September skygazing guide: Saturn shines bright, Corn Moon and Autumnal equinox
Grab your decaf PSL for an evening walk and enjoy some of these low-horizon stargazing views this month. Early risers have the chance to see six planets at once.
Visualization of the Moon's phases in 2025
NASA visualization shows the Moon's phases in 2025 (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)
Cooler temperatures for millions started the month of September, kicking off almost fall-like feels and the perfect time for stargazing.
Dr. Tyler Richey-Yowell, a postdoctoral fellow at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, helps break down some of the reasons to look up this month:
Sept. 7: Full Moon but no eclipse for US
The full Moon has something in common with your dinner plate, besides the shape, this month.
The full Corn Moon rises on Sept. 7 and is aptly named for the time of year when corn is harvested throughout much of the U.S. Some Native American tribes even refer to this Moon as the Corn Harvest Moon, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Peak illumination occurs during daylight at 2:09 p.m. ET, but the Moon will appear bright and full for the two nights before and after the peak. In September, the Moon appears low on the horizon, making it a good time of year to look up at the Moon on an evening walk or bike ride.
FILE PHOTO: An aircraft over the moon on final approach for landing. The Full Corn Moon as seen behind Hortiatis mountain over the city of Thessaloniki in Northern Greece, captured from Kalochori Lagoon and National Park. Earth's natural satellite as seen yellow and then bright illuminating and creating reflections on the seawater from Thessaloniki, Greece on September 2, 2020. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto / Getty Images)
Richey-Yowell said this is one of the last moons of the summer, appearing lower on the horizon, magnifying it.
"It appears a little brighter and redder than more of our winter moons," she said. "As we go on into the season, the moons will get kind of a little smaller, a little bluer, just because they're higher up in the sky."
Just a few days after the full Moon, our only natural satellite will reach perigee, its closest position to Earth, making it appear slightly larger in the sky.
For some in the world, the full Moon will also result in a total lunar eclipse, but the U.S. is not in the viewing path for this one. Totality will be visible from Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe, according to Timeanddate.com.
While the eclipse won't be visible here, you can still see it in real-time online. Timeanddate.com and The Virtual Telescope Project both plan to carry livestreams of the lunar eclipse on Sept. 7.
Sept. 19: Moon eclipses Venus
The U.S. won't see an eclipse of the Moon, but stargazers can watch the Moon eclipse Venus on Sept. 19.
September is for Saturn (and morning people)
All month long, Saturn will be visible in the evening in the east and in the west during the morning hours. On Sept. 21, Saturn will reach opposition.
Richey-Yowell said if you are up in the pre-dawn hours, you have the chance to see up to six planets, with some help.
"If you are up and looking outside in the morning, you actually get the chance to see up to six planets at once, which is really cool. And it doesn't happen very often," she said. "Four of them are naked eye objects. So we've got Mercury, Venus, Jupiter in the East, and Saturn in the West. And then, if you have a telescope or even some binoculars, you can see Uranus and Neptune in the West as well."
FILE: Jupiter (bright at left in Pisces) and Saturn (dimmer at right in Capricornus) low in the southeast sky on a mid-September evening in 2022 when Jupiter was nearing its opposition. (Photo by: Alan Dyer/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
On Sept. 19, Venus and the bright star Regulus will be close to a crescent Moon. This trio will be visible in the predawn hours.
Sept. 22: Hello, fall
On Sept. 22, the Autumnal equinox happens, beginning astronomical fall in the Northern Hemisphere.
Richey-Yowell explains that this happens due to Earth's 23.5-degree tilt.
"During parts of the year, the Northern Hemisphere is pointed right towards the Sun. That's our summer, and our summer solstice, when we get the most Sun. And the opposite is the winter solstice, where we get the least amount of Sun," she said. "The equinox is just when neither the northern or the southern hemisphere is pointed towards the Sun. And so you get equal day and night during that time. And that's why it's called the equinox."
However, if you ask any of your favorite meteorologists at FOX Weather, fall should really begin on Sept. 1.