Hello everyone, my name is Jim Stepp and I am the dean of students here at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Astronomy has been a hobby of mine for about 40 years. I first became interested in astronomy in 6th grade. Living in Pittsburgh gave me the opportunity to go to the Buhl Planetarium and the Allegheny Observatory on many occasions. One of the first objects I saw through a telescope was Comet West when it lit up the evening skies in the early 1970s.
When I was a college student I worked at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania’s planetarium. I had the opportunity to write several scripts and develop interactive planetarium shows. I also had the opportunity to use EUP’s 13-inch telescope and help build a solar telescope that projected a 30-inch image of the sun on a wall.
For those of you who may be interested in astronomy, come and join the UMPI Astronomy Club. The UMPI Astronomy Club is hoping to work closely with the community to reform the Aroostook County Astronomy Club. There are two ways to join the UMPI Astronomy Club:
- Email me at james.stepp@maine.edu.
- Join the Aroostook County Astronomy Club Facebook page
The club is open to students, staff, faculty and the public.
The ACAC will be working with the American Astronomical Society (www.aas.org) to offer programs and observing nights. Membership in the ACAC-AAS will be open to everyone and no astronomy background is needed.
Throughout the upcoming year, I will be providing information about the objects that are visible in the sky over Presque Isle and hopefully, I will be able to answer some of the questions you might have about the nighttime sky.
If you are interested in finding out what is going on in the night sky go to Skymaps.com (www.skymaps.com). At this site you will be able to print off a sky chart that will help you find the planets and constellations in the nighttime sky. This site also has various articles that will be helpful for beginning astronomy hobbyists.
Another site to check out is In the Sky (in-the-sky.org). This site will give you information about the events occurring each night. You can set up your location by clicking on “change location” and then selecting option 2. This will let you use a map to zoom in on your exact location.
THE NIGHT SKY
The ISS is visible in the morning sky from Sept. 4-24.
The ISS is visible in the evening sky from Sept. 27-Oct. 20.
Go to www.heavens-above.com for exact times and locations. You will need to register at this site and load your location to be able to get exact times. The University of Maine at Presque Isle is located at 68d00m7.8s west longitude and 46d40m45.6s north latitude.
To get a free sky chart go to www.skymaps.com.
Sun and Planet Visibility
Sept. 10
05:03 Sunrise.
18:52 Sunset.
Not visible Mercury.
18:5 –19:42 Venus.
19:24–22:24 Mars.
19:06–19:18 Jupiter.
19:18–22:12 Saturn.
Sept. 20
06:16 Sunrise
18:32 Sunset
05:18–05:48 Mercury.
18:30–19:30 Venus.
19:00–22:06 Mars.
Not Visible Jupiter.
19:00–21:36 Saturn.
08/29 02:32 Mercury 5 degrees from Venus.
09/01 05:03 New Moon.
09/02 Neptune in Opposition–behind and closest to the Earth.
09/06 14:49 Moon at Apogee–Moon farthest from the Earth.
09/07 04:26 ISS passes 0.42 degrees from Procyon–Alpha Canis Minor.
09/09 07:48 First Quarter Moon.
09/12 19:42 Mercury in inferior conjunction–between the Earth and the sun.
09/16 15:05 Full Moon.
09/18 13:07 Moon at perigee–closest to the Earth.
09/20 05:43 ISS passes 0.24 degrees from Rigel–Beta Orion.
09/20 05:43 ISS passes 1.18 degrees from Sirius–Alpha Canis Major.
09/21 HG Wells’ 150th Birthday (1866).
09/22 18:21 September Equinox–Fall begins in the Northern Hemisphere.
09/23 05:56 Last Quarter Moon–This is the northernmost last quarter moon of the year.
09/25 06:00 Equilux–Equal day and night for Presque Isle.
09/28 11:24 Mercury at Perihelion–Closest to the Sun.
09/28 13:42 Mercury at half phase.
09/28 15:30 Mercury at greatest western elongation (17.9 degrees) best seen in the morning sky.
09/30 20:11 New Moon.
10/04 07/12 Moon at Apogee–Farthest from the Earth.
10/05 19:00 Draconid Meteor Shower–5.5 meteors per hour.
10/05 23:49 Venus 48.6 minutes from Alp2 Lib–Multiple Star (2.8 mag).
10/06 19:00 Draconid Meteor Shower–8.1 meteors per hour.
10/07 00:06 Mars 10.9 minutes from Lam Sgr Multiple Star (2.8 mag).
10/07 19:00 Draconid Meteor Shower–10.7 meteors per hour.
10/08 08:00 Draconid Meteor Shower Maximum–12 meteors per hour.
10/08 19:00 Draconid Meteor Shower–10.8 meteors per hour.
10/09 00:33 First Quarter Moon.
10/09 19:00 Draconid Meteor Shower–8.4 meteors per hour.
10/10 19:00 Draconid Meteor Shower–5.8 meteors per hour.
10/11 05:45 Mercury 47.5 minutes from Jupiter.
10/15 00:23 Full Moon.
10/15 19:40 Moon at Perigee.
10/15 19:17 ISS pass 0.25 degree from Altair–Alpha Aquila.
