The planets, which have been producing great views for skywatchers all summer long, begin to fade somewhat in September. Saturn will continue to be seen but only in evening twilight about 10 degrees up in the west/southwest an hour after sunset. At magnitude –0.8 Saturn is brighter than any other object in this area of the sky. It also appears about 5 degrees above +1.0 magnitude Spica, the brightest star in Virgo. Both Spica and Saturn will appear to dip lower throughout the month, setting just 60 minutes after sunset by the end of September. After this, Saturn will be invisible for awhile, passing behind the Sun, but re-appearing in the eastern early morning sky in late November.
Mars may also be spotted in early September, only 10 degrees (width of an extended, clenched fist held against the sky), to the left of Saturn, and noticeably dimmer than the ringed planet. However its ruddy color contrasts nicely with with Saturn’s yellowish hue —- noticeable especially if you look at each of them through binoculars. Telescopes will reveal Saturn’s rings but not much in surface detail on Mars. It is too far away from Earth now to allow that. Mars will appear to move against the background stars from right to left (west to east) through the month, and away from Saturn. On September 19th, a thin crescent Moon may be seen just below Mars.
Brilliant Jupiter rises around midnight on September nights, appearing among the stars of Taurus the bull. But it does not get high enough above the eastern horizon to see it well until just a few hours before dawn. It is at –2.4 magnitude all month (very bright) and the last quarter Moon will be seen just one degree from it on September 8th.
Even more dazzling than Jupiter, Venus rises around 3 am local time in September among the background stars of Gemini, and later, moving into Cancer. A neat treat for sky-watchers occurs on the pre-dawn morning of September 12th, when the waning crescent Moon is just below and slightly right of Venus; while the planet itself is 3 degrees below M44, the open cluster of stars known as the “Beehive.”
Binoculars will give great views of all three individually and also collectively.
The Autumnal Equinox ushers in the Fall season as summer ends astronomically at 10:49 am EDT on September 22nd. At this time the the Sun’s apparent wandering path through the zodiac (apparent motion of Sun actually caused by Earth orbiting the Sun) puts the Sun exactly on the celestial equator. This brings equal portions of night and day —— 12 hours of each —- to most places on Earth (except the poles).
Full Moon this month is September 29th; New Moon is on September 15th, and First Quarter Moon is the 22nd.
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