What’s Up Above? September Stargazing

The Labor Day holiday summons the beginning of summer’s swan song. Can you hear it? More so, can you feel it? It is a soft lingering song. A familiar melody, beautiful and yet with a tinge of melancholy.  The Milky Way, the celestial river of life, the “place of spirits,” the connection between Earth and sky, life and life beyond, now flows in a different path. Outside your window at night the Milky Way runs almost directly north to south, dividing the sky east and west.  The constellation Cygnus, the swan, (appropriately and fittingly) majestically gliding overhead above this galactic river heading south, sings her song.  What do we hear? A change of season is afoot, yet not fully here.

The stars come out earlier, and still comfortable, possibly even warm after the Sun bids us adieu. (Except where I live.) We’re in a stargazer’s sweet spot. The September sky is full of magic. Plus, you’ll find the night air is still comfortable but with a mere hint of wispy chill occasionally passing through. 

Take a moment to greet our closest galactic neighbor with your naked eye, and then soar to new heights and find the “Great Square” directly overhead, representing the body of the winged horse Pegasus. And continue to greet your new day with Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon. Yep, they’re still there. Shifting and changing their location each morning; just to keep you guessing and coming back for more.

September ushers the beginning of the season of harvest, fulfillment, and gratitude. It is the month which straddles the final season of growth and the beginning season of harvest. And thus it is so with our September night sky. A sky rich, full of delightful objects to view and events to observe. Get out and look up any pleasant night this month. The cosmos awaits.

Epsilon e-Perseid Meteor Shower Peak, September 9^th

The radiant point for the meteor shower is the bull's eye.

Do you recall the “British Invasion” and the debut performance of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show? Excellent for you. Now, do you remember the act that followed the Beatles that night? (If you’re drawing a blank, it was the married comedy duo of Charlie Brill and Mtizi McCall.) Overlooked and forgotten. That’s what it’s like for the e-Perseid meteor shower. Truly, after summer’s biggest stargazing event, the August “granddaddy of ‘em all,” the Perseid meteor shower, who could be blamed for not knowing there was an e-Perseid meteor shower? Well, now you know.

Interestingly the exact parent comet or asteroid which produced the e-Perseids’ debris trail is unknown. It is thought to be a long period comet. This is a comet with an orbital period around the Sun of 200 years or more.

The Epsilon Perseid produces fewer meteoroids overall, and to make matters worse this year, the meteor shower peaks just two days after the Full Corn Moon. Sadly, the optimal conditions for view are not this night as moonlight will wash out fainter meteoroids hitting our atmosphere. 

Do not despair, the e-Perseid meteor shower is predicted to be visible till September 21^st and has a history of being unpredictable. With meteoroids zipping along at 144,000 miles per hour, they are fast movers that often bring fireballs, and bolides that explode in a bright terminal flash.

To find the e-Perseid meteor shower in the night sky, orient yourself towards the north western horizon any time after sunset at your location. Scan the area about four fists above the horizon in the area where the Moon set in the west. The radiant point for this shower, the star Epsilon Persei, in the constellation Perseus, falls below the northwestern horizon at 2am. This means you pretty much have the entire night to spy one of the elusive, yet explosive e-Perseid meteoroids. Happy hunting!

Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter, September 16th  

Throughout August and now into September, the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus have beckoned us to get out of bed and get outside to observe their brilliance and marvel at their shifting positions in the pre-dawn sky. If you haven’t done so already, mark your calendar for the morning of the 16th to greet the new day by observing the Moon and Jupiter, the King of the Sky in astronomical conjunction. And what is that you ask? An astronomical conjunction occurs when two astronomical bodies appear close to one another and share the same right ascension (east – west) as observed from Earth. The objects need to be within 5 degrees or less in ascension.

The Moon will rise over the east-northeastern horizon close to 1:30am and stay tight as they arc toward the southeast before fading into the rising Sun’s increased glow and presence around 6:45am local time. The crescent Moon will be 23% illuminated that morning allowing the prominence of the off-white yellowing tinted, faint golden hue of Jupiter to not go unnoticed. Speaking of not going unnoticed, that glaring bright object close to the eastern horizon you see that morning, it’s our goddess of love, beauty and passion, the planet Venus. That’s nice.

Saturn at Opposition: September 20^th 

Saturn at opposition is a special event. Simply, “opposition” refers to the moments when there is alignment between the Sun, the Earth, and any object in our solar system and the Earth is the middle. So what’s the big deal? With Saturn on the other side of the Sun (opposition), you can expect Saturn to be boldly illuminated and thus prime for viewing.

When Saturn lies opposite to the Sun in the sky, it rises at around the time the Sun sets, and sets in the west around the time the Sun rises in the east the next day. So Saturn is visible all night. It reaches its high point in the night sky around midnight local time. 

