ALERT NEWSLETTER – September 2025

Hi everyone, and welcome to the 219th Alert Newsletter!

I hope this finds you doing well as we see the first hints of Fall, with the air is a little less humid and the temperatures with a foretaste of the coolness to come.

This all helps to remind you that football season has arrived!

Hopefully Alabama and Auburn will do well. Though being biased, I’m hoping that Alabama does a just little better, than the Tigers, Roll Tide. I always say I hope Auburn wins every game except that pesky little one on November 29.

I hope you have a good month, and I hope to see you at our next meeting, which will be on September 9.

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A Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Radio Frequency Spectrum – Part 7

Having left the 10 Meter band and reached 30 MHz we leave the world of HF and enter the land of VHF.

Between the 10 Meter and the 6 Meter ham Bands is the 20 MHz wide VHF Low Band, which is used by Land Mobile, Public Service, Military and businesses.

One of the best ways to explore this region is with an analog scanner that includes “VHF Low”, and by scanning a smallish range of frequencies, for example from 30.000 to 35.000 MHz, rather than programming random channels and hoping and praying some blip will be heard or scanning too large an area. I find that scanning smaller ranges repetitively gives a greater chance of intercepting brief random transmissions, which would otherwise be missed if you scanned an area too large, such as with an entire band scan or hit and miss scanning by channel.

If you don’t have a scanner, you are not out of luck. Many or most modern or modernish HF ham transceivers will easily reach into this realm without any modification or “tinkering”. For instance, my Yaesu FT-817 & FT-450 both have continuous coverage up to 56 MHz. The FT-450 covers from 100 kHz to 56 MHz and the FT-817 cover from 30 kHz to 56 MHz.

Incidentally, the little 817 also has an advantage for AM and low frequency DXing in that it doesn’t kick in a 20 dB attenuator below the 160 Meter band, as does the FT-450, the Kenwood TS-570 and others which spoils AM and low frequency DXing.

And here’s a little secret with the FT-817 that you may not know. Due to a design quirk with the FT-817 (and probably the FT-818 also), if you normally have a strong signal from a NOAA Weatherradio, you can receive NOAA Weatherradio transmissions on an FT-817, though the radio is not designed to receive those frequencies. Simply tune in a frequency 136.66 MHz below the strongest local NOAA frequency. For example, in Birmingham 162.550 MHz would be tuned in at 25.890 MHz using FM mode (162.550 – 136.660 = 25.890). In Montgomery you would tune to 25.740 MHz (162. 400 – 133.660 = 25.740), and so on. Give it a try!
As we move on, one of the more interesting areas to explore in the VHF Low Band is between 30.000 to 37.000 MHz.

When the 10 Meter band is open, more times than not, this area will be open also. Here you will find military communications using unencrypted FM, which is why Humvees and other military vehicles have those long CB like whip antennas. You can listen to training and actual military operations, which is perfectly legal to eavesdrop on.

Some specific ranges for military communications are:

30.000 – 30.550 MHz
32.000 – 32.990 MHz
34.000 – 34.990 MHz
36.000 – 36.990 MHz

Above 37 MHz I have heard veterinary clinics in California, reminiscent of TV’s Dr, Pol, and the California Highway Patrol operating between 39.000 – 40.000 MHz.

40.000 – 41.990 MHz is used by the military. And, though not available in North America and not an “official” Amateur Radio band, 8 Meters, or roughly 40.000 – 41.000 MHz is seeing Amateur Radio use in Europe and Africa, as the International Amateur Radio Union in Region 1 is encouraging member societies to obtain propagation beacon permissions for experimental use.

Current allocations, some of which are temporary, are as follows:

Belgium 40.660 – 40.690 MHz
Ireland 40.000 – 45.000 MHz
Italy 40.660 – 40.700 MHz
Slovenia 40.660 – 40.700 MHz
South Africa 40.675 – 40.685 MHz
Spain 40.650 – 40.750 MHz

There have been requests made to the FCC to open these frequencies to US Amateur use, but so far they have been declined.

