The 'Big Show' goes on the road

Hope you had the opportunity to view some of the events concerning the Mars-Antares-Saturn big show last week, if you didn't, the planets will be hanging around for a while yet, just not nearly as close as before.

If you have been following the "Big Show," you might have noticed that the whole bunch is moving slightly west by the average of four minutes per day. This is the result of Earth going around the Sun.

In case you have not noticed, there is something in the air. It's called shorter days and longer nights. We are rapidly coming to the end of the summer season when the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading south.

Something else is in the air as well. It will soon be the season of the Celestial Sea when the ocean constellations will rule in the south. This is the time I will get to see one of my favorite old friends.

If you are an early-bird, you might even have noticed a bigger change in the east, with our old friend Orion sticking his head above the horizon, not to mention his faithful hunting dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor, otherwise known as Sirius and Procyon (more about them in days to come).

September, for me, always indicates a change. Change from summer to autumn, change of constellations, change of bright stars that rule the skies, it is always fun.

Another change is to break out the Long-johns for those colder autumn viewing sessions and I have to dig out the ever-faithful Thermos for hot chocolate.

September is kind of puny as far as meteor showers go--compared to the Perseids of August--the Aurigids (originating from the constellation Auriga) peaked early in the month and feature a whopping five meteors per hour.

The Epsilon Perseids originate from almost the same spot as the Perseids in August but are not nearly as prolific featuring, again, five meteors per hour.

If you have a fancy to sit in the early morning cold for the possibility of seeing a meteor this is the place to be. Fortunately, you won't have to wait until the early morning hours because Perseus is nearly overhead in perfect viewing condition by 1am MDT.

The first quarter moon sets before local midnight, so no problem with light getting in the way. Just pick you a dark-sky location for the best observing.

SKY WATCH: Friday, Sept. 9, first quarter moon (new moon was Sept. 1 and we will have another new moon on the 30th. I know when we have two full moons in the calendar month, it is called a Blue Moon, but I don't know what two new moons in a calendar month is called). Thursday, Sept. 8, the moon makes another near pass at the planet Saturn, the next Ecliptic (the path the Sun follows against the background stars).

NEXT WEEK: The Harvest Moon is coming, and more astronomical blathering.