What’s Up in the Night Sky – September 2025
from In-The-Sky.org
Moon Phases
New Moon – August 23
First Quarter – August 31
Full – September 7 – Full Corn Moon
Last Quarter – September 14
New Moon – September 21
Close Encounters
August 25: Asteroid 6 Hebe is at opposition, shining at magnitude 7.6 in central Aquarius.
August 26: The Moon and Mars are in conjunction, passing less than 3° apart in Virgo.
August 31: The Moon and Antares pass near each other in the early morning hours.
September 7: Total lunar eclipse for everywhere EXCEPT the Americas.
September 8 (early morning): The Moon, Saturn, and Neptune are within 4° of each other just past Midnight in Pisces.
September 16: The Moon and Jupiter are in conjunction near sunrise, only 4 and a half degrees apart.
September 19 (after sunrise): The Moon and Venus pass near each other in the eastern sky. You might be able to use the thin crescent Moon to find Venus below the Moon.
September 20-21: Saturn is in opposition, shining at magnitude 0.6. The rings will still be a thin line across Saturn from the vantage point of Earth.
September 21: A partial solar eclipse will not be visible from our location. You will need to travel to Antarctica or the southern Pacific to see it.
September 22: First day of autumn in the northern hemisphere.
September 23: Neptune is at opposition, shining at magnitude 7.8 in Pisces.
Major Meteor Showers – from https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/
The Perseids are winding down with activity ending around August 23.
The next major meteor showers are the Orionid with activity beginning around October 2 and the Taurids with activity beginning around October 13.
Planet Watch for August 23, 2025
Mercury is visible in the morning, rising about an hour and a half before the Sun. It only reaches about 12° above the horizon at dawn.
Venus rises at 3:30am and is visible for a couple hours before the Sun rises.
Mars is in Leo and has ended its most recent apparition, being only 8° above the horizon at sunset. Mars sets at 9:20pm tonight. Mars reaches superior conjunction (when Mars is on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth) on January 9, 2026.
Jupiter rises in the morning sky around 2:40am (about 3 and a half hours before the Sun) on this day and around 12:30am by the end of September.
Saturn rises in the east around 9:00pm on this day (shining at magnitude 0.7) and will reach opposition on September 21. The southern faces of the rings are coming into view, even if only at about a 3.5° tilt from our vantage point.
Uranus rises around 11:35pm on this date. It is currently in the constellation Taurus, shining at magnitude 5.7.
Neptune rises about 9:15pm on this day. It is currently in the constellation Pisces.