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What’s up in the night sky: September 2025

Welcome to our night sky monthly feature, where we focus on easy and fun things to see in the night sky, mostly with just your eyes. This month: A total lunar eclipse; super bright Venus and very bright Jupiter both shining bright in the pre-dawn east; and the Summer Triangle high overhead (northern hemisphere).

All Month: Super bright Venus is in the predawn east. Very bright Jupiter is above it, getting farther away in the sky as the weeks pass.

All Month: Yellowish Saturn is rising around sunset in the east, and is up most of the night. 

All Month: Reddish Mars is in the evening west, getting lower as the weeks pass, becoming very hard to see by month’s end.

September 7: A total lunar eclipse is visible from Asia, Australia, and portions of Africa and Europe.

September 7: Full Moon

September 8: Yellowish Saturn near a nearly Full Moon.

September 10, 2025 night sky snapshot
September 10, 2025 night sky snapshot For those in the northern hemisphere, the Summer Triangle (or Northern Triangle) is high overhead and formed by the bright stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair, each of which anchors a constellation (Lyra the Lyre, Cygnus the Swan, and Aquila the Eagle, respectively). (Pasadena, California. Latitude: about 34 degrees North.) Credit: Bruce Betts/The Planetary Society using StellariumImage: Bruce Betts/The Planetary Society using Stellarium

September 16: The Moon is near very bright Jupiter.

September 16, 2025 night sky snapshot
September 16, 2025 night sky snapshot In the predawn east, the Moon is near very bright Jupiter as well as the ‘twin’ stars of Gemini: Pollux and Castor. Lots of other bright stars can also be seen in this general part of the sky, including the brightest nighttime star, Sirius. (Pasadena, California. Latitude: about 34 degrees North.)Image: Bruce Betts/The Planetary Society using Stellarium

Aug. 21: The thin crescent Moon is near Mercury, very low in the pre-dawn east.

Aug. 21, 2025 night sky snapshot
Aug. 21, 2025 night sky snapshot In the predawn east, the very thin crescent Moon is near Mercury. You’ll need a clear view to low on the eastern horizon to see them. Above them, in a line with Mercury, are super bright Venus and very bright Jupiter. If you follow the line across the sky toward the west, you will find yellowish Saturn (not shown here). (Pasadena, California. Latitude: about 34 degrees north.)Image: Bruce Betts/The Planetary Society using Stellarium

September 19: The crescent Moon is very near super-bright Venus in the predawn east. They are joined by Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. Very bright Jupiter is far above them.

September 19, 2025 night sky snapshot
September 19, 2025 night sky snapshot In the predawn east, the thin crescent Moon is near super-bright Venus as well as Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo. (Pasadena, California. Latitude: about 34 degrees North.)Image: Bruce Betts/The Planetary Society using Stellarium

September 21: Saturn is at opposition, meaning it is on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun. It will rise around sunset and set around sunrise.

September 21: New Moon

September 23: September Equinox, Fall begins in the Northern Hemisphere and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Milky Way over Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park

Learn more about the Night Sky

Our journey to know the Cosmos and our place within it starts right outside our windows, in the night sky. Get weekly reports on what's visible and learn how to become a better backyard observer.

Bruce Betts

Bruce Betts

Chief Scientist / LightSail Program Manager for The Planetary Society
Read more articles by Bruce Betts