The equinox on September 23rd marks the point where day and night are equal length and the sun rises due east and sets due west. From now on the sun will move into the southern hemisphere giving us our warm season, and the days are beginning to get noticeably longer with full darkness not coming until around 7:30pm. |
After dark in early September the planet Mercury will be visible low on the horizon to the west. More... (Following copy ending “using the stars” to be in pop- up )
Look for a reasonably bright star-like object and as the nights go by you will notice its position change against the backdrop of stars. Another planet visible at this time is Jupiter. High in the sky to the east, Jupiter is the brightest thing in the evening sky apart from the Moon, making it easily noticeable. A small telescope or good binoculars will reveal some or all of Jupiter's four largest moons, named the Galilean moons after their 17th century discoverer, Galileo.
The fabulous winter constellation Scorpius is high in the sky with its tail at the point directly overhead. The bright red star at the heart of the scorpion is called Antares. It is a red supergiant which is a star at the end of its life which has swollen to a tremendous size and is about to explode.
Low on the horizon the bright star Vega is visible due north. Above and to the east of Vega, the bright star Altair marks the eye of the eagle of the constellation Aquila.
Towards the south the Southern Cross is lying on its side pointing horizontally across to the east at another bright star, Achenar. Half way between the cross and Achenar is a point in space we call the South Celestial Pole. This is the point that south pole of the Earth is pointing at in space and is a very useful point to know about when navigating using the stars.
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