The California Highway Patrol operates between 42.000 – 43.000 MHz and 44.000 – 45.500 MHz.

49.610 – 49.990 MHz is used by the Military, but nestled within that range there’s a little secret.

In 1977, the FCC created 5 channels for “toy” walkie talkies just beneath the 6 Meter ham band on 49.830, 49.845, 49.860, 49.875 and 49.890 MHz. With 49.860 MHz being the most commonly used frequency.

These new $7.95 100 mw units touted “up to ¼ mile range” and the “toy” Channel 14 CB walkie talkies were phased out and no longer sold after 1978, although a few not considered “toys” continued for a while, and full power 40 channel CB handhelds, like the Midland 75-785 are available today.

Curious as to what activity I might hear, in 1978 I bought one of these 49 MHz walkie talkies and I never heard another set drift in. But I heard something else, quite by accident.

As it turned out these frequencies were also shared with cordless telephone handset channels 6, 2, 3, 5 & 7, in that order and that baby monitors also used these same 5 channels along with 49.300 MHz. Investigating further I found phone handsets were sprinkled from 48.760 to 49.970 MHz and bases from 43.720 to 46.970 MHz.

So, I accidently found that basically my entire neighborhood had “bugged” itself, and during the very short time I listened, which was perfectly legal incidentally, I learned that my little version of Mayberry was more like a bad Maury Povich episode instead.

Learning that 87 year old “Me Maw Johnson” was once an exotic dancer and “entertainer” on Bourbon Street was certainly interesting, as were other “things”, which I cannot discuss in a family forum.

I didn’t listen very long though, for the more I heard, the more shocked I became, and I decided it was unwise to corrupt my innocent teenage mind any further. So, I moved on up the dial. Though my Mom rather enjoyed “learning all those ‘snooty old biddies’ secrets”.

But, what I heard I will never tell. For what happened in Mayberry stays in Mayberry.

Walkie talkies have now migrated to the FRS frequencies and cordless phones and baby monitors to 800 & 900 MHz. But…if anyone is still using the old 49 MHz cordless telephones and baby monitors in your neighborhood, well you might not want to listen. You don’t want to corrupt your innocent mind either.

Next we come to the first VHF ham band – 6 Meters.

6 Meters is sometimes called “The Magic Band”, as during the sunspot maximum, it can exhibit propagation characteristics similar to the HF bands, and give worldwide coverage.

Six meters, which is a band I enjoy exploring, is a weird band in a good way, as it offers nearly every type of propagation known.

The band can go from frustratingly quiet to a stirred up anthill of activity and then dead quite again, varying from minutes to hours.

6 Meter openings can be quite brief. Open now, closed 15 minutes from now and then reopening a half hour later….or maybe not. They can be very isolated also, open in Atlanta, but closed in Birmingham. Sometimes signal strength will vary rapidly up and down like a buoy in choppy seas. Sometimes there will be one station booming for an hour, while others are bobbing and fading. Invariably he will be in an endless QSO with someone you can’t hear, and though you dearly want to contact him, you feel hesitant to break in and since he never finishes the conversation, after an hour or more he just fades away into the mist.

If you hear a station, work them quickly, giving a factual signal report and your Maidenhead Grid Square, which is your location on the earth with either a four or six character string of letters and numbers. For example, mine is EM63ol. Yours may be obtained at GridMapper by QRZ Ham Radio. Work them quickly because they may fade in seconds, or last for an hour. You have no way of knowing.

1.Ground Wave

Ground Wave propagation is generally 50 miles or more, which is great for simplex operations.

2.Sporadic-E propagation.

