Night sky events NASA says to watch this September

The harvest moon will rise on Sept. 26.

The harvest moon will rise on Sept. 26.

Peter Olsen Images/Getty Photos

From the autumn equinox to quite a lot of completely different occasions, September is ready to have quite a lot of attention-grabbing occasions to look at within the evening sky.

NASA released its list of a few of the greatest evening sky occasions to take pleasure in for skywatchers, and it contains completely different positions for Venus, the Harvest Moon, and the autumn equinox.

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Listed here are a few of the most attention-grabbing evening sky occasions for September.

Moon, Antares and the Teapot 

A sky chart looking southwest after sunset on Sept. 20, 2026.

A sky chart wanting southwest after sundown on Sept. 20, 2026.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

From September 14 by way of 20, the Moon information you to a couple celestial landmarks. About an hour after sundown, look south to search out the Moon within the night sky. 

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Evening by evening, the Moon shifts place towards the background stars, passing close to Antares. This shiny, reddish star marks the center of the constellation Scorpius.  

Subsequent you will see the Teapot, a gaggle of stars in neighboring Sagittarius that actually does resemble a teapot, full with a deal with, lid, and spout. In case you are below an particularly darkish sky, you may even see hazy steam rising from the Teapot’s spout. 

Observe that steam to its thickest half, and you will be wanting towards the middle of our Milky Manner galaxy. 

Venus 

A sky chart looking west after sunset on Sept. 18, 2026.

A sky chart wanting west after sundown on Sept. 18, 2026.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Look west on September 18 as Venus hits peak brilliance, shining at its brightest of this night look. 

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Shortly after sundown, Venus will stand out as an excellent level of sunshine low above the western horizon, outshining each star round it. A transparent view of the horizon will give the perfect likelihood to catch it earlier than it units. 

Fall Equinox 

Then on September 22, it is formally fall within the Northern Hemisphere whereas spring begins within the Southern Hemisphere. The autumn equinox, when the Solar is immediately above Earth’s equator and day and evening are near equal in size world wide, will happen.

From there, daylight retains getting shorter within the Northern Hemisphere and longer within the Southern Hemisphere. 

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Harvest Moon 

A sky chart looking east after sunset on Sept. 26, 2026.

A sky chart wanting east after sundown on Sept. 26, 2026.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

And on September 26, the Harvest Moon takes middle stage, rising within the east shortly after sundown. 

It will not be alone. Saturn seems close by, with faint Neptune finishing a large triangle within the sky. 

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Saturn is the simple one for viewers, as you’ll be able to see it with simply your eyes. Neptune is a little more difficult. At round magnitude 8, it is too faint to see with the unaided eye, so residents will want binoculars or a telescope to identify it. Darker skies and good observing situations might help deliver it into view. 

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