The month of September is one of the best opportunities to see Jupiter clearly, a chance to learn what an occultation is, and an opportunity to observe the sun's transition from the northern to the southern hemisphere during the autumnal equinox. These three events highlight the stargazing event this month.
Jupiter Ganymede
Jupiter is Visible Through the Naked Eyes
On Sep.26, Earth is directly between Jupiter and the sun. Because of this alignment, the planet seems larger and brighter to us from Earth. Jupiter can be seen without binoculars or a telescope, though these instruments will give you a far better picture of the planet.
If you're using a telescope, according to Popular Mechanics, you can see Jupiter's hydrogen and helium-filled regions, which are famous for the gas belts that encircle the planet. Methane, ammonia, and water react with those elements contained in the rings to produce a variety of colors. Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, the four largest moons of Jupiter, will be visible alongside the planet itself.
According to Earth Sky, Jupiter rises in the east at sunset and is visible all night by the time of its opposition on Sep. 26, which begins to fall at 20 UTC. Jupiter is up in the evening for the remainder of 2022. It keeps moving west and can still be seen in the evening sky through March 2023.
Jupiter will be 33 light minutes away from Earth at its closest. The Pisces the Fishes constellation is in opposition to it, and the opposition brightness is magnitude -2.9.
Using a telescope, Jupiter appears 50 arcseconds across, while Jupiter's disk is visible through binoculars. If you look closely, you can see the Galilean satellites strung in a line that cuts across the enormous globe like pinpoints of light. The ideal time of year to view an outer planet is in the middle of the opposition, so take note of it.
Rare Moon and Uranus Occultation in September 2022
Stargazers will be treated to a rare lunar occultation of the far-off ice giant Uranus on the night of the 14th. When one celestial object passes in front of another, hiding it from view, the result is an occultation.
In this case, Uranus will slide below the moon for about 50 minutes during the lunar occultation, which lasts for about an hour during the evening hours on the East Coast (5:30 p.m. E.T.) and the afternoon hours on the West Coast (2:30 p.m. Pacific). Although this is difficult to witness in North America, the event is still important to take note of.
According to Royal Museums Greenwich, your location will affect the exact timings, so make sure to check with a stargazing app or an online star map like Stellarium to find out what they
are for you.
For this occultation, binoculars or a telescope are required because only around 80% of the lunar surface will be illuminated, making viewing more difficult. Hopefully the skies will be clear, but if not, there will be another opportunity in December.
ALSO READ: NASA Discovered "Hot Jupiter" Exoplanet, Bigger But Less Massive Than Solar System's Largest Planet
Harvest Moon in September 2022
On the evening of Sep. 9 and into the early hours of Sep. 10, you can view the September full moon, called the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon presents a fantastic opportunity to get a good look at the moon, even though it is not as bright as the supermoons we experienced throughout the summer.
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