Visible planets and night sky guide for September

Visible planets and night sky guide for September 2024. The moon approaches the red star Antares in the evening sky. See Mercury near Regulus in the morning.

What does opposition mean for an outer planet?

Opposition is when Earth passes directly between the sun and an outer planet, placing the outer planet on the opposite side of the sky from the sun.

Saturn at opposition – brightest for 2024 – on September 8

Don't miss Saturn at opposition on and around the night of September 8, 2024. That's when our planet Earth passes between the sun and Saturn.

Saturn’s rings: Top tips for seeing those glorious rings

If you want to see Saturn's rings, September 2024 is a great time to look. Grab a telescope, find a dark sky and read the tips found here!

Mercury farthest from the sunrise on September 5

Mercury reaches its greatest elongation - greatest distance from the sunrise - on September 5, 2024. Look east at dawn. It'll brighten for the next few weeks.

Meteor shower guide 2024: The Draconids best around Oct 8

The Draconids will be best before dawn around the nights of October 7-8. Your 2024 meteor shower guide here. Under dark skies you might catch about 10 per hour.

Zodiacal light: Start watching for it now

The zodiacal light is an eerie light extending up from the horizon before dawn around the Northern Hemisphere autumn. Southern Hemisphere? Look after sunset!

Venus after sunset 2024: Back in the evening sky

Venus after sunset will next reach greatest elongation on January 9-10, 2025. Look for a blazingly bright object in the sunset direction in evening twilight.

Does a supermoon have a super effect on us?

The extra pull of gravity from a supermoon creates higher-than-usual tides. But the moon doesn't pull a human body as strongly as an ocean.

What’s a globular cluster? The Milky Way has about 150

A globular cluster is a spherical collections of stars orbiting in the halo of spiral galaxies. Our Milky Way galaxy has over 150 globular clusters.