Sporadic-E propagation is the most common propagation mode available for six meter DX (which by my definition is “if you can’t see the other fella, it’s DX”). The E layer of the ionosphere, which is about 12 miles thick, and its base is about 56 to 93 miles above ground level, is present mainly during the day, from dawn to dusk, and is responsible for most of the 6 meter ham band activity, and can provide contacts from a few hundred to a couple of thousand miles on a single hop, or even more with a double hop or triple hop into Europe or Asia.

Little is known about how or why these “clouds” of intense ionization form. Fortunately, Sporadic-E propagation is not sunspot cycle dependent, and comes back every year, even during the sunspot minimum.

The prime 6 Meter E skip season begins in May, peaks in June and finally fades out in August. A shorter peak occurs in December and early January, but it can appear at any time of the year.

3. F2 layer:

Near the peak of the sunspot cycle, which occurred late last year, solar activity can ionize the F2 layer of the ionosphere, 125 to 250 miles above ground level, sufficiently to raise the Maximum Usable Frequency enough to reach 50 MHz and allow communications similar to the upper HF bands.

When the solar flux rises to between 150 and 200, the F-layer skip can provide worldwide contacts on six meters. If the flux goes significantly above 200, DX work on six meters can even become fairly reliable.

4. Trans-Equatorial Propagation:

TEP provides North – South propagation across the equator to about 1,500 miles or more. Typically, it occurs in the late afternoon or early evening during spring and fall. As on 10 Meters, the station south of you will typically be at a similar latitude, just south, in our case, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru.

5. Auroral Propagation:

The Aurora Borealis is capable of reflecting signals from the HF bands through the 70 centimeter band. Interestingly, if the aurora is strong enough, a form of sporadic-E also develops, which is known as Auroral-Es.

CW or digital modes, such as FT8 and others are favored under these conditions, as they can squeeze out every ounce of a watt, or should I say, “operate at maximum signal efficiency”, while
sideband is inherently weaker, as the peak power only occurs momentarily on voice peaks and can be strongly distorted by the shifting aurora.

6. Meteor Scatter or Meteor Burst:

When meteors travel through the ionosphere, they leave behind ionized trails which can be used to reflect radio signals. This ionization takes place in the E Layer of the ionosphere. On 6 Meters this ionization will cause signals to suddenly appear out of a dead band, persist for a short time, then disappear, and can last anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes. If one is lucky, a meteor shower can produce several overlapping ionized trails that may be reflecting radio waves at the same time, making communications possible for several minutes to several hours

Using USB, CW or digital modes, meteor scatter is best around dawn almost any morning, but especially from 2 AM to sunrise during meteor showers, such as the Leonids, Orionids, Perseids, etc.

This timeframe is preferred, both for radio and visual observation because at those hours the Earth is heading directly into the meteor stream. The velocity of the Earth’s rotation increases the effective velocity of inbound meteors. Conversely, the evening hours around 9 PM local time, is usually the worst time for observations or meteor scatter, as the Earth is rotating away from incoming meteors

On 6 meters, activity usually starts at 50.130 MHz and moves up, with many operators listening around 50.200 MHz. Contacts are fast, so one must keep their ears perked!

A beam antenna, such as a three element Yagi will help, especially during a meteor shower, by beaming in the general direction of where you hope to make contact. But, many Meteor Scatter contacts can be made with dipole, vertical and even mobile antennas, using 50 to 100 Watts. So, you don’t need a NASA grade setup to do this.

In North America, most meteor-scatter work is done on USB, although there is some activity on CW. In Europe, high-speed CW contacts are the norm using 200 to 400 WPM. With this method operators on each end use tape recorders or computers to transmit high-speed messages during the short meteor bursts.

As to voice, there is an informal daily gathering of meteor operators, “Meteor Scatter Mornings”, on 50.145 MHz every morning, from 11:00 – 12:00 UTC or currently 5:00 – 6:00 AM CDT (time can vary +/- an hour as this is not a formal net, but rather a gathering of like-minded operators).

