September Night Sky Guide: Venus & Mercury at Sunset, Moon Meetups, and Ophiuchus
Audio Guide to the Galaxy
Leon and Sharna preview September’s night sky, starting with Venus shining brightly in the western sky just after sunset, and noting that Mercury will join it low in the west in the second half of the month. They recommend using the Moon as a guide: on September 14 the Moon sits near Venus, and on September 17 it sits near the subtly red star Antares, the heart of Scorpius, which also helps locate the Milky Way stretching roughly north–south and shifting toward the western sky in the evening. They explain the September equinox on September 23, when day and night are roughly equal, and introduce the constellation of the month, Ophiuchus (the serpent bearer), visible from anywhere on Earth and sometimes traversed by the Sun. Highlights include Barnard’s Star, a nearby fast-moving red dwarf, and Kepler’s Supernova (1604) and the related system RS Ophiuchi.
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