September 2024

Send us Fan Mail Full text available at the Cosmos Safari Blog 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 17th - Just Barely Partial Lunar Eclipse 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 Middle of the night - Saturn Morning - Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Mercury 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. 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.