What is gracing the September 2024 skies? A juuuuust barely partial lunar eclipse, the best viewing for Saturn, 5 lunar close encounters, and the transition to fall.
Hi everybody, I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.
We’ll start by talking about September’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.
BIG EVENTS
7th – 8th – Opposition of Saturn – Saturn, Earth, and the Sun are essentially lined up, causing Saturn to rise at sunset, and set at sunrise, with best viewing around midnight.
17th - Just Barely Partial Lunar Eclipse - The Moon passes into the shadow that Earth is casting into the solar system, but only a little. Times here are Eastern Daylight, so adjust for your location, assuming you are in the Americas, Africa, or Europe. The penumbral stage will be almost not noticeable, however the hour of partiality will be. At 10:12pm the Moon will start to graze the dark inner portion of the Earth’s shadow called the umbra. About half an hour later it’ll be at maximum eclipse, with 8% of it covered up. Another half hour later, the dark shadow will no longer be noticeable, and the moon will be in the penumbra until 12:47am.
8:41pm - Penumbral Eclipse Starts
10:12pm - Partiality Starts
10:44pm - Maximum Eclipse (8%)
11:15pm - Partiality Ends
12:47pm - Penumbral Eclipse Ends
Naked-eye PLANETS
Sunset
Venus - Venus is timidly maintaining its evening presence that’ll last until Mid-March, getting no more than 10° above the horizon. It’ll be challenging, but possible, given its brightness. Look WSW and low on the horizon, just after sunset. Use these next 9 months and your telescope to watch Venus go through its phases. It’s almost gibbous right now, will then go half, crescent, and then pass between the Sun and Earth in March.
Middle of the night
Saturn - In the beginning of the month, Saturn rises in the East around 8pm, earlier every day, until it is already up in the sky at sunset by month’s end. Travels West throughout the night. Sets at sunrise Sept 1, 6am on the 30th.
Morning
Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Mercury – Starting out the month, at sunrise, Jupiter and Mars are over 45° above the SE horizon, with Saturn far in the SW, 20° up the sky. If you want to see Jupiter and Mars rise, go out around 1am and look E. By the end of September, Mars and Jupiter rise closer to 10pm. At this point, Saturn will be almost setting around 4am in the W. Oh, and let’s add Mercury to the list here, but only the first week of the month, where it’s about 15° above the Eastern horizon at sunrise. Go out after 5:15am, look East, and see if you can find the dim planet.
Lunar Events
LUNAR CYCLE
Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)
New Moon – 3rd (darkest skies)
Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)
First Quarter Moon – 11th (Visible until midnight)
Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)
Full Moon – 17th (Visible all night)
Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)
Last Quarter Moon – 24th (Visible midnight into the morning)
LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times.
1st - VERY thin Waning Crescent Moon 4˚ left of Mercury, after 5:15am, low in East
5th - VERY thin Waxing Crescent just 6˚ left of Venus, after sunset & before 8:45pm, low in West
16th - Full Moon 5˚ to the right of Saturn, after 6:30pm, SE, moves West throughout the night
17th - Full Moon 10˚ to the left of Saturn, after 7:00pm, SE, moves West throughout the night
22nd - First encounter with the lineup of Mars, Jupiter, Taurus, & Pleiades. Waning Gibbous right next to the Pleiades, after 9pm, and crosses through the Pleiades before dawn
23rd - Waning Gibbous Moon between the Pleiades and Jupiter, with Taurus just below, after 10pm until dawn
24th - Last Quarter Moon 7˚ left of Jupiter, and 16˚ above Mars, after 10:30pm until dawn
25th - Waning Crescent Moon 5˚ above Mars, after 11:30pm until dawn, ENE
26th - Waning Crescent Moon 10˚ below and to the left of Mars, after 12:30am until dawn, ENE
And that’s the sky for this month. If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram. Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies.
Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission.
All pictures simulated using Starry Night Pro Plus 8.
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