September 2, 2026
Moon and Pleiades
The Moon charges at the Pleiades late tonight. As seen from most of the United States, it will pass especially close to the star cluster, either just skimming its edge or briefly covering some of its stars.
September 3, 2026
Moon and Taurus
The Moon is crossing the constellation Taurus. Aldebaran, the bull’s bright eye, will stand to the lower right of the Moon as they climb into good view, after midnight. Elnath, the bull’s second-brightest star, is to the lower left of the Moon.
September 4, 2026
Moon and Elnath
Elnath, the second-brightest star of Taurus, will stand above the Moon at dawn tomorrow. The star represents the tip of one of the bull’s horns. That location is reflected in the star’s name, which means “the butting one.”
September 5, 2026
Moon and Mars
The planet Mars stands below the Moon in tomorrow’s early-morning sky. It looks like a fairly bright orange star. Pollux and Castor, the twins of Gemini, are farther to the lower left of the Moon.
September 6, 2026
Moon and Companions
The Moon anchors a prominent triangle in tomorrow’s early-morning sky. The stars Pollux and Castor — the twins of Gemini — line up to the upper left of the Moon, with Mars to the upper right. The brilliant planet Jupiter stands well below the triangle.
September 7, 2026
Moon and Jupiter
Jupiter stands close below the Moon at dawn tomorrow. The solar system’s largest planet looks like a brilliant star, outshining everything in the night sky except the Moon and Venus.
September 8, 2026
Lacerta
If you have clear, dark skies, away from the glow of city lights, look for Lacerta, the lizard, about half way up the northeastern sky at nightfall. It’s between W-shaped Cassiopeia, to the lower left, and Cygnus, the swan, to the upper right.
September 9, 2026
Zodiacal Light
A faint pyramid of light, formed by sunlight reflecting off of dust grains scattered through the solar system, stands up from the eastern horizon before dawn at this time of year. You need a dark observing site to see it.
September 10, 2026
New Moon
The Moon is “new” at 10:27 p.m. CDT as it crosses between Sun and Earth. Since it appears so close to the Sun, it is lost in the Sun’s glare. It will return to view in a couple of days as a thin crescent low in the west shortly after sunset.
September 11, 2026
Lyra
Lyra, the harp, crosses high overhead on September evenings. It forms a small, faint diamond. To find it, look for Lyra’s most prominent star, Vega, which is just off one point of the diamond. It shines pure white.
September 12, 2026
Capricornus
Capricornus, the sea-goat, is low in the southeast as darkness falls at this time of year. Its brightest stars form a wide triangle. None of the constellation’s stars is all that bright, so you need a fairly dark sky to make them out.
September 13, 2026
Moon and Venus
The crescent Moon teams up with the planet Venus in the early evening sky the next couple of nights. Venus is the brilliant Evening Star. But they are quite low as twilight fades, so there’s not a lot of time to enjoy the view before they set.
September 14, 2026
Pegasus
The Great Square of Pegasus is in the east at nightfall. Its member stars are all bright enough to see even through moderate light pollution. The square is tilted, so it looks more like a diamond than a square.
September 15, 2026
More Pegasus
Pegasus is in the east at nightfall. Four moderately bright stars mark its body, the Great Square, which is tilted. The first Sun-like star with a known planet, 51 Pegasi, is along the top right side of the square. Under dark skies, it’s just visible to the eye.
September 16, 2026
Moon and Antares
The Moon huddles close to the heart of the scorpion this evening, the star Antares. It’s among the 15 brightest star systems in the night sky. Its surface is thousands of degrees cooler than the Sun’s, so the star looks orange.
September 17, 2026
Autumn Constellations
As summer comes to an end, the constellations of autumn are moving into prime-time evening viewing hours. The best known are from Greek mythology: Pegasus, Andromeda, Perseus, Cassiopeia, and Cepheus, all of which stand high overhead in mid-evening.
September 18, 2026
First-Quarter Moon
The Moon is at first quarter today. Sunlight illuminates exactly one-half of the lunar hemisphere that faces Earth. The sunlit portion of the Moon will increase until the Moon is full on September 25 — the Harvest Moon.
September 19, 2026
Circumpolar Stars
The Big Dipper is low in the northwest at nightfall, and in the northeast at first light tomorrow. W-shaped Cassiopeia is just the opposite — in the northeast at nightfall, and the northwest at dawn.
September 20, 2026
Errai
Polaris stands almost due north, so all the other stars in the northern hemisphere appear to wheel around it as Earth turns on its axis. But Polaris will slide away from that spot. About 1,200 years from now, it will be replaced by Errai, in Cepheus the king.
September 21, 2026
Fall Equinox
Day and night will be just about equal the next few days for the entire world. That’s because fall arrives in the northern hemisphere tomorrow. It’s the September equinox, which is the moment the Sun crosses the equator from north to south.
September 22, 2026
Mirach
The binary system known as Mirach forms the second-brightest star in the constellation Andromeda, which is in the east and northeast as night falls. The system’s main star, Mirach, is almost 100 times wider than the Sun and almost 2,000 times brighter.
September 23, 2026
Neptune at Opposition
Neptune was discovered 180 years ago today. And the planet is at its best this week. It’s in view all night and it shines at its brightest. But you need a telescope to see it. At nightfall it’s to the upper right of much brighter Saturn, which is low in the east.
September 24, 2026
Autumn Star
The best sign in the night sky that fall has arrived is the appearance of the “autumn star.” It’s the only bright star that puts in its best showing during the nights of autumn: Fomalhaut, the leading light of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish.
September 25, 2026
Neptune Opposition II
Neptune is closest to Earth for the entire year. The planet shines at its brightest. You need help to see it, but its location is easy to spot. At dusk, it’s between the Harvest Moon and the planet Saturn, which looks like a bright star to the lower left of the Moon.
September 26, 2026
Harvest Moon
The Moon is full today. But it’s not just any old full Moon. It’s the best-known of them all: the Harvest Moon. Tonight, the planet Saturn is quite close below the Moon at nightfall, and stays close throughout the night. It looks like a bright star.
September 27, 2026
Moon and Saturn
Saturn stands to the right of the bright gibbous Moon in early evening. The solar system’s second-largest planet looks like a bright star. It will stay close to the Moon all night.
September 28, 2026
Winter Preview
You can get a preview of the evening skies of winter in the hours before sunrise. Highlights include the constellations Orion and Gemini, along with Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. All of them are high up at first light.
September 29, 2026
Kaus Australis
The stars of Sagittarius form the outline of a teapot. But in Greek mythology, the constellation represented a centaur — half-man, half-horse — holding a bow and arrow. Its brightest star, Kaus Australis, is at the lower right corner of the teapot.
September 30, 2026
Saturn at Opposition
Saturn puts in its best appearance of the year over the next few nights. On Sunday, it will line up opposite the Sun. It’s closest to Earth then, so it shines brightest and it’s in view all night. It looks like a bright golden star, low in the east at nightfall.