What can you see in the night sky tonight? Find out what’s on view in our monthly stargazing guide.
In this guide we’ll reveal what you can see in the night sky tonight, and throughout the month.
Those of us who enjoy stargazing and observing the night sky can’t always plan when and where we’re going to get the chance to gaze upwards.
Busy schedules, light pollution, the weather: sometimes finding even just 30 minutes to stand and stare up at a clear, dark night sky and take in the planets, stars and constellations can be a feat in itself.
So when you do find the time, you’ll need to know what’s visible in the night sky tonight, and the best things to look out for when stargazing.
Complete newcomer? Read our guides to the best telescopes for beginners and astronomy for beginners.
Here’s our stargazing guide to what you can see in the night sky tonight.
Our guide is centred around what’s visible from the UK, but all northern hemisphere observers should be able to use it, with the odd adjustment to stated times.
In our guide, we use Universal Time (UT) and British Summer Time (BST). UT is the standard time used by astronomers around the world. BST is one hour ahead of UT
We also use RA (Right ascension)and dec. (declination).
These coordinates are the night sky’s equivalent of longitude and latitude, describing where an object is on the celestial ‘globe’.
For help with these, read our guide to celestial coordinates.
For more advice, read our guide on how to stargaze or sign up to receive the BBC Sky at Night Magazine e-newsletter for weekly tips delivered directly to your email inbox.
If you’re south of the equator, find out what you can see in the Southern Hemisphere night sky tonight.
What’s in the night sky tonight?
September astronomy highlights
- 2 September: Very thin Moon lies near Regulus (am)
- 5 September: Venus lies near 5%-lit waxing crescent Moon (pm)
- 8 September: Saturn at opposition
- 13/14 September: Excellent Ganymede shadow transit from 23:38 BST
- 18 September: Small partial lunar eclipse of the Harvest Moon (am)
Planets
Hold on to your hats this month as there is lots happening. In terms of the planets, that old adage about how you wait forever for a bus to turn up and then two arrive at once seems to apply.
After a painfully slow start to the 2024 season, the planets are back with a vengeance this month!
Saturn is at opposition on 8 September, Neptune on 21 September, both well-placed currently.
Mars is slowly improving and has a brief encounter with M35 on the morning of 9 September, passing 52 arcminutes south of the cluster’s centre.
Jupiter is superb, able to reach an altitude of nearly 60° under relatively dark skies. At mag. –2.1 it’s a real beacon too.
Jupiter is located 3.3° east-northeast of the Crab Nebula, M1, on 30 September.
Uranus is near Jupiter currently and this dim world rises to around 56° altitude under dark sky conditions from mid-month.
Even the inner Solar System joins in.
Mercury rises 90 minutes before the Sun on 1 September, reaching greatest western elongation on 5 September.
Venus improves in visibility in the evening sky, albeit very slowly.
Venus sits 4.7° northwest of a 5%-lit waxing crescent Moon on the evening of 5 September and sets 50 minutes after the Sun on 30 September.
Find out more in our guide to the planets during autumn and winter 2024.
Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
September and October will be the times to look out for comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS – if it lives up to the hype.
How will it perform and will it reach expectations?
It’s not possible to tell ahead of time, but we give you as much rational observing information as we can in our comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS guide.
This month it’s predicted to brighten from mag. +4.9 to +0.3 but, be warned, it’s placed in a tricky part of the sky.
The Moon
If thin Moon hunting is your thing, there’s an excellent opportunity on 2 September, as a less than 1%-lit waning crescent sits near Regulus (Alpha (α) Leonis) in the dawn sky.
If you prefer your Moon at a fuller phase, on 18 September there’s a tiny partial eclipse to look forward to.
This will obviously be happening to the full Moon and, occurring just four days before the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn equinox, this particular full Moon takes the title of the Harvest Moon for 2024.
Stars and constellations
The stars of summer are well represented early evening.
With darker skies to see them in, September is a great month for exploring the region from Cygnus, the Swan down to Sagittarius, the Archer.
Despite drifting further west each day, the increase in the length of night offsets this, giving these regions an extended lease of life.
Following from the east of Cygnus is the large sprawling constellation of Pegasus, the Flying Horse, best recognised by the large Great Square of the Pegasus asterism.
