{"id":35982,"date":"2022-09-02T08:35:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T08:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=111655"},"modified":"2022-09-02T08:47:16","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T08:47:16","slug":"see-a-parade-of-planets-in-the-night-sky-this-month","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/see-a-parade-of-planets-in-the-night-sky-this-month\/","title":{"rendered":"See a parade of planets in the night sky this month"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Stuart Atkinson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 02 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

So far, 2022 has been a great year for planet spotters.<\/p>\n

Back in early summer there was a striking and much-hyped \u2018chain of worlds\u2019 spread out across the sky, with half a dozen planets strung out along the ecliptic<\/a> like beads on a bracelet.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, that celestial treat was only visible before dawn, so many people missed it or didn\u2019t even know it was happening at all.<\/p>\n

But good news: another planetary parade will be on view in September.<\/p>\n

For more guides, find out what\u2019s in the night sky tonight<\/a> and how to see Jupiter at opposition<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will all be visible with the naked eye in the night sky throughout September 2022. Credit: ARUIZHU\/istock\/getty images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

And even better news: this time it will be in the evening sky, so you won\u2019t need to set the alarm really early to see it.<\/p>\n

Throughout September 2022 no less than five planets \u2013 Saturn<\/a>, Jupiter<\/a>, Mars<\/a>, Uranus<\/a> and Neptune<\/a> \u2013 will all be on view at once, if you look at the right time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This month\u2019s gathering will be taking place after dark, so all the planets involved will be either very easy to see with the naked eye or easy to find in binoculars and small telescopes.<\/p>\n

And as an added bonus, one of the Solar System\u2019s most famous minor planets, Vesta, will be in the same region of the sky too.<\/p>\n

Discover our pick of the best telescopes for observing the planets<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When to see September\u2019s planet parade<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Cast your eyes southeast to catch the rare sight of (left to right) Mars, Jupiter and Saturn strung across the sky and all very easy to see. This is the view from the UK on 18 September at 22:30 BST. Credit: Pete Lawrence.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Although some of the planets will be on view soon after sunset, you won\u2019t be able to see all of them strewn across the sky together until around 10:30pm, so if you want to show them to any space-mad youngsters, they may need to take a nap first and then go out later.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll look at the view on one particular night mid-month, 18 September, as an example. But don\u2019t worry if it\u2019s cloudy on that night because these planets will be on view throughout September.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By 10:30pm, if you look to the southeast, a veritable parade of worlds will be stretched out before you.<\/p>\n

The brightest of them, Jupiter, will be straight ahead of you.<\/p>\n

To its right, 45\u02da away, Saturn will be an easy naked-eye object too, also appearing starlike.<\/p>\n

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Saturn and its moons, by Sreesha Belakvaadi, Bangalore, India, 1 May 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI290MC colour camera, Celestron 9.25\u201d SCT, iOptron CEM40 mount<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Finally for the naked-eye planets, down to Jupiter\u2019s lower left, quite some distance away (70\u02da away in fact), you\u2019ll see Mars.<\/p>\n

With the naked eye, September\u2019s planet parade will be a celestial joy to behold, but to get a closer look at those brighter planets, a small telescope or even a modest pair of binoculars will make all the difference.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at each of the naked-eye trio in turn, working from right to left, then explore how to see Uranus, Neptune and Vesta.<\/p>\n

As always, it will help if you can get to somewhere dark, away from the bright lights of towns and cities, and allow 20\u201330 minutes for your eyes to dark-adapt.<\/p>\n

So wrap up warm, have hot drinks and snacks to hand, and get ready for the planet parade.<\/p>\n

Saturn<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Shining at mag. +0.4, the famous ringed planet will rise an hour before sunset, but you won\u2019t be able to see it clearly until twilight deepens.<\/p>\n

By 10:30pm (from the centre of the UK; times will vary depending on your location) Saturn will look like a yellow-white star in Capricornus.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re worried about how you\u2019ll know which one is Saturn, don\u2019t be: it will be easy to identify because it will be the only bright \u2018star\u2019 low in the southeast.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having found Saturn, you\u2019ll want to see its famous rings.<\/p>\n

Saturn\u2019s rings<\/a> are a sight reserved for telescopes or the largest and most powerful binoculars, but even a modest pair of binoculars will show you Saturn\u2019s largest moon, Titan, which is as big as the planet Mercury.<\/p>\n

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Saturn, by Prabhu, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, 21 November 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI462MC camera, Celestron CPC Deluxe 1100 EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Through binoculars Titan looks like a star shining close to Saturn.<\/p>\n

Its position relative to Saturn changes night to night, so check where it will be using a phone app or planetarium program.<\/p>\n

