANETS
THE PLANETS
IN THE SKY
These illustrations show the size,
phase, and orientation of each
planet and the two brightest
dwarf panets at 0h UT for the
dates in the data table at bottom.
South is at the top to match the
view through a telescope.