What's in the Sky Tonight?

SEPTEMBER 2025

Sept 7 and 8: Total Lunar Eclipse
This total lunar eclipse is visible across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. It is the second total lunar eclipse of 2025; the next one will be on March 2 and 3, 2026.

Sept 7: Corn Moon
The September Full Moon is traditionally called the Corn Moon because this is when corn and other crops are harvested in the Northern Hemisphere.

Sept 8: Conjunction of the Moon and Saturn

Sept 16: Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter

Sept 19: Conjunction of the Moon and Venus

Sept 21: Partial Solar Eclipse
The second partial solar eclipse of 2025 will sweep across the South Pacific and parts of Antarctica. In New Zealand, the eclipse will be visible at sunrise on Monday, September 22 (local time).

Sept 21: New Moon
A New Moon in the sky means no moonlight to hinder your view of stars and planets.

Sept 21: Saturn at Opposition
The ringed planet, Saturn, lies on the opposite side of Earth to the Sun, and is visible from sunset to sunrise.

Sept 22: September Equinox
Also known as the autumnal (fall) equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, the September Equinox is considered by many as the first day of fall.

Sept 24: Conjunction of the Moon and Mars

ASTRONOMY BINOCULARS
A mini telescope you can take anywhere

If you love sky gazing, you have to have a pair of astronomy binoculars! Binoculars are a fantastic alternative to telescopes—inexpensive, lightweight, and portable. For city dwellers where there is a lot of light pollution, binoculars are essential if you want to see much of anything.

Binoculars enlarge and brighten the beauty and immensity of the night sky. You can see the detail of the moon's craters, the phases of Venus, the moons and stripes of Jupiter, the awesome jewels that dot the Milky Way, nebulae, star clusters, and comets when they're passing near.

Our favorite astonomy binoculars is the Celestron SkGiyMaster Giant 15x70 Binoculars. These are excellent as well:

ANOTHER GREAT ASTRONOMICAL TOOL:

THE PLANISPHERE
A year-round, real-time sky map

A planisphere is a rotating star chart that allows you to dial in the entire visible sky for any day and time of the year and with great precision. It has been called an analog star computer and was considered magical in ancient times.

Planispheres show the brightest stars, constellations, notable galaxies and nebulae, as well as the path of the Milky Way. The plane of the ecliptic is also shown, which reveals the pathway of the planets as they appear to move across the night sky.

Purchase a planisphere for $7.95