Magnified more, Saturn really comes to life. Even a small telescope using low magnification is enough to show its slightly squashed disc and its rings too, looking like a slender hoop thrown over it.<\/p>\n

As magical as this view is \u2013 and every astronomer can\u2019t help grinning like a Cheshire Cat whenever they recall their first view of Saturn through a telescope \u2013 you won\u2019t be surprised to hear that the bigger the telescope you use, the better your view of Saturn will be.<\/p>\n

A 6-inch reflector with high magnification will show you faint banding on the planet\u2019s disc, gaps in the rings and even the shadow of the rings on Saturn itself \u2013 a view as beautiful as anything sent back by Voyager<\/a> or Cassini<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jupiter<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Jupiter and Galilean moons, Paul Sparham, Leatherhead, Surrey, 6 May 2018. Equipment: iPhone 5s, Orion XT6 Dobsonian<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Sitting smack in the middle of the chain of worlds at 10:30pm, Jupiter will look like\na strikingly bright blue-white star to the eye, 30\u02da or so above the southeastern horizon.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll have no trouble identifying it because, at mag. \u20132.9, there will simply be nothing else anywhere near as bright in the sky nearby at that time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through a pair of binoculars Jupiter will just look like a brighter star, but you will be able to see some of its family of 79 moons, looking like tiny stars shining close to it.<\/p>\n

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A bright Jupiter sits near the Circlet and the First Point of Aries as it nears opposition in September. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

How many you see will depend on when you look. The four largest moons of Jupiter are known as the Galilean moons<\/a> because they were first seen by the great astronomer Galileo<\/a> when he turned his crude telescope on the night sky.<\/p>\n

But as Galileo found, as they whirl around Jupiter they slip in and out of view, sliding in front of the disc or vanishing behind it, so you might see all four or just a couple.<\/p>\n

Through a telescope Jupiter is a wonder. Even a small instrument will show two dark horizontal bands on its shimmering disc, and those Galilean moons will look more obvious too.<\/p>\n

A large telescope magnifying at 100x will bring subtler cloud bands into view, and Jupiter\u2019s famous Great Red Spot<\/a> \u2013 a storm larger than Earth \u2013 will be visible too.<\/p>\n

If you can magnify a couple of hundred times, you\u2019ll see plumes and swirls of pastel-hued clouds on its disc, and more of its moons will be visible.<\/p>\n

Mars<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Mars, Luke Oliver, Bedford, 26 September 2020. Equipment: ZWO AI 178MM camera, Sky-Watcher Skyliner 400P Dobsonian<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The anchor at the far western end of our celestial chain of worlds is Mars.<\/p>\n

Like Saturn and Jupiter to its right, to the naked eye Mars will look like a \u2018star\u2019 in Taurus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shining at mag. \u20130.4 it will be obvious, but if you go out expecting the famously \u2018red\u2019 planet to blaze a vivid scarlet, you\u2019re going to be disappointed.<\/p>\n

Mars is actually more of a deep orange colour, like amber or one of the old S<\/a>pangles boiled sweets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you have a pair of binoculars, they are definitely worth training on Mars.<\/p>\n

They won\u2019t be powerful enough to show you its disc, but they will greatly enhance its colour, making the planet appear like a gemstone in the sky.<\/p>\n

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Mars at Opposition by Matt Watson, Sydney, Australia. Equipment: Takahashi Mewlon 250, Losmandy G11, ZWO ASI174MM mono, Baader RGB filters, A Televue 3x Barlow<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Everyone is familiar with images of Mars taken from orbit, showing its ochre disc blotted with dark areas, but if you want to see that for yourself you\u2019ll need a large scope, like a 6-inch+ refractor, high powers and good seeing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During September, Mars\u2019s disc will only appear half as wide as Saturn and a sixth as wide as Jupiter, but you might just sneak a tantalising glimpse of its ice cap through a smaller instrument in moments when the atmosphere between you and Mars is calm and still.<\/p>\n

This is also a good time to observe the Red Planet as we approach Mars opposition<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019ve looked at the three naked-eye worlds, let\u2019s go fainter\u2026<\/p>\n

Uranus<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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View Uranus through a small telescope to catch its green hue. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

During mid-September you\u2019ll find Uranus roughly halfway between Mars and Jupiter.<\/p>\n

With a magnitude of +5.9 the planet will technically be a naked-eye planet, but unless you know exactly which of the hundreds of 6th-magnitude points of light in that part of the sky it is, you\u2019ll struggle to pick it out.<\/p>\n

Binoculars will show Uranus as a star with a subtle greenish hue, and if you have a telescope it will resolve the planet\u2019s small, pale green disc, confirming its identity.<\/p>\n

Again, a good stargazing app<\/a> or planetarium software will help you pinpoint the planet.<\/p>\n

Neptune<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Neptune and its largest moon Triton imaged through a 356mm telescope. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