This group covers from Wyoming to the East Coast, Florida, Texas, and “everything in between” using SSB and CW.

The procedure for working general meteor scatter is to call CQ for a few seconds and then listen for a few seconds. “CQ CQ CQ scatter WD4NYL WD4NYL”—spoken fast and clearly, without pausing for syllables. A quick reply might be “WD4NYL WD4NYL W3EP.” Contacts are complete when call signs and one other piece of information, usually the grid locator or state, is exchanged and acknowledged by “rogers.” Repeats are often required. Sometimes you may have to wait for the next burst to complete the contact. Keep the transmissions short and stay with a station until a full exchange of information is made.

Many use and promote digital mode MSK144, which was developed for Meteor Scatter, with good success. But, as I am not knowledgeable in that area, I’ll leave that for your own research, and remind folk that long before modern digital modes were invented, USB and CW was proven effective for this endeavor.

Some references are:

ARRL – The MSK144 Protocol for Meteor-Scatter Communication: FrankeTaylor.pdf
Meteor Scatter: Getting on the Air — How it Works | K5ND
Meteor Scatter For Amateur Radio Communications – By G7RDX

7.Tropospheric Ducting:

Just as with 2 meter band openings, a temperature inversion – warm air laying over colder air, can trap signals between layers and shoot them far over the horizon. This is common during summer months and especially at sunrise and during evenings in periods of stable and nice weather. Fall through Spring cold fronts are also a major player.

8. Warm Front Refraction:

The imminent arrival of a warm front will sometimes, under certain conditions, help create a well-defined temperature and humidity inversion at the lower levels of the atmosphere a few hours before the arrival of a warm front.

This may occur at the leading edge of a warm front, usually at night in the Spring or Fall, under cloudless skies, when the air is relatively warm and dry, overcoming relatively cooler, more humid air.

9. Backscatter:

Backscatter is caused by a small portion of a signal being reflected or scattered back in the direction of the originating station from the F2 layer or a sporadic E cloud.

Backscatter signals are usually “weak and watery”, much weaker than signals coming in simultaneously from longer distances via the usual paths. Backscatter signals often suffer from considerable multipath distortion, sometimes described as a slight echo or hollow sound.

Antennas generally should be pointed south of the direct path, toward the area of highest MUF, for the most effective use of backscatter in the northern hemisphere.

10. Sidescatter:

Sidescatter uses strange signal paths, reflecting off areas that shouldn’t be reflecting at all, but are anyway. For instance, the East Coast to Europe while beaming towards a scattering region off the west coast of Africa during the morning. Or California to Japan and the Pacific in early afternoon local California time. In those cases, the US stations beam to the southwest, while the Japanese beam to the southeast.

The best chances are for stations beaming south of the direct path around noon local time to a angle toward the midpoint of the path.

One of the best hints of 6 Meter activity (and other bands) is by referring to the site DXMaps.com
https://www.dxmaps.com/spots/mapg.php?Frec=50

The signal paths of contacts are color-coded so that you can immediately see which propagation mode was used for the QSO and you can choose which transmission modes to hide or display. For instance, if it is showing tons of activity, and you are wondering if it is FT8 or CW & SSB, you can exclude those FT8 contacts from the map or vice versa.

Another way of finding out about 6 meter band conditions is to use a map of WSPR or Weak Signal Reporter signals reported.

Map | WSPRnet

To display the 6 meter ham band activity on the map you must set a minimum of parameters, which are located below the map:

1. Set the band to 6 Meters – the default is 30 Meters
2. Set desired time period, as the default is 1 hour
3. Day/Night overlay – check the box if you want to display it
4. Go back to just below the map and click ‘Update’.

Another useful indication of band activity are beacons found from 50.060 to 50.080 MHz and though I can’t work FT8 (yet) I listen for FT8 activity on 50.313 MHz and use it for the same purpose.

