Nature Hub

 From - Sky & Tellescope, By - Alan Macrobert, Edited by - Amal Udawatta Comet Nishimura on the morning of September 5th, on its way in. The comet is the green bit at left. The star cluster at upper right is the Beehive. The brilliant light at lower right is Venus. Right-click image to open higher-res version in new tab. Michael Jäger took this view "from my observatory in Martinsberg, Lower Austria." It's a stack of eight 30-second exposures he made using a DSLR camera with a 50-mm lens at f/2.5. Comet Nishimura swings by for binoculars and telescopes.  Comet Nishimura (2023 P1), discovered just last month, is brightening toward its September 17th perihelion. The comet starts this week very low in the dawn sky. You'll need a low view to the east-northeast on the mornings of September 9th, 10th, and maybe 11th. The farther north you live the better. The waning crescent Moon won't pose interference. By the 13th or 14th the comet shifts to the low  evening  sky,...

   From - Sky & Telescope, By - Bob King, Edited by- Amal Udawatta, Australian amateur astronomer Niall MacNeill created this six-year montage of Saturn's closing rings with images taken through his 14-inch Celestron EdgeHD. Careful examination reveals subtle variations in the planets cloud belts and zones. The inclination of the rings has narrowed from a maximum of 27° in 2018 to the current 9.3°. They'll be edgewise in March 2025. Niall MacNeill September is Saturn’s time to shine. We also check on Comet Nishimura — now at 5th magnitude and still brightening — and look forward to a dramatic asteroid occultation. Not to mention that Jupiter just took another hit. Saturn's return to the evening sky is always one of the year's most anticipated sights. Most newcomers are surprised at their first look. How many times at a public star party have you heard someone say the planet looks fake? You can't really blame them. The ringed planet has no ready analog in the eve...