Two significant space events this week in the sky

(WHSV) - We are already moving into the last full week in September. This week will have a full moon and fall equinox. More details below.

Losing Daylight

Over the next week, we will lose 18 minutes of daylight. By Sunday September 26th, sunrise will move from 7:00 am to 7:07 am and sunset will move from 7:16 pm to 7:05 pm. This will bring us down to 11 hours and 58 minutes of daylight and up to 12 hours and 2 minutes of darkness. Sunday, September 26th will be the first time daylight is less than 12 hours since March 16th.

ISS Viewing (Most Viewable)

Moon Phases & Next Full Moon:

Next Full Moon

The next full moon will be on Monday, September 20th, and it is known as the Harvest Moon. This is the time of the year when corn is harvested. Other known names for September’s full moon are the Corn Maker Moon and Corn Harvest Moon referring to harvesting corn. This full moon is also known as the Autumn Moon, Leaves Turning Moon, Moon of Brown Leaves, or Yellow Leaf Moon. These names are for the upcoming fall season. The Child Moon, Mating Moon, and Rutting Moon are also names as young animals are weaned at this time of the year along with it being mating season for many animals.

Autumnal Equinox

On Wednesday, September 22nd, the sun’s apparent motion will move across the equator, heading south. This will officially begin fall in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere. On the equinox, all points of Earth have approximately 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime.

Other Interesting Events

On Tuesday, September 21st, Mercury’s path will bring the planet a thumb’s width below, Spica, which is the brightest star in Virgo. This will allow for Spica and Mercury to be viewed in the same eyepiece at lower power. The view will be blurry however because of Earth’s distorting atmosphere. That is just close enough for them to share a low-power eyepiece view, but telescopic views will be blurry because they are shining through so much of Earth’s distorting atmosphere. The pair will rise in the west southwest about 20 minutes after sunset.

On Thursday, September 23rd, the waning gibbous moon will shine a palm’s width to the right of Uranus. Around dawn Friday morning, the moon’s motion will bring it to the lower left of Uranus, which will put them in the same view using binoculars.

On Saturday, September 25th, the waning gibbous moon will be several finger widths below the star cluster Pleiades. The moon will rise mid-evening. The Pleiades star cluster includes the Seven Sisters, Subaru, and Matariki. The Hyades star cluster will be located below the moon. The moon and the Pleiades star cluster can be viewed in the same pair of binoculars. By dawn, the Hyades star cluster will be to the left of the Pleiades star cluster. The moon will be midway between the star clusters.

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