Before we proceed I should mention antenna polarity. On VHF & UHF FM and Digital voice operations using simplex or repeaters, generally use vertically polarized antennas. For CW, USB, AM or FT8 distance communications, horizontally polarized antennas are used. If you use a vertically polarized antenna to reach a station using horizontally polarized antenna or vice versa, you will lose between 3 to 20 dB of signal.

The 6 Meter Band plan is as follows:

50.000 – 50.100 MHz CW, beacons
50.060 MHz QRP CW Calling Frequency
50.060 – 50.080 MHz Beacon sub band
50.060 MHz W3NH Beacon – Warrior, AL
50.080 – 50.100 MHz Main CW area
50.090 MHz CW Calling Frequency (some say 50.095 & others 50.100 MHz)
50.100 – 50.300 MHz SSB & CW, but usually USB
50.110 MHz DX window
50.125 MHz SSB calling frequency
50.145 MHz Meteor Scatter Morning Group – USB – 11:00 – 12:00 UTC 5:00—6:00 AM
CDT (time varies +/- an hour as it is a gathering, not a formal net)
50.150 MHz European SSB Calling Frequency
North East Alabama Six Meter Net – 8:30 PM – Mon – Fri
50.185 – 50.195 MHz Digital Earth-Moon-Earth
50.250 MHz Northern Colorado AM Calling Frequency
50.260 MHz WSJT Meteor Scatter Calling Frequency
50.265 MHz Meteor Scatter
50.272 MHz Yankee 6 Meter Net – New England 8:30 Sunday
50.300 – 50.600 MHz All modes
50.300 MHz West Coast FM Calling Frequency
50.313 MHz FT8
50.323 MHz FT8 Atlantic DX Window
50.400 MHz AM Calling Frequency
North East Alabama Six Meter AM Net – 7:00 PM Friday
50.415 MHz 6 Meter AM Net – 8:00 PM Friday
50.600 – 50.800 MHz Nonvoice communications
50.620 MHz Digital (packet) Calling Frequency
50.700 MHz RTTY Calling Frequency
50.800 – 51.000 MHz Radio remote control (20-kHz channels)
50.885 MHz QRP SSB Calling Frequency
51.000 – 51.100 MHz Pacific DX window
51.120 – 51.480 MHz Repeater inputs (19 channels)
51.120 – 51.180 MHz Digital repeater inputs
51.500 – 51.600 MHz Simplex (six channels)
51.620 – 51.980 MHz Repeater outputs (19 channels)
51.620 – 51.680 MHz Digital repeater outputs
52.000 – 52.480 MHz Repeater inputs (except as noted; 23 channels)
52.020 MHz FM Simples
52.040 MHz FM simplex
52.200 MHz TEST PAIR (input)
52.500 – 52.980 MHz Repeater output (except as noted; 23 channels)
52.525 MHz Primary FM simplex Calling Frequency
52.540 MHz Secondary FM simplex Calling Frequency
52.700 MHz TEST PAIR (output)
53.000 – 53.480 MHz Repeater inputs (except as noted; 19 channels)
53.000 MHz Remote base FM simplex
53.020 MHz Simplex
53.090 MHz Bessemer, Jefferson County, AL – minus 500 kHz input – no tone
53.100 MHz Remote Control
53.110 MHz Warrior , Jefferson County, AL – minus 1 MHz input – 131.8 Hz tone
53.200 MHz Remote Control
53.210 MHz Huntsville, Madison County, AL – minus 1 MHz input – 100.00 Hz tone
53.300 MHz Remote Control
53.310 MHz Battleground, Cullman County, AL – minus 1 MHz input – no tone
53.330 MHz Cullman, Cullman County, AL – minus 1 MHz input – 100.0 Hz tone
53.400 MHz Remote Control
53.500 – 53.980 MHz Repeater outputs (except as noted; 19 channels)
53.500 MHz Remote Control
53.520 MHz Simplex
53.600 MHz Remote Control
53.700 MHz Remote Control
53.750 MHz Pelham , Shelby County, AL – minus 500 kHz input – 100.00 Hz tone
53.800 MHz Remote Control
53.900 MHz Simplex
54.000 MHZ End of 6 Meter Band

The repeaters listed are those given by Repeaterbook. I can’t hear them or I verify their status, as I am located between two mountains and in a city that has tower restrictions, so using a beam is not an option. Based on conversations I have had, some are definitely operational and some may be iffy.

