Sky Watch - the night skies above Petersfield in September 2026

Hello, and welcome to Skywatch, your personal Petersphere stargazing bulletin for September.

Did you see last month's spectacular solar eclipse? Millions of people in Western Europe saw either a deep partial eclipse or a total eclipse, surely nature's grandest spectacle.

Here, 92% of the sun was covered by the moon at maximum.

The Petersphere daylight dimmed, and the temperature dropped in eerie silence.

Mind you, September has much to look forward to because it's an important time of year for stargazers.

September marks the beginning of the new stargazing season in the Petersphere, when the autumnal equinox on the 23rd marks the transition to longer nights and shorter days.

Everyone regrets the passing of summer, but now we have the consolation of glorious autumn night skies.

Starting with our nearest neighbor in space, new moon is on the 11th, so around this time is best for deep sky observations when skies are at their darkest.

From around the 14th until a day or two before full moon is best for lunar observations, as the phase grows from a slender crescent through first quarter or half-moon on the 18th to waxing gibbous.

This year's harvest moon casts an unearthly glow over the Petersphere on the 26th.

This is an ideal opportunity to check out the moon illusion, where the moon appears much larger than it really is when seen low against the foreground landscape at rising and setting.

In reality, the full phase is no larger than the diameter of a pen or pencil held end-on at arm's length.

It's surprising how our minds can trick us.

Turning to the planets for September, dazzling evening star Venus is drawing ever closer to the sun as seen from Earth, and despite its brilliance, becomes harder to spot as it sinks ever lower in the west during evening twilight.

By month's end, Venus will be lost in the sun's glare, so we'll have to wait until November when it emerges in the pre-dawn skies in its alter ego of the Morning Star.

Ringed planet Saturn rises before mid-evening, reaches due south around midnight, and remains visible until dawn.

Red planet Mars rises after midnight and is followed by brilliant Jupiter.

The mighty king of the planets dominates the eastern pre-dawn sky throughout the month and remains visible until sunrise.

The moon makes a convenient marker to find the planets.

On the 1st, our nearest neighbor in space partners with Saturn, then during the 6th to the 9th, glides past Mars and Jupiter in the pre-dawn sky.

On the 27th and 28th, the moon makes a return evening visit to see Saturn.

The outermost planet of all, Neptune, reaches opposition overnight on the 25th, 26th, when it will be a mere four million kilometers from Earth.

Neptune is four times the size of Earth, but is so far away that it can't be seen by the unaided eye.

As it is, the distant ice giant planet now appears in the 2:00 position, a little way from Saturn.

But you'll need binoculars or preferably a telescope to see Neptune as a small turquoise disc.