What’s up in the night sky: September 2026

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: the Moon visits some bright planets, and the September equinox is upon us.

All month: Venus is stunningly bright in the evening west after sunset. While it gets lower in the sky as the weeks pass, it is exceptionally bright, reaching its peak brightness for the year on Sept. 22. 

All month: Reddish Mars is visible in the pre-dawn east. It is getting brighter as Earth slowly catches up to it in their orbits, though it's still far fainter than its morning companion Jupiter. 

All month: Yellowish Saturn is rising in the east shortly after sunset and is visible up almost all night. 

Early in the month: During the first half of the month, Mercury makes a brief appearance low in the west shortly after sunset. It is bright but can be tricky to see in the bright glow of dusk. You'll need a very clear, unobstructed view of the western horizon to catch it.

All month: Very bright, white Jupiter dominates the pre-dawn eastern sky

Sept. 2: Venus is very close to the bluish star Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, low in the evening west during twilight. 

Sept. 6: Low in the pre-dawn east, a crescent Moon is near reddish Mars in the constellation Gemini.

Sept. 8: In the east before dawn, the thin crescent Moon is very close to very bright Jupiter. 

Sept. 11: New Moon.

Sept. 14: In the evening west shortly after sunset, the crescent Moon is close to super-bright Venus. 

Sept. 17: In the evening sky, the crescent Moon is close to the bright reddish star Antares, the ‘heart’ of Scorpius the Scorpion.

Sept. 23: September Equinox. Autumn begins in the northern hemisphere, and spring in the southern hemisphere. Day and night are of approximately equal length worldwide.

Sept. 26: Full Moon. In the northern hemisphere, this is the traditional Harvest Moon, the closest full Moon to the September equinox. It rises around sunset, shines brightly all night, and sets around sunrise.