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This Month's Sky
Everything worth knowing about the sky this month, briefed once and done well — the equinox, Neptune's best night of the year, and the Andromeda Galaxy climbing higher every evening. Around September 14–20, let the Moon guide you: it passes Antares and Sagittarius's Teapot on its way toward the galactic center, visible as a faint haze from a dark site.
Last verified: September 1, 2026.
Where to point your optics this month
This month's darkest skies bracket the New Moon on September 10–11 — plan Milky Way and faint deep-sky targets for the week around it. By month's end the Harvest Moon (Full Moon, September 26) washes out faint detail for a few nights, though it makes a striking naked-eye pairing with Saturn.
GalaxyAndromeda Galaxy (M31)
M31 / NGC 224 · Andromeda · Beginner
Binoculars or any telescope; naked eye from a dark site — rises higher through September, best after 10 PM local time. Northern Hemisphere.
Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Dalcanton, B. F. Williams, L.C. Johnson (University of Washington)
NebulaThe Veil Nebula
NGC 6960 / NGC 6992 · Cygnus · Advanced
UHC or OIII narrowband filter recommended — high overhead at dusk through September, from genuinely dark skies. Northern Hemisphere. · recommended filter
Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
GalaxyNGC 6946 — the "Fireworks Galaxy"
NGC 6946 · Cepheus · Advanced
Larger aperture, dark skies — circumpolar for most northern latitudes — well-placed all evening. Northern Hemisphere.
Credit: NASA/ESA Hubble
NebulaThe Ring Nebula (M57)
M57 · Lyra · Intermediate
Medium telescope, moderate magnification — still high overhead at dusk in September. Northern Hemisphere.
Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
🌞 Solar & Lunar Eclipses
No solar or lunar eclipses occur this month.
📅 Monthly Astronomy Calendar
🌠 Sky Events
Illustrative photo from a previous meteor shower. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
What mattered heading into September
Starship Flight 14 Targets an Orbital Attempt
SpaceX's next Starship test flight — the third Version 3 vehicle to fly and the third Starship launch of 2026 — is on track for early-to-mid September from Starbase.
NET September 2026
O3b mPower 11-13 Launches on Falcon 9
Three more SES O3b mPower high-throughput communications satellites are scheduled to fly from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station this month.
NET September 2026
The Andromeda Galaxy, climbing higher every September evening
At 2.5 million light-years away, M31 is the most distant object easily visible to the naked eye from a dark site — and September is when it starts dominating the evening sky for Northern Hemisphere observers.
Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Dalcanton, B. F. Williams, L.C. Johnson (University of Washington)
"The best night I had this month wasn't the clearest one — it was the one where I finally slowed down enough to actually look, instead of just capturing."
— Santiago Iván Miró, founder and editor of ORIVON
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