ALERT NEWSLETTER – September 2026

Hi everyone, and welcome to the 231st Alert Newsletter!

I hope this finds you doing well as we bake during these last days of summer.

As you fight the temptation to try baking biscuits in your car, remember that hope on the way, as Fall will return on schedule on September 22.

Already we see hints of fall. The grass has slowed its growth and birds and butterflies are in full migration.

Where are the birds? You can track their migrations courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Live Maps – BirdCast

I hope you have a good month, and I hope you join us for our next meeting, which will be on September 8.

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Storm Spotter Training On Demand

A new feature that I am excited about is the new online NWS storm spotter training and certificates of completion, which are now available on-demand at skywarn.

This training, which replaces the March and October webinars, can be completed at your own pace, any time of the year.

It features a slide show consisting of 66 slides that cover the entire storm spotter course and when you finish the training there is a short quiz to test your knowledge, so you can earn your Storm Spotter Certificate of Completion.

This quiz covers essential storm spotting information for central Alabama. An 80% passing grade is required; and a retake is permitted if needed.

You will receive your storm spotter certificate via email within 5–10 minutes of passing the quiz. The email also includes a link to join the NWS storm spotter database.

Make sure to enter your first and last name and email without errors.

If you have any issues, email gerald.satterwhite@noaa.gov

Note: This is not storm chaser training. A storm spotting is a volunteer service conducted primarily from fixed locations such as from home, work, or around your community. The National Weather Service does not endorse or encourage the use of storm spotter training for storm chasing. Nor do they recommend or endorse amateur storm chasing.

So, if you get that urge to plaster “Official NWS Storm Chaser” on your car or to identify as such on social media, YouTube, TikTok or wherever, please control the urge.
The reasons are, that storm chasing in Alabama is difficult and dangerous, as most Alabama tornadoes are rain wrapped, the tree canopy obscures the horizon and people drive as if they are possessed during clear weather on straight roads, let alone during driving rain on a curvy road.

Another danger is that if you do pose as an “NWS Storm Chaser” and you get yourself or others in trouble, killed or injured or just look like a nutcase on social media, the NWS doesn’t need the credit and certainly does not need the blame.

So I strongly advise against doing it.

And if you were to choose to do so anyway, remember, please don’t pretend you are with the NWS, and if you make videos, always remember the Golden Rule: “Teeth In”. Please, teeth in.

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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 – 2026 there have been 652 Tropical Storms, 3 Subtropical Storms and 433 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 shortens by 59 minutes from 12 hours 54 minutes on September 1 to 11 hours 55 minutes on September 30.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

September 1 Sunrise 6:21 AM Sunset 7:12 PM
September 15 Sunrise 6:31 AM Sunset 6:54 PM
September 30 Sunrise 6:41 AM Sunset 6:33 PM

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

Mercury, magnitude -0.5 in Virgo, The Virgin, recently passed behind the Sun and is lost in the glow of the Sun.

His 88 day orbit will carry him to his furthest distance from the Sun, or Aphelion, on September 27.

Venus, magnitude -4.8 in Virgo, The Virgin, the brilliant “Evening Star” low in the western horizon, is sinking towards the Sun.

At the first of the month, she becomes visible 7:27 PM CDT, 15° above the south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. She will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hours and 41 minutes after the Sun at 8:53 PM CDT.

Her 225 day orbit will carry her to his furthest distance from the Sun, or Aphelion, on September 4.

The Moon will pass very close to Venus on September 14. For observers in parts of Asia, Africa, Europe and western Russia the Moon will pass directly in front of Venus. But, for us, it will be a close conjunction.

At midmonth, she becomes visible around 7:08 PM CDT, 12° above the south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. She will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hour and 24 minutes after the Sun at 8:17 PM CDT.

Near month’s end on September 26, she becomes visible around 6:53 PM CDT, 8° above the south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. She will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hour and 3 minutes after the Sun at 7:41 PM CDT.

She will then disappear from the night sky and won’t be seen again until she reappears as the Morning Star in November.

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

Mars, magnitude +1.1, with his Moons Phobos and Deimos in Gemini, The Twins, is an early morning object.

At the first of the month, he becomes visible rising at 2:12 AM CDT – 3 hours and 53 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 37° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:25 AM CDT.

At midmonth he becomes visible rising at 1:37 AM CDT reaching an altitude of 50° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:51 AM CDT.

At month’s end he becomes visible rising at 1:20 AM CDT and reaching an altitude of 56° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:03 AM CDT.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +9.0, is in Orion, The Hunter.

Jupiter, magnitude -1.8, and his 97 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, in Cancer, The Crab, is visible in the dawn sky.

