Night sky september 2023
The month of September usually sees the strong summer winds calming, bringing with it a cleaner sky to observe the celestial objects by night. The Milky Way is still dazzling us when the Moon is not present, passing through the south west sky. The gas giants Jupiter and Saturn are finally both present in our observations, by mid Sept. And our closest neighbour, the Andromeda Galaxy is getting higher in the Northern sky. We can not forget our Sun and the incredible sunrises and sunsets that we can usually enjoy in this month. We celebrate the September Equinox on the 23rd day. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of autumn, Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. A day celebrated by all ancient cultures including the ancient settlers here on Fuerteventura! We start the month with the Moon still bright and rising early in the night sky, the Full Moon, SuperMoon being on the last day of August. Our Moon is locked in a gravitational pull, rotating around the Earth and each night we can observe Her rising at different times with varying parts of Her surface illuminated. We return to dark skies from the 4th onwards with the Moon beginning to rise after midnight up until the New Moon on the 15th. The Milky Way and the fainter stars can become the protagonists of the night sky once more. But it won’t last long, as the brilliant Jupiter, the King of the Gods is rising earlier and earlier. By mid September He will be in a perfect position to start observing during our observations. We do have the infamous Planet Saturn in the night sky all month, but being considerably smaller than Jupiter and double the distance from Earth you might not notice the Planet, as you will Jupiter! Both are spectacular to observe with the telescope with the largest Moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn visible. The Planet Mercury is not an easy one to spot but you might be in luck around the 22nd, look for the planet low in the eastern sky just before sunrise. The last of this years SuperMoons falls on the 29th, also know as the Corn Moon or Harvest Moon. Clean skies to everyone and Keep Looking Up.
