Planets
Mercury and Saturn are pretty much lost into dusk this week and will be difficult to observe. At the other end of the night, Venus slowly approaches dawn but will still rise a few hours before sunrise throughout the week. Mars rises after midnight and will be high in the sky just before sunrise. Jupiter remains the bright light of the night sky and doesn’t set until just before sunrise.
Moon
The Moon is shrinking again this week, having just passed its Full phase last week. It will reach the Last Quarter phase on Friday evening.
Spectacular Sights
September is an excellent time to look for the Andromeda Galaxy. Located in the constellation of Andromeda, this galaxy is also known as M31 and is the most distant object you can see without a telescope. You probably won’t be able to see the galaxy near the bright lights of the city, but a trip out to a darker area will make observation possible. If you are still in the city, you will be able to see this 4th magnitude object with binoculars or a small telescope. To the naked eye, Andromeda appears as a faint smudge in the sky – binoculars or a telescope will start to reveal its elliptical shape. With a better telescope, you may even begin to see details like the bright center and fainter arms of the galaxy.
To find the Andromeda Galaxy, you first need to find the surrounding constellation. Andromeda is about 30 degrees up in the northeastern sky at sunset throughout this week. During the night, look for the constellation to rotate higher as it circles the North Celestial Pole. By dawn, the galaxy is about 50 degrees above the northwestern horizon.
Use this star map to find Andromeda and other constellations. The Andromeda Galaxy appears next to the middle stars of the constellation. Extend a straight line through the two middle stars of the constellation figure – the galaxy is about 4 degrees to the north of the northern star.
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