If you\u2019ve never managed to see Neptune with your own eyes before, this will be your big chance.<\/p>\n

During September it will be just 11\u02da away from Jupiter.<\/p>\n

However, with a magnitude of just +7.8, it is far too faint to see without assistance.<\/p>\n

Binoculars will only show it as a faint blue-green \u2018star\u2019 lost among thousands of others of equal or even greater brightness within Aquarius.<\/p>\n

If you want to be certain of seeing it, you\u2019ll need a telescope like a 6-inch or larger refractor, which will show you the faraway planet\u2019s tiny blue-green disc at high magnification.<\/p>\n

Vesta<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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You can track the motion of 4 Vesta, brightest of the asteroids, as it passes below Saturn. Credit: Pete Lawrenc<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

With a diameter of around 525km, Vesta is one of the largest known asteroids<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Discovered in March 1807 by the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, it was named after Vesta, the virgin goddess of home and hearth from Roman mythology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vesta is the brightest asteroid visible from Earth, regularly visible to the naked eye as a 5th-magnitude star.<\/p>\n

This month it be will a magnitude-and-a-half fainter than that, so you\u2019ll need a pair of binoculars to see it, and no matter how big a telescope you point at it, it will still just look like a point of light.<\/p>\n

Its brightness or appearance won\u2019t change much during the whole of September, so you can seek it out at any time.<\/p>\n

In fact, it might make a fun challenge to take several photos of its part of the sky, a week or so apart, and look to identify which \u2018dot\u2019 to the lower left of Saturn has moved during\nthe month.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date via our guide to the comets and asteroids in the sky tonight<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

What else is in the night sky in September?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Hyades star cluster by Philip Pugh.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

When you\u2019ve identified all the planets and explored them with your binoculars or telescope, take a while to look at some of the other objects on view in the September sky. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mars will lie close to two famous star clusters<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

To its right you\u2019ll see what looks like a \u2018V\u2019 of stars lying on its side. This is the Hyades star cluster, which represents the horns of Taurus, the Bull.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bright orange star at the end of the lower horn is the red giant Aldebaran<\/a>, but it\u2019s not actually a member of the cluster, it just lies in the same direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Pleiades, by Callum Wingrove, Stanmore, London, 2 and 3 November 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, SharpStar 94EDPH triplet apo refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Above the Hyades you\u2019ll see a small knot of blue stars, around the same size as your thumbnail held out at arm\u2019s length: the famous Pleiades<\/a> or Seven Sisters open star cluster<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Binoculars will show there are a lot more than just seven stars in this group, which is shaped a little like a mini Big Dipper.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other objects worth tracking down after you\u2019ve toured the planets are:<\/span><\/p>\n

M31, the Andromeda Galaxy<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Credit: Bernhardt Gotthardt \/ CCDGuide.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Over two million lightyears away, this is the most distant object the naked eye can see.<\/span><\/p>\n

Find out more with our guide on how to see the Andromeda Galaxy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Double Cluster<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Credit: Chris Duffy, Hexham, Northumberland, 18 January 2020<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

These glittering star clusters sit so close together they fit in the same binocular and small telescope field of view.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Find out more with our guide to the Double Cluster<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Milky Way<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Credit: Todor Tilev, County Offaly, Ireland, 12 May 2019.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The dark evenings of September are perfect for getting away from light pollution<\/a> and enjoying the beautiful sight of the star-frothed Milky Way airbrushed across the sky, with the most concentrated area to be found above the southwest horizon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Find out more with our guide on how to see the Milky Way<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This guide originally appeared in the September 2022 issue of <\/strong><\/em>BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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By Stuart Atkinson Published: Friday, 02 September 2022 at 12:00 am So far, 2022 has been a great year for planet spotters. Back in early summer there was a striking and much-hyped \u2018chain of worlds\u2019 spread out across the sky, with half a dozen planets strung out along the ecliptic like beads on a bracelet. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":35983,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"12"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/see-a-parade-of-planets-in-the-night-sky-this-month.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/see-a-parade-of-planets-in-the-night-sky-this-month-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/see-a-parade-of-planets-in-the-night-sky-this-month-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/see-a-parade-of-planets-in-the-night-sky-this-month-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/see-a-parade-of-planets-in-the-night-sky-this-month-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/see-a-parade-of-planets-in-the-night-sky-this-month.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/see-a-parade-of-planets-in-the-night-sky-this-month.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Stuart Atkinson Published: Friday, 02 September 2022 at 12:00 am So far, 2022 has been a great year for planet spotters. Back in early summer there was a striking and much-hyped \u2018chain of worlds\u2019 spread out across the sky, with half a dozen planets strung out along the ecliptic like beads on a bracelet.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/35982"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}