The planets Saturn, Jupiter and Mars can be seen in the September night sky, with Jupiter visible most of the night. During this period around 23:00 several bright stars can be observed on the horizon: Antares, Arcturus and Capella, according to the astronomical calendar published by the Astronomical Observatory of Admiral Vasile Urceanu.

moon

On September 3, the First Square stage took place, at 9:08 p.m. The moon is visible in the evening sky.

On September 10, the full moon phase comes at 12:59 p.m. The moon will be visible all night on September 9 and 10.

On September 18, at 00:52, the Last Square phase takes place. The moon is visible in the second half of the night.

On September 26, the new moon phase comes at 00:55. The moon is not visible.

Starting from September 29, the Moon is visible in the evening sky.

The course of the planets in September 2022

Saturn, Jupiter and Mars are visible at night.

Saturn rises around 6:30 p.m. and rises in the sky until evening. At the beginning of the evening, the planet is visible to the southeast, until midnight – to the south, and in the morning – to the southwest, that is, it remains in the sky all night.

It is not very bright, but in the place where it is located, it is easily distinguished as a single bright star. Look for the planet not very high in the sky, to the south, around 11:00 p.m. If you see a yellowish-white star that doesn’t twinkle, it’s Saturn.

The moon will be around the planet on the evenings of September 7, 8 and 9, so you can use it for identification.

Jupiter rises 90 minutes after Saturn and is visible all night. If you’re looking at the evening sky, look for Jupiter in the east, not very high in the sky. At midnight it is high in the sky, to the south, and at the end of the night, to the west. In all cases, the planet appears as a very bright star that does not twinkle.

On September 26, it will be as far from Earth as possible (all year), at a distance of 591 million km. The planet is clearly visible in telescopes, its four satellites are constantly more visible.

The moon passes through this area on the evenings of September 10, 11, and 12. On September 11th, look at the Moon and you will see Jupiter directly above it to the right.

Mars can also be seen after midnight. You can search starting from 1 o’clock, to the east, not very high in the sky. The planet was visible as an orange star, not very bright, but, unlike stars, it has a stable light (does not flicker).

Day by day the planet moves to the left, and if you look at it every 3 days, you will see that it will be positioned differently relative to the stars.

The moon goes around the planet in the mornings of September 16, 17 and 18.

On a September night, there are also the planets Uranus and Neptune in the sky, but they are not visible to the naked eye. In September, Neptune is in its best viewing position, at opposition on the 9th and at its closest distance from Earth, 2.79 billion km. The planet is located in the Aquarius constellation, not far from Jupiter.

On September 4, Venus was at its closest distance from the Sun, at perihelion, at a distance of 107 million km from the Sun.

On September 16, the planet Neptune is in opposition and is at the closest distance from Earth (at 2.79 billion km).

On September 26, the planet Jupiter is in opposition and is at the shortest distance from Earth (591 million km).

The constellation is visible in the evening sky

During this period, you can see some bright stars on the horizon around 11:00 PM. To find them, you need a clear horizon, which can be found in a park or field.

The first star to be seen is Antares in the constellation Scorpius, which sets around 10:00 p.m. Look to the southwest. A little above the horizon is a brighter yellow-orange star. This is Antares, a dying red giant star located 604 light-years away. Its diameter is huge, 800 times larger than the sun. Because Antares is huge, it is colder than the Sun, with a surface temperature of “only” 3,500 degrees.

The next star is in the west. Also close to the horizon you will see Arcturus in the constellation Volopas (Boar). Arcturus is much closer than Antares, only 37 light years away. It is the third brightest star in the sky and 25 times larger than the Sun.

Going north, we meet Capella, another bright star. The light emitted by Capella takes 42 years to reach Earth. When you look at this star, imagine that there are actually two stars very close together, orbiting a common center of mass. Each of these two stars in turn is double, so the star is actually a quadruple.

The last bright star on the horizon is Fomalhaut in the constellation of Golden Fish (Southern Fish), which lies to the south. Fomalhaut is 25 light years away. It is a star that is twice the size of the Sun and has a dust disk and a planet around it. Thus, Fomalhaut is one of the closest stars with planets to the Sun.

If viewed from Romania, the star does not rise above the horizon, but if we were looking at the sky from the southern hemisphere, from the cities of Brisbane, Johannesburg or Easter Island, the star would be overhead.

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