At the first of the month, he will become visible rising around 4:17 AM CDT, 2 hours and 1 minute before the Sun when he reaches an altitude of 20° above the eastern horizon before fading into the dawn at 6:02 AM CDT.

The Moon will pass in front of Jupiter, also called a “Lunar Occultation” on September 8.

This will be visible in Canada, Greenland, eastern Russia and the United States east of a line roughly from Washington, Utah and western Texas, which includes Alabama.

The occultation will be visible from Birmingham using binoculars or telescopes; however, it will occur during daylight.

At the time of the occultation, the Moon will be just past new moon and will be a 7% illuminated sliver of a crescent. Jupiter will disappear behind the illuminated side of the Moon and reappear from behind the unilluminated side of the Moon.

The Sun will be nearby, so if you try observing this event PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

Extreme caution is necessary when pointing binoculars or telescopes at the sky when the Sun is above the horizon, as even a momentary glance at the Sun through such an instrument can cause permanent blindness.

The occultation will begin with the disappearance of Jupiter behind the Moon at 2:09 PM CDT, and end reappearance at 3:04 PM CDT.

An astronomical term “Occultation”, has nothing to do with the “occult”, by the way. So, if you see folk flying around on brooms, it is just a coincidence. They are practicing for Halloween.

At midmonth he rises at 3:36 AM CDT, 2 hours and 51 minutes before the Sun, reaching an altitude of 31° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:12 AM CDT.

At months end he rises at 2:50 AM CDT – 3 hour and 48 minutes before the Sun, reaching an altitude of 42° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:22 AM CDT.

Saturn, magnitude +0.4, and his 274 moons and extensive debris ring system, is in Cetus, The Whale or in Greek mythology, The Sea Serpent, is an evening and early morning object.

At the first of the month, he becomes accessible around 8:41 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 10° above the eastern horizon. He will reach his highest point in the sky at 2:58 AM CDT, 59° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:49 AM CDT, 39° above the southern horizon.

By midmonth he becomes accessible around 8:44 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 10° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 1:59 AM CDT, 59° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:59 AM CDT, 25° above the south-western horizon.

At month’s end he becomes accessible around 7:42 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 10° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 12:56 AM CDT, 59° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 6:11 AM CDT when he sinks below 10° above the western horizon.

Uranus, magnitude +5.7, and his 29 moons and ring, in Taurus, The Bull, is an early morning object. Uranus only reaches extreme naked eye visibility in perfectly dark locations, otherwise he is only visible using binoculars and telescopes.

At the first of the month, he becomes visible rising at 11:16 PM CDT and reaching an altitude of 71° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:17 AM CDT.

On September 10 Uranus will enter retrograde motion, halting its usual eastward movement through the constellations, and turning to move westwards instead. This retrograde motion is caused by the Earth’s own motion around the Sun. As the Earth circles the Sun, our perspective changes, and this causes the apparent positions of objects to move from side-to-side in the sky with a one-year period. This nodding motion is super-imposed on the planet’s long-term eastward motion through the constellations.

By midmonth he rises at 12:12 AM CDT, at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 5:23 AM CDT, 77° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:28 AM CDT, 77° above the southern horizon.

At months end he becomes accessible around 11:12 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 4:23 AM CDT, 77° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:39 AM CDT, 69° above the south-western horizon

Neptune, magnitude 7.7, and his 16 moons and ring, is in Pisces, The Fish, is a late evening & early morning object.

At the first of the month, he becomes accessible at 10:06 PM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 56° above the southern horizon at 2:19 AM CDT and fades into the dawn twilight around 5:17 AM CDT, 36° above the south-western horizon.

By midmonth he becomes accessible at 9:10 PM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 56° above the southern horizon at 1:23 AM CDT and fades into the dawn twilight around 5:28 AM CDT, 23° above the western horizon.

Neptune will reach “opposition” or be directly opposite of the Sun on September 25, which is also his closest approach to the Earth.

This is the best time to view and photograph Neptune using a telescope. Due to his extreme distance from Earth, he never reaches naked eye visibility and will only appear as a tiny blue dot in all but the most powerful telescopes.

At months end he becomes accessible at 8:10 PM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 56° above the southern horizon at 12:22 AM CDT and fades into the dawn twilight around 4:35 AM CDT, 21° above the southern 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 +17.1 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 +18.7 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 Auriga, The Charioteer.

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

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.

25088 Gonggong, the third largest Dwarf Planet, originally nicknamed Snow White by the discovery team, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.4 magnitude in Aquarius, The Water Bearer.

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 Centaurus, The Centaur. 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 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 12,393,001,240 miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 28 minutes and 48 seconds from Earth.

The most distant man-made object, Voyager 1, still operating after 48 years, 11 months and 7 days is 15,901,466,560 miles or in Light Time, 23 hours, 43 minutes from Earth as of 3:40 PM CDT, August 12, 2026, sailing 37,844 miles per hour through Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.

