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Desert Night Skies
Sept. 30th & Oct. 1st 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Enjoy a Starry Night in Joshua Tree as we are treated to the Native American, award winning music of Steve Rushingwind and the art of the 6 chicks.

 $5 at the Door for this 2 night event.  
Make your camping reservations in advance.
(Admission does not include camping)
Go to www.jtlake.com for camping info.

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Remember: Drive slowly in the Campground! 
Sorry, No Dogs Allowed Inside Theater

 

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The Swan Nebula, live deep space image as captured and projected onto the giant theater screen, by Leonard Homberg aka. Telescope operator # 2.  
From our last event on August 26th. 

Clear Sky Chart for The Joshua Tree Astronomy Arts Theater  
 
   

  
September Skies 

September 2nd - New Moon

Perfect for stargazing as there will be little to no light from the moon as it sets in the west at 19:57.

Be sure to check out the last of the summers evening planets, Venus, Jupiter & Mercury setting in the west at sunset as the Fall and Winter Sky approaches.  Soon Venus will be the Morning Star in the West.

  



Sept. 8th Conjunction between the Moon and Saturn

From Joshua Tree, the pair will become visible at around 19:15 (PDT) as the dusk sky fades, 32° above your southern horizon. They will then sink towards the horizon, setting 4 hours and 11 minutes after the Sun at 23:09.
At the moment of closest approach, the Moon will be at mag -11.7, and Saturn at mag 0.2, both in the constellation Ophiuchus.
The pair will be too widely separated to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but will be visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars.

 

As the evening progresses, You can see Saturn between Antaries and the Moon in the Southwest.

 

September 9th The Piscid meteor shower

A small shower, the Piscid meteor shower will reach its maximum rate of activity on 9 September 2016. Some shooting stars associated with the shower are expected to be visible each night from Sep to Oct.   

The Moon will be 8 days old at the time of peak activity, which will cause some interference in the early evening but will improve around midnight just after the moon sets. At midnight, it appears 50° above your south-eastern horizon from Joshua Tree.

 
            View from Joshua Tree just before midnight on Sept 9th


September 16th - Full Moon. 12:05pm PDT.

According to the Farmer's Almanac: This full moon’s name is attributed to Native Americans because it marked when corn was supposed to be harvested. Most often, the September full moon is actually the Harvest Moon, which is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. 
 
Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering.  

September 22nd - September Equinox. 

The September equinox occurs at 14:21 UTC. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.


Sept. 28 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation.

The planet Mercury reaches greatest western elongation of 17.9 degrees from the Sun. This is the best time to view Mercury since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the morning sky. Look for the planet low in the eastern sky just before sunrise

 

                                                        Morning of Sept. 28th as the sun rises

Looking to the West the evening of the 28th, Jupiter cannot be seen as it is too close to the sun and Venus is setting between the constellations Leo and Virgo

 

Moon Phases for September 2016

January moon, February moon, March moon, April moon, May moon, June moon, July moon, August moon, September moon, October moon, November moon, December Moon

IDA International Dark Sky Association

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JTAAT
P.O. Box 2192
Joshua Tree Ca. 92252

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Last updated September 20, 2016