I have included the 50.272 MHz Yankee 6 Meter Net because when the band is open it is often open to New England. Depending on the band conditions, terrain and luck, you may or may not hear anything.

But, you never know until you try.

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Mark’s Almanac

September is the ninth month of the year and the seventh month of the Roman calendar, which is where the month gets its name.

Temperatures are still hot at the beginning of the month, but, by the month’s end, fall will definitely be felt.

Noticeable in September will be the thickening of the cat’s fur, as she begins growing her winter coat & the drift of Yellow Giant Sulphur Butterflies as they migrate towards Florida.

Weather starts shifting from the summer to autumn pattern and then back again. Storm activity resembles the August pattern, but the Bermuda High starts shifting southward and begins weakening, which weakens the blocking effect that has hampered fronts attempting to invade from the northwest.

September is the peak of the hurricane season, the actual peak being on September 10. This peak coincides with the time of “syzygy”, when the effects of the solar and lunar gravity and autumnal equinox combine to provide the highest astronomical tides of the year. Add a hurricane’s storm surge on top of this and you can have incredibly destructive flooding.

From 1851 – 2025 there have been 652 Tropical Storms, 3 Subtropical Storms and 430 hurricanes, 114 of which made landfall in the United States.

Some notable September hurricanes are:

The Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which was a Category 4 Storm whose storm surge overwhelmed Galveston Island, killing 8000 people, and is still the deadliest weather disaster in US history.

The Labor Day Hurricane of 1936, the most intense storm to strike the US, was a Category 5 storm which moved through the Florida Keys and along West Florida, overturning trains and literally sandblasting people to death.

Ivan, the category 3 storm which struck Alabama & Florida in 2004, caused tremendous damage to Gulf Shores and extensive damage to the state’s electrical grid. At the height of the outages, Alabama Power reported 489,000 subscribers having lost electrical power—roughly half of its subscriber base.

Rita, a category 3 storm which struck the Texas – Louisiana border in 2005, and, despite the distance, dropped 22 tornadoes over Western Alabama.

Ian, a category 4 storm which struck Florida in 2022, following the exact path of Hurricane Charley in August 2004.

Helene, a Category 4 storm which struck Florida in 2025, the most intense cyclone to hit the Big Bend area of Florida, which caused catastrophic flooding in the Appalachians.

Days continue to grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 64.9 degrees at the beginning of the month to 53.6 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight decreases from 12 hours 22 minutes on August 1 to 11 hours 51 minutes on August 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

September 1 Sunrise 6:21 AM Sunset 7:12 PM
September 15 Sunrise 6:30 AM Sunset 6:53 PM
September 31 Sunrise 6:41 AM Sunset 6:32 PM

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.7 is in Leo, The Lion.

Mercury, magnitude -0.3 in Cancer, The Crab, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

Mercury will pass behind the Sun, or be in Superior Conjunction on September 13.

Venus, magnitude -3.9 in Gemini, The Twins, is growing ever closer to the Sun in the predawn sky.

At the first of the month, she rises at 3:48 AM CDT, 2 hours and 30 minutes before the Sun and reaches an altitude of 26° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:03 AM CDT.

At midmonth she rises at 4:14 AM CDT, 2 hours and 14 minutes before the Sun and reaches an altitude of 23° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:12 AM CDT.

Venus will pass 0.8° South of Moon on September 19.

