September Skies

01 Sep – zodiacal light visible in the dawn sky for the next 2 weeks

01 Sep – early riser’s perfect scene this morning – about 45min before sunrise (05:45EDT) Mercury and a very thin crescent Moon are just 4.4º apart nestled in the zodiacal light; observe naked eye and with binos to enhance the Moon’s crescent and earthshine

02 Sep – New Moon (21:56EDT)

05 Sep – Mercury (mag -0.4) at greatest elongation west (18º) low in the eastern sky during dawn twilight

06 Sep – daytime occultation of Spica (mag 1.0); disappearance about 11:30EDT, reappearance about 12:35EDT

08 Sep – Saturn at opposition

09 Sep – Mercury (mag -0.8) < 1/2º north of Regulus (mag 1.4), low in the eastern sky during dawn twilight

11 Sep – First Quarter Moon

11 Sep – lunar Straight Wall (Rupes Recta) visible this evening

17 Sep – nearly full Moon just 1º below Saturn (mag 0.6) as they set in the western sky during morning twilight

17 Sep – Full Moon (22:34EDT)

17 Sep – partial lunar eclipse – the upper limb of the Moon just clips the edge of Earth’s shadow from about 22:10 to 23:20EDT.

18 Sep – just past full Moon occults Neptune (mag 7.8) – very difficult because of the brightness contrast

21 Sep – Neptune at opposition

22 Sep – Autumnal Equinox (08:44EDT)

24 Sep – Last Quarter Moon

29 Sep – minor planet 20 Massalia (mag 9.2) at opposition