Autumnal equinox alerts flip of season in September skies

September night skies have summer season constellations shining overhead nonetheless dominating the western sky. All the whereas, the japanese sky is filled with the dimmer and fewer apparent autumn constellations.

High overhead are Cygnus and Lyra; they each include two stars of the Summer Triangle. The third star of the Summer Triangle is farther south in Aquila. To the east of the Summer Triangle — made up of Deneb, Vega and Altair — you’ll spot the Great Square of Pegasus.

Under darkish skies, the Milky Way stretches from Perseus on the northeast horizon, then runs via Cygnus overhead and flows to the southwestern horizon, the place you’ll discover Sagittarius, simply picked out by its “teapot”-shaped asterism.

Facing north, you’ll discover Draco, Cepheus and Cassiopeia. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is between Cassiopeia and Andromeda, and seems as a fuzzy patch simply seen to the bare eye in darkish skies. The Big Dipper is low on the northwestern horizon.

The brightest stars this month — so as of brightness — are Arcturus, Vega, Capella, Saturn, Altair, Antares, Fomalhaut and Deneb. You would possibly see reddish Mars low on the western horizon and golden Saturn rising above the japanese horizon shortly after sundown.

Early risers can search for three planets stretching throughout the morning sky for the primary few weeks of September. If you look earlier than daybreak within the japanese sky, you’ll simply spot sensible Venus and brilliant Jupiter, and low within the western sky, you may see golden Saturn. In reality, Saturn can be seen all night time for many of September. A great way to inform if it’s a planet or a star is stars twinkle, planets don’t. The planets Uranus and Neptune are on the market, too, however require optical assist and a finder chart to see them.

A particular deal with on the morning of Sept. 1 is Venus buzzing close to the Beehive star cluster. Although the star cluster isn’t seen to the attention, you’ll see dozens of its 1,000 stars via binoculars, and sensible Venus can be in the identical area of view. Look earlier than daybreak.

Then, later within the month, on the morning of Sept. 19, the waning crescent moon, full with Earthshine, will be a part of sensible Venus and the brightest star in Leo, Regulus, for a formidable sight. Look low within the east-northeast about 60 minutes earlier than dawn. Be positive to make use of binoculars to cleanly separate this celestial trio!

The autumnal equinox happens on Sept. 22 at 12:19 p.m. MDT, marking when the solar crosses the celestial equator, transferring again to the southern hemisphere. Yes, which means chilly and snow can be returning to Wyoming quickly.

September and October are a good time to search for the zodiacal gentle within the morning sky. The zodiacal gentle is seen as a white glow within the east about 60 minutes earlier than daybreak this time of 12 months. Some even name it the false daybreak. This glow is formed like a pyramid and rises to about 75 levels within the sky alongside the ecliptic (the trail the solar follows via the sky).

The zodiacal gentle is brought on by the scattering of daylight by mud particles surrounding us in area. They are most seen when the ecliptic is at a steep angle to the observer’s horizon, like round our autumnal equinox. The zodiacal gentle shouldn’t be all the time tough to see. Sometimes it glows brighter than the Milky Way; at different instances, it may be faint and laborious to detect.

The greatest time to look at for the zodiacal gentle is below darkish skies and round a brand new moon. This month’s new moon falls on Sept. 21. So the times earlier than and after the moon will provide the darkest skies earlier than daybreak. The few days earlier than the brand new moon will discover a skinny crescent moon floating among the many zodiacal gentle, however it’ll be a beautiful addition to the scene. Also, within the midst of the eerie pyramid of sunshine are the brilliant planets Venus and Jupiter.

Saturn reaches opposition on Sept. 21; that’s when Earth passes between it and the solar. So Saturn can be at its brightest round then for the complete 12 months. And it’ll be seen all night time.

The full Corn Moon happens on Sept. 7, and elements of the globe will see a complete lunar eclipse, however that occurs on the opposite aspect of the globe from us. We’ll simply be capable to benefit from the full moon. The regular golden gentle by the total moon is Saturn.

Also this month, there’s a partial photo voltaic eclipse on Sept. 21, however that’s seen solely in elements of the South Pacific, New Zealand and Antarctica.