At month’s end she rises at 4:44 AM CDT, 1 hour and 55 minutes before the Sun and reaches an altitude of 19° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:23 AM CDT.

Earth, magnitude -4.0 as viewed from the Sun, and her Moon is in the Pisces, The Fish.

Mars, magnitude +1.6, with his Moons Phobos and Deimos in Virgo, The Virgin, is hidden in the glow of the Sun.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +8.3, is in Cetus, The Whale.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.0, and his 97 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, in Gemini, The Twins, is visible in the early morning sky.

At the first of the month, he rises 2:13 AM CDT and reaches an altitude of 45° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:03 AM CDT.

By midmonth he rises at 1:29 AM CDT and reaches an altitude of 56° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:12 AM CDT.

At months end he rises at 12:36 AM CDT and reaches an altitude of 69° above the southeastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:23 AM CDT.

Saturn, magnitude +0.7, and his 274 moons and extensive debris ring system, is in Pisces, The Fish, is an evening and early morning object.

At the first of the month, he becomes visible around 9:07 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 11° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 2:07 AM CDT, 54° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:47 AM CDT, 26° above the southwestern horizon.

By midmonth he becomes visible around 8:09 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 11° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 1:08 AM CDT, 53° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:57 AM CDT, 12° above the western horizon.

He will be exactly opposite the Sun in the night sky or be in “opposition” on September 21.

At month’s end he becomes visible around 7:01 PM CDT, 11° above the eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 11:56 PM CDT, 53° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 4:53 AM CDT, when he sinks below 11° above the western horizon.

Uranus, magnitude +5.7, and his 29 moons and ring, in Taurus, The Bull, has into the predawn sky.

Near the first of the month, he rises at 11:00 PM CDT and reaches an altitude of 73° above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:18 AM CDT.

Uranus enters “retrograde motion” or appear from Earth as tracking backwards against the night sky on September 6.

By midmonth he becomes accessible around 11:56 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 5:04 AM CDT, 76° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:28 AM CDT, 75° above the southwestern horizon.

At months end he becomes accessible around 10:52 AM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 4:00 AM CDT, 76° above the southern horizon. He will be lost in the dawn twilight around 5:40 AM CDT, 64° above the southwestern horizon.

Neptune, magnitude 7.7, and his 16 moons and ring, is in Pisces, The Fish, is visible using a telescope in the late evening and early morning sky.

At the first of the month, he becomes accessible around 9:59 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 2:10 AM CDT, 55° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:18 AM CDT, 34° above the southwestern horizon.

By midmonth he becomes accessible at 9:03 PM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 55° above the southern horizon at 1:13 AM CDT. He will become inaccessible at around 5:24 AM CDT when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

He will be exactly opposite the Sun in the night sky or be in “opposition” on September 23.

At months end he becomes accessible at 7:59 PM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 55° above the southern horizon at 12:09 AM CDT. He will become inaccessible at around 4:18 AM CDT when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

Pluto, the largest Dwarf Planet, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.5 in Capricornus, The Sea Goat.

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, her ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of 17.3 in Bootes, The Herdsman.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) 1, nicknamed MK1 by the discovery team, shines faintly at magnitude +17.2 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris, the second largest Dwarf Planet, and her moon Dysnomia, originally referred to as Xena and Gabrielle, is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude +18.6 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

At least seven additional bodies with the preliminary criteria for identifying dwarf planets, and though not “officially” declared as such, are generally called dwarf planets by astronomers as well.

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 near Equuleus, The Small Horse.

50000 Quaoar, his two rings and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Taurus, The Bull..

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System, glows faintly at magnitude +20.8 in Taurus, The Bull.

225088 Gonggong, the third largest Dwarf Planet, originally nicknamed Snow White by the discovery team, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Pegasus, The Winged Horse.

2014 UZ224 nicknamed “DeeDee” for “Distant Dwarf” is 8.5 billion miles from the Sun, at magnitude +23.0 in Eridanus, The River.