Look for bright dull brownish-green Saturn in the constellation Pisces. The key is to look for a pin prick of light that isn’t twinkling. While you will see Saturn with your naked-eye, even a small telescope or binocular at low power will reveal much more. Don't miss your chance to see the sixth planet in our solar system, the Roman God of agriculture, up-close and personal. 

The Autumnal Equinox: September 22nd

In the northern hemisphere, the autumnal equinox occurs on September 22^rd, at 12:20pm local time. The date of the autumnal equinox demarcates the end of the summer season and the beginning of the autumn season. On this day, the center of the Sun sits high over the equator and spends roughly equal amounts of time above and below the horizon at every location on the Earth. No matter where you are in the world, the sun rises due east, and sets due west. Stand anywhere on the equator at the time of the equinox and look straight up, the sun is directly overhead. There are two equinoxes a year, one in autumn, and one in spring; which are opposite of one another. More so, every planet in our solar system has an equinox when its tilt and orbit result in both hemispheres receiving equal amounts of light.  

In Japan, Autumnal Equinox Day is a public holiday. It is a day when individuals take time to reconnect with their families and by tradition tend to the graves of ancestors, visit shrines, and meditate in temples. 

The Andromeda Galaxy: The entire month of September

The arrival of autumn brings with it many of the night sky’s most spectacular constellations and grandest mythological stories. One of the easiest to find after sunset is the constellation Cassiopeia, the vain Queen, and mother of Andromeda. Look to the northeast horizon edge after 8:30pm locally for five bright stars all of similar brightness (magnitude) that together create an asterism, it is the shape of a somewhat flattened letter “W.” The brightest star of the “W 4” is called Schedar. It will be our pointer star to find the Andromeda Galaxy.  Just to confuse things, there is a constellation named Andromeda, as well as a galaxy named Andromeda. The Andromeda Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy like our Milky Way and is the nearest galaxy to us. It is our galactic neighbor galaxy. It has spectacular broad sweeping arms, one extending from each end of the bar.  As it resides an intimate 2.5 million light-years from Earth, we can clearly see it with our unaided, naked-eye.

To find the Andromeda Galaxy, get to a dark location and first locate the constellation Cassiopeia and the five bright stars forming the “W.”  Next, find Schedar, the brightest star of the five in the “W.”  You’ll notice it is at the bottom of the most pronounced “V” in the “W” of Cassiopeia creating a pointer from which you draw an imaginary straight line from Schedar, back to the horizon. Extend your arm out and make a fist. Place the thumb of the closed fist on Schedar. Maintain the angle set by the pointer star, turn your wrist on the imaginary straight line down towards the horizon. When the line hits the horizon, at the other end of your fist, the pinky finger begins to look for a faint, slightly brighter patch of diffused light.  Think of a light white finger print of chalk on a window pane about the size of a dime. That patch is the Andromeda Galaxy. Give your eyes time to adjust and as they do, the galaxy’s size will become more apparent. It will look like a large oval serving platter. It’d be appropriate to say “Whoa!” when you see it.  

The Constellation Pegasus: The Great Square of a Winged Horse, the Entire Month of September

While you’re in the neighborhood, take a step to the right of the Andromeda Galaxy and locate another famous asterism, the Great Square of Pegasus. It’s easy to find notwithstanding the stars in the square are a bit dimmer.  The brightest star of the great square is Alpheratz.  This star occupies the upper left corner of the square. To find it, start at the Andromeda Galaxy, and move one fist width towards the south maintaining the same latitude. Each side of the square is approximately two fist width in length. Yes, it does look like a half of a horse; there’s a head, a body (the Great Square), and front legs. The only problem is that Pegasus flies upside down through the night! You’ll need to be a little creative to visualize it, but it’s there and once you find it, you’ll never not see it again.    

Each new season calls us forward, as well as asks us to be grateful for that which has passed. The summer celestial season has given much to us to see, enjoy, and contemplate.  We feasted on the undeniable beauty and brilliance of Venus, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune through June, July, and August. We “ooh and aah” at the unexpected sighting of a meteor streaking across the heavens. We stared dumbfounded at the brighter fuzzy patch of light at the southern end of the Milky Way after we learned we’re looking at the galactic center of our home. Throughout the season, we gazed up at the Summer Triangle of constellations, our constant companion through it all.

It is appropriate that we take a moment to pause and watch Cygnus lightly fly south through our river of stars. Equally fitting is that we turn towards autumn. With anticipation and excitement let’s look up together towards a new season of stargazing full celestial joy and wonder. It’s there, just waiting for you to harvest. 

Clear skies to you!