What's Up?

This page shows a brief summary of what interesting things we can see in the sky this month.  

A more detailed version of the 'What's Up' this month is available as a downloadable PDF document right at the bottom of this page. 

September brings about the start of Autumn, arguably the best time for observing, with dark skies by nine and weather that keeps you warm enough for hours of viewing. Highlights for this month include Pleiades and Orion emerging.

The Sun

Remember to never look at the sun with a telescope, at worst you might blind yourself, at best you’ll melt your telescope! If you are interested in Solar viewing, speak to our members, we have special equipment to help you! If you do not have a solar scope, watch using Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) or SDO.  

The Moon

The phases of the Moon are as follows:

• Last Quarter - 6th September
• New Moon - 15th September
• First Quarter -22nd September
• Full Moon - 29th September

Darkest skies due to lack of moonlight are during the week of 12th to 18th September. 

Apogee on the 12th at 226,485 miles, Perigee on 28th at 251,379 miles  

Tricky viewing, but best on the 22nd of September at 5:45 am low in the East.

 Venus, getting higher each morning, best on the 30th of September, 25 degrees high in the East.

Mars is too close to the Sun for observation this month.

 Jupiter, rising about 10:00 pm and then visible all night. Can reach height of 52 degrees.

 Saturn was recently at opposition, is also visible all night in Capricorn. 

Uranus is almost at opposition in Aries, so is visible all night and visible in binoculars with a  magnitude of 5.9.

Neptune is at opposition on September 19th, visible all night at magnitude 7.8. 

Comets

Newly discovered comet, Nishimura, is becoming increasingly bright as it heads from Leo

across to Virgo throughout the month. 

Meteors

The Alpha Aurigids peak on the 1st, the Piscids peak on the 8th and again on the 21st, and the

Delta Auririds peak on the 29th of September.

Deep Sky

• Earlier in the evening, search in the West to catch these before they set; M3, M10, M12, M63, M51, M101.

In the South you will find; 

• M55, M8 - The Lagoon Nebula
• M20 - The Triffid Nebula
• M22, M23, M25, M17 - The Omega Nebula
• M16 - The Eagle Nebula and M11 - The Wild Duck Cluster.

In the North, circumpolar objects include:

• M103 and M81. 
• Overhead look for M52, M39, M29
• M27 - The Dumbbell Nebula, M71, M56, and M57 - The Ring Nebula,
• Globular Clusters M5 and M13 can be viewed better through a telescope, along with M57, the Ring Nebula.

Television

The next episode of The Sky at Night will air on BBC Four on Monday 11 September 2023 at 9.30pm and will get a behind-the-scenes look at the Very Large Telescope. Here are all the past episodes that are available to watch, in case you missed any: BBC4 The Sky At Night

Clear Skies !