120347 Salacia, and her moon Actaea glows at magnitude 20.7 in Hydra, The Sea Serpent. Salacia is considered a “borderline” Dwarf Planet. Some astronomers saying she “most certainly is a Dwarf Planet”, while others disagreeing based on her size, saying she is too small to have compressed into a fully solid body, to have been resurfaced, or to have collapsed into “hydrostatic equilibrium”, that is to assume spherical shape like a planet.

“Dwarf Planet Candidate” 2017 OF201, magnitude 23.2 is in the constellation Triangulum, the Triangle.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, an asteroid unofficially called Asteroid 2018 AG37, and nicknamed FarFarOut, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

FarFarOut is currently 12,391,417,487miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 28 minutes and 39 seconds from Earth.

The most distant man-made object, Voyager 1, still operating after 47 years, 11 month and 15 days is 15,593,792,775 miles, or in Light Time, 23 hours, 15 minutes 10 Seconds from Earth as of 7:29 PM CDT, August 20, 2025, sailing 38,027 miles per hour through Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.

Near Earth Object, asteroid 99942 Apophis, is expected to pass within 19,794 miles of the Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.

Apophis, magnitude +21.4, in Cancer, The Crab, is 190,270,151miles or 1333 days from the Earth as of 7:33 PM CDT, August 20, 2025.

Asteroid 2024 YR4, which will pass though the Earth – Moon system on Wednesday, December 22, 2032, dimly glows at magnitude +29.7, in Virgo, The Virgin. It currently is 349,109,939 Miles or 2786 days from the Earth as of 7:40 PM CDT, August 20, 2025.

There are 1,448,463 known asteroids and 4,028 comets as of August 20,, per NASA/JPL Solar Dynamics Website

5,983 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of August 14, 2025 per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive.

September’s Full Moon will occur September 77 at 1:10 PM CDT or 18:36 UTC.

The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be fully illuminated. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the “Corn Moon” because the corn is harvested around this time of year.

This moon is also known as the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the September equinox each year.

The name “Harvest Moon” dates from the time before electricity, when farmers depended on the Moon’s light to harvest their crops late into the night. The Harvest Moon was especially important since it coincided with the largest harvest of the year.

There will be a Total Lunar Eclipse on September 7. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes completely through the Earth’s dark shadow, or umbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will gradually get darker and then take on a rusty or blood red color. The eclipse will be visible in Asia, Australia and the central and eastern parts of Europe and Africa. But, not in Birmingham.

The Moon will be at Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on September 10, when she will be 226,664 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur September 14 at 5:35 AM CDT or 10:00 UTC.

During the Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

New Moon will occur at 2:55 PM CDT or 19:55 UTC on September 21. The Moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

There will be a Partial Solar Eclipse September 21. A partial solar eclipse occurs when the Moon covers only a part of the Sun, sometimes resembling a bite taken out of a cookie. A partial solar eclipse can only be safely observed with a special solar filter or by looking at the Sun’s reflection. This partial eclipse will only be visible in New Zealand, Antarctica, and the southern Pacific Ocean.

Fall begins at Autumnal Equinox on September 22 at 1:17 PM CDT or 18:17 UTC, when the Sun crosses directly over the equator and night and day is approximately the same length throughout the world. For the Southern Hemisphere it is Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring.

On this date, if there is sufficient solar activity, and you are away from city lights, the aurora may possibly be seen, as the Equinox dates are the two most favored times of the year for auroral sightings.

At this time of year, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) can link up with Earth’s magnetic field, prying open cracks. Solar wind pours in and can fuel displays of the aurora borealis with no geomagnetic storm required. Researchers call this the “Russell-McPherron” effect after the space physicists who first described it in the 1970s.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on September 26, when she will be 251,998 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur September 29 at 6:54 PM CDT or 23:54 UTC.
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Thanks!

Mark

Editor ALERT Newsletter