Running along the bottom of the Great Square and near its eastern side is Pisces, the Fish, which contains a faint but distinctive geometric asterism the Circlet, sitting just south of the Great Square.
Below Pegasus is Aquarius, the Water Bearer, the current home of Saturn.
It too is large and difficult to visualise, save for the small three-pronged asterism known as the Water Jar.
To the southwest of Aquarius lies the triangular form of Capricornus, the Sea Goat, an ancient constellation that dates back to Babylonian times.
Night sky in September 2024, night-by-night
Saturday 31 August
Jupiter occults a magnitude +11.3 star between 00:00 and 01:34 BST (23:00 UT on 30 August until 00:34 UT).
This morning a 7%-lit waning crescent Moon sits less than 3° north of M44, the Beehive Cluster.
Sunday 1 September
Visible in the early dawn twilight, a 3%-lit waning crescent Moon sits 5.5° from mag. +0.6 Mercury this morning.
Monday 2 September
Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, appears immediately south of the planet’s southern pole at 02:52 BST (01:52 UT). Find out more about Saturn Titan transits.
This morning’s waning crescent Moon is very thin, less than 1%-lit. It sits 2.3° from Regulus (Alpha (α) Leonis) before sunrise.
Tuesday 3 September
Moons Dione and Tethys and their shadows are centrally placed on Saturn at 04:22 BST (03:22 UT).
Thursday 5 September
Mercury reaches greatest western elongation, separated from the Sun by 18.1° this morning.
Mag. –3.8 Venus sits 4.7° northwest of a 5%-lit waxing crescent Moon, visible just after sunset.
Friday 6 September
Spica (Alpha (α) Virginis) appears 26 arcminutes north of this evening’s 11%-lit waning crescent Moon at 18:50 BST (17:50 UT) under daylight conditions.
Saturday 7 September
Ganymede can be seen transiting Jupiter’s disc between 01:04 and 03:15 BST (00:04–02:15 UT).
Sunday 8 September
Saturn reaches opposition, when it can be seen shining at magnitude +0.2 in Aquarius.
Monday 9 September
Mars makes a close pass of the lovely fifth-magnitude open cluster Messier 35 this morning, the mag. +0.7 planet passing 52 arcminutes south of the cluster’s centre.
Tuesday 10 September
At 20:40 BST (19:40 UT), a view of the lunar crater Albategnius will show a rim shadow that looks like the profile of a face – the clair-obscur effect known as the Face in Albategnius.
Wednesday 11 September
An early, daylight view of the Moon at 18:20 BST (17:20 UT) will show two illuminated ovals inside the lunar crater Clavius, a clair-obscur effect known as the Eyes of Clavius.
Friday 13 September
Ganymede’s shadow transits Jupiter’s disc between 23:38 and 01:50 BST (22:38–00:50 UT), Ganymede itself transiting between 05:00 and 07:20 BST (04:00–06:20 UT) under daylight conditions on 14 September.
Tuesday 17 September
See a bright, almost full Moon sitting 5.2° southwest of Saturn this morning.
Just after midnight (into 18 September), Titan sits 4 arcseconds south of Saturn’s southern pole.
Wednesday 18 September
This morning’s full Moon, the Harvest Moon for 2024, undergoes a small partial eclipse. Maximum eclipse is at 03:44 BST (02:44 UT).
Saturday 21 September
Neptune is at opposition today.
The shadow of Ganymede crosses Jupiter’s disc between 03:40 and 05:52 BST (02:40–04:52 UT) this morning.
Sunday 22 September
The 77%-lit waning gibbous Moon sits 4° from the Pleiades open cluster and 4° north of Uranus this morning.
Today is the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn equinox.
Monday 23 September
The 58%-lit waning gibbous Moon sits 5° north of Jupiter around 23:00 BST (22:00 UT) shortly after both objects rise.
Wednesday 25 September
Titan sits 4 arcseconds north of Saturn’s north pole at 23:22 BST (22:22 UT).
The 45%-lit waning crescent Moon sits 6° north-northwest of Mars this morning.
Monday 30 September
Jupiter appears 3.3° west-northwest of the Crab Nebula, M1, both objects reaching an altitude of around 60° under relatively dark sky conditions.
Rhea’s shadow crosses Saturn from 20:50 to 00:16 BST (19:50–23:16 UT).
Share your observations and images with us, or send us your astronomy questions to contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com