On November 18, 2026 at 10:16:07 UTC or 4:16:07 AM CST, Voyager 1 will become the spacecraft to reach one light-day from Earth – 16,094,799,096 miles, the distance light covers in 24 hours.

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

Apophis, magnitude +21.5, in Leo, The Lion, is 163,259,217 miles or 975 days from the Earth as of 3:37 PM CDT, August 12, 2026.

There are 1,555,917 known asteroids and 4,071 comets as of August 12, 2026 per NASA/JPL Solar Dynamics Website.

6,336 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of August 8, 2026 per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur September 4 at 2:52 AM CDT or 07:52 UTC.

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

The moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on September 6, when she will be
228,823 miles from Earth.

New Moon will occur at 10:27 AM CDT September 10 or 03:37 UTC on September 11. 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.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur on September 18 at 3:44 PM CDT or 20:44 UTC.

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

The moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on September 18, when she will be 251,169 miles from Earth.

Fall begins at Autumnal Equinox on September 22 at 7:06 PM CDT or 00:06 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.

September’s Full Moon will occur September 26 at 11:50 AM CDT or 16:50 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.

Overhead around 8 PM you will see the bright blue star Vega, the gemstone of the constellation Lyra, The Lyre, sitting atop a tiny parallelogram of stars.

The fifth brightest star in the night sky, Vega is only 25 light years away, and was the second star after the Sun to be photographed.

Vega is notable in that it is near the Solar Apex, or the point in the sky where the Sun is headed.
While there is no particular star to mark the exact location, the point can be located by using an outstretched arm and placing your fist against Vega and looking a fist width or 10° to the South.

The opposite point or Solar Antapex, where the Sun is moving from is located on the opposite side of the celestial sphere 10° south-southwest of Sirius, The Dog Star, in Canis Major, near Zeta Canis Majoris.

Between the two stars marking the bottom of Lyra’s parallelogram, using a 3 inch telescope or larger, you will find M57, the Ring Nebula. The Ring Nebula is a “planetary nebula”, so called because it is roughly planet shape. Planetary nebulae are created when material is ejected from a dying Sun like star as it reaches the end of its life.

Glowing at magnitude 8.8 from 2,500 light years away, this ring is 1 light year across.

Textbook and online images of the Ring Nebula show a colorful reddish, yellow and blue oval object like an angry eye staring at you. However, using a backyard telescope it looks like a ghostly tiny blue/gray smoke ring, having the quirky habit of disappearing when you look directly at it and it then popping back into view as you look away. Gently tapping the telescope helps a little, as the human brain has an easier time recognizing objects in motion, rather than stationary objects.

If one has a good dark observing location and at least a 20 inch telescope, one might see barred spiral galaxy IC 1296 glowing dimly in the background at magnitude 15.4, 238 million light years away.

The Ring Nebula is one of my favorite objects. One of the nifty little secrets waiting for you as you explore the cosmos.

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Ham News

6 Meter Sporadic E openings are becoming less and less frequent as the Sporadic E season nears its end. Currently HF conditions are weak, with 40, 30 & 20 Meters having the best results, while 160, 80 and 60 Meters are very noisy due to thunderstorms, and the Maximum Usable Frequency has been shy about venturing to 17 Meters and beyond.

As we head into fall and the solar angle decreases, HF conditions will strengthen, and transcontinental and international contacts will become more and more frequent.

I tried my hand with the Hawaii QSO party on 15 Meters, but my signal overshot Hawaii and I ended up talking to Fukushima Japan instead, which didn’t bother me a bit. I heard a station in New Zealand calling Hawaii, but he couldn’t raise anyone. This week I talked to stations in Serbia and Russia on 15 Meter sideband and Belgium on 12 Meter CW. So, the bands are improving.

September contests and events of note are:

September 5 All Asia DX Contest – SSB
IARU Region 1 (Europe) Field Day – SSB
ARRL EME (Moonbounce) Contest

September 6 Tennessee QSO Party

September 12 ARRL September VHF Contest
Colorado QSO Party
New Jersey QSO Party
Ohio State POTA
Worked All Europe DX – SSB

September 13 North American Sprint – CW

September 19 Washington State Salmon Run (QSO Party)
New Hampshire QSO Party
Texas QSO Party
Iowa QSO Party
Wisconsin POTA
Scandinavia Activity – CW

September 21 144 MHz Fall Sprint

September 26 Maine QSO Party

September 29 222 MHz Fall Sprint

For more details and for a more comprehensive list go to WA7BNM Contest Calendar: WA7BNM Contest Calendar: Home

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This month’s meeting will be on September 8. Watch for Russell’s email announcement for details. Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter