The Night Sky This Month – September 2026
(Looking for last month’s ‘Night Sky’? Find it at this link…)
The starry band of the Milky Way in Scorpius and Sagittarius moves westward this month, but lengthening nights keep this vista accessible until the end of September before it disappears for the year. In the east, the relatively star-poor constellations of Pegasus, Capricornus, and Piscis Austrinus are moving into view along with hundreds of galaxies accessible with a small telescope. The latter constellation’s lone bright star, Fomalhaut, shines alone in the southern sky for much of the night. All five bright planets are visible this month, along with the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. Venus reaches its brightest low over the horizon after sunset, Mercury makes a fine evening apparition in the south, and Mars and Jupiter brighten in the eastern morning sky. Once again, the zodiacal light emerges in the morning for observers in dark sky. Here’s what to see in the night sky this month…
1 September 2026. Venus lies about 1.7o south of Spica in the southwestern sky after sunset. The planet blazes away at magnitude -4.5 tonight and, in a telescope, shows a thick crescent about 38% illuminated and 31” across. The planet lies low over the horizon for northern observers, while southern-hemisphere stargazers get a better view because of the inclination of the ecliptic.
3 Sept. The waning gibbous Moon lies tangled in the stars of the Pleiades.
4 Sept. Last Quarter Moon, 07:51 UT
6-7 Sept. The crescent Moon passes through Gemini on the 6th, forming a rectangle with Mars, Castor, and Pollux in the eastern pre-dawn sky. On the 7th, now a little thinner, the Moon lies nearly halfway between Mars and Jupiter. Jupiter itself shines at magnitude -1.9 and spans about 33”, relatively dim and small, as it begins its long journey to opposition next year.
8 Sept. This morning, Jupiter sits less than a degree from a slender crescent Moon in the early-morning sky. The pair frame nicely in binoculars or a telescope at low magnification. Much of Canada and the U.S. will see the Moon occult the planet in daytime hours. You can find timing of the event at this link.
9 Sept. Over the next two weeks, northern-hemisphere observers with very dark sky can see the zodiacal light in the east about 90-120 minutes before sunrise. This whitish wedge of light appears to thrust upward from the horizon towards the constellations Gemini and Cancer. The zodiacal light is simply sunlight reflected off tiny dust particles in the inner solar system.
9 Sept. Look for a razor-thin Moon rising with Regulus low over the northeastern horizon before sunrise.
10 Sept. Uranus reaches its first stationary point and now begins retrograde motion. It lies about halfway between Aldebaran and the Pleiades.
11 Sept. New Moon, 03:27 UT
12 Sept. Look for Mercury about 4o north of the crescent Moon in the evening sky. Northern observers see the planet very low over the horizon as the Sun sets. But southern observers get a much better view of the planet over the next two weeks during its best evening apparition of the year in the southern hemisphere.
14 Sept. A thickening crescent Moon comes within 0.5o of Venus low in the evening sky after sunset. Observers in Europe see the Moon occult Venus in the morning daylight hours. This link has more details on the timing of the event.
17 Sept. A nearly first-quarter Moon trails Antares by about 5o in the southwestern sky in the early evening.
18 Sept. First Quarter, 20:44 UT
18 Sept. Venus reaches its greatest illuminated extent. In a telescope, the planet appears about 26% lit and spans about 39” from tip to tip. It shines tonight at a blazing magnitude -4.6, though it still lies low over the horizon for northern observers.
23 Sept. The September Equinox arrives at 0:05 UT marking the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere.
26 Sept. Full Moon, 16:49 UT (Full Harvest Moon)
26 Sept. Look for tiny Mercury shining at magnitude 0.0 about a degree north of Spica low in the southwestern sky after sunset. It’s a difficult observation north of the equator, but southern observers will get a splendid view of the little planet and the 1st magnitude star, with Venus blazing some 12o above. In a telescope. Mercury appears just over 80% illuminated and 5.5” wide.
26 Sept. Look for Saturn tonight 5o southeast of the full Moon. The planet shines at magnitude +0.3 with a disk that spans nearly 20” in a telescope. The planet’s rings are tilted by nearly 8o and offer fine telescopic viewing in steady sky.
26 Sept. Neptune reaches opposition between Saturn and the ‘Circlet of Pisces’. The slow-moving planet, which lies today at a distance of 4.3 billion kilometers, shines at magnitude 7.8 and spans a diameter of just 2.4”. You can spot the planet in binoculars, but you need a telescope at about 150x or more to reveal its pale blue-green disk.