07/09/2026
WHAT'S ON IN THE SKY THIS SEPTEMBER →
01/09 Venus will be close to Spica in the evening sky
07/09 Moon will be close to Mars in the morning sky
09/09 Moon will be close to Jupiter in the dawn sky
14/09 Venus and crescent Moon will be close in the evening
17/09 Antares goes behind the Moon around midnight
23/09 Earth at Equinox
26/09 Mercury very close to Spica in the evening twilight, with Venus above
PLANETS 🪐
Venus will have to share the stage this month, with Saturn returning to the low eastern night sky at around 9pm AEST. Regardless, Venus will remain very bright after sunset, slowly sinking toward its October inferior conjunction (meaning Venus moves between Earth and the Sun in its orbit). Jupiter will be low in the pre‑dawn sky all month, along with Mars, which remains a morning star for almost the entire year.
MILKY WAY 🌌
September marks the tail‑end of the Milky Way season: early in the month the core is high and easy to see, but each night it will set earlier than the last. During the evening you can still trace the Milky Way band arcing overhead through Scorpius, Sagittarius, Centaurus, Carina, and the Southern Cross, offering rich star clouds and dark dust lanes before the core slips away for the year.
OCCULTATION
On the 17th, Antares goes behind the Moon around midnight. This event is known as an occultation, when one celestial object is hidden from view because – from our perspective – another object has passed in front of it.
EQUINOX
Equinox is the moment when our planet’s tilt lines up perpendicular to the Sun's rays, delivering light equally on both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Around the September and March equinoxes, the Sun rises due east and sets due west, and its path crosses directly over the equator. It’s the astronomical turning point that marks the start of spring in the Southern Hemisphere and autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.
VISIBLE ZODIAC CONSTELLATIONS ♐️
Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius
📷 Tourism Australia, Caitlin King - Photographer, , , Zo Martin Photos
www.bluemountainsstargazing.com.au/stargazing-tours
