The Planets In September

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31153, 1 September 1966, Page 12

The Planets In September

On September 20. Saturn will be in opposition to the sun. Then it rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. Throughout the month it remains the only bright planet visible in the midnight sky. It will move from the constellation Pisces, the Fishes, to that of Aquarius, the Water-bearer. The planet will form a large triangle in the sky with the stars Fomalhaut, in the constellation Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish, and Beta Ceti, the brightest star in the constellation Cetus, the Whale. Saturn will be at the northern apex of this triangle and will be equal in brightness to Beta Centauri, the fainter of the two pointers to the Southern Cross. Jupiter can be seen in the eastern sky, just before dawn. t

At the beginning of the month it will rise at 5 a.m. it then draws rapidly away from the sun, so that on September 15 Jupiter is rising at 4 a.m. and on September 30 around 3 a.m. Mars is also in the morning sky and throughout the month will rise at dawn. This planet rises slightly earlier each morning, but dawn also commences slightly earlier each day. The two keep pace with the result that Mars remains visible only in the morning twilight. Venus too is lost in the dawn sky, rising around 6 a.m. Mercury comes into the western sky in the middle of September but will set before twilight ends. We shall have to Wait until October to see this planet clear of twilight