![]() The brightest star in Perseus, called Mirphak or Alpha Persei, is the home of a popular star cluster. The fall and winter seasons are the best time to view some popular star clusters in this area of the sky. Cassiopeia is another popular guide constellation it points the way to the Andromeda Galaxy to the south and the constellation Perseus to the east. Cassiopeia is known for its zig-zag shape of bright stars that can be seen even in areas with considerable light pollution. This constellation depicting the vain Greek queen is above the horizon year-round in Ohio, but this season it begins the night far above the north-eastern horizon for easy viewing. Venus is much brighter than Mercury, and further from the sun in our sky, so it is much easier to view this month.Ī popular constellation to observe in the fall is Cassiopeia. Venus will also be visible in the early mornings before sunrise it will rise on the eastern horizon around 4:15 am. While it is still extremely close to our sun, the best chance to observe the planet will be in the early morning before sunrise on September 22nd. Mercury has shifted to its point of greatest western elongation. The image below shows the difference in size of the moon at perigee (closest point) and apogee (furthest point). Since the moon is closer to the Earth than average, it appears larger and brighter in the sky. A supermoon occurs when there is a full moon at perigee, or the closest point to Earth in the moon’s orbit. The full moon occurs on September 29th, and this will be the last supermoon of the year. Especially due to the string of supermoons this season, observing during a new moon is much better to view fainter objects. This is also why seasons are switched in the northern and southern hemispheres.Īfter the blue moon in August, the next new moon occurs September 15th. The solstices (and the summer and winter seasons) occur when one hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, therefore one hemisphere receives more direct sunlight than the other. As highlighted in the diagram, the equinoxes occur when the entire day-side of the Earth is receiving sunlight at the same angle. Earth rotates around its axis, and orbits the sun, but there is an angular difference between the rotational and orbital axes, a ‘tilt’ of approximately 23.5 degrees. ![]() The equinox and solstices, as well as the seasons themselves, are caused by the tilt of the Earth. Equinox gets its name from the fact that the sun spends equal time above and below the horizon on this day. The astronomical start of the fall season is fast approaching! The Autumnal Equinox occurs on September 23rd. Constellations, Planets, and Astronomical Events Visible in September 2023
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