SAGITTARIUS
SCUTUM
SERPENS
SERPENS
BOOTES
SCORPIUS
LIBRA
VIRGO
OPHIUCHUS
AQUILA
Ceres
Haumea
Pluto Saturn Jupiter
S
Pl t
Constellation:Ophiuchus
Magnitude:-2. 3
AM/PM:PMJupiterisbyfarthelargestplanetintheSolarSystem.
Abloatedgasgiantworldsohugeitcouldcontaina
thousandEarthswithroomtospare,thisbehemoth
ofa worldissofarfromtheSunittakesa dozen
yearstoorbitit.Thisactuallyworksoutquitewell
forusbecausethatmeansitmovesveryslowly
acrossournightsky,lingeringinoneofthezodiacal
constellationsfora yearata time.Atthemomentit
isinOphiuchus,the‘forgotten’zodiacalconstellation,
forgottenbecauseyou’llneverseeitfeaturedinany
astrologer’shoroscopeeventhoughtheSunand
planetsmovethroughitjustastheydothrough
morefamousconstellationssuchasneighbouring
SagittariusandScorpius.
AllthroughourobservingperiodJupiterisa
striking‘eveningstar’,visibleabovethesouthern
horizonassoonastheskybeginstodarkenaftersunset.Althoughitisn’tvery high – which means
thatifyouhavehills,buildings or even just tall trees
onyoursouthernhorizon they might hide it from
yourview– itsmagnitude of -2.3 means it is an easy
naked-eyeobject,visiblewithout any help from
binocularsora telescope, and you’ll have no trouble
spottingitasduskdeepens.
You’llalsonoticetwoother stars close to it. To
Jupiter’slowerright,even closer to the horizon, you’ll
seeorange-redAntares,the brightest star in Scorpius.
30 degreesovertoJupiter’s left you’ll notice a yellow-
whitestar,fainterthanJupiter. This ‘star’ is actually
theplanetSaturn.
InearlySeptemberJupiter will have a close
encounterofthecelestial kind with the Moon. On
theeveningofthe5ththe first quarter Moon will be
shiningtotherightofJupiter, and on the followingnight it will be shining to its upper left. Shining
close together, the two should offer a beautiful sight
through binoculars.
If you have a telescope it will show you features
on Jupiter that a pair of binoculars can’t. You’ll see
the planet’s squashed disc crossed with dark cloud
bands, toffee- and caramel-hued against the planet’s
creamy disc. You might also glimpse the famous
Great Red Spot, a huge storm that used to be as big
as four Earths but has shrunk considerably in recent
years. In fact, at the time of writing Jupiter observers
were worried that it might be about to vanish
altogether; it was being distorted and ripped apart
by other storm systems passing it. Who knows –
by the time you look for it on a warm August or
September evening, the Great Red Spot might have
completely disappeared.While Mercury, Venus and Mars have all let us down this month, Jupiter
is putting on a show, craving our attention
This month ’s planets
SSW
20:15BSTon 1 SeptemberSSE SE
Planet of the month
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