Special to CosmicTribune.com, September 24, 2023

Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

■ High above the Moon this evening, by 3 or 4 fists at arm’s length, shines Altair, the southernmost star of the Summer Triangle. The other two, Vega and lesser Deneb, are nearly overhead.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

■ By 10 or 11 p.m. bright Jupiter is high and shines precisely east. Look lower left of Jupiter, by about 1½ fists at arm’s length, for the Pleiades. A similar distance below the Pleiades, Aldebaran has risen or soon will.

Nearly three fists left of the Pleiades shines Capella, second in brightness to Jupiter.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

■ Look a little upper left of the Moon early this evening for Saturn, as shown. By mid- to late evening Saturn stands straight above the Moon.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

■ Full Moon tonight and tomorrow. It’s exactly full at 5:58 a.m. Friday morning EDT, between those two evenings.

■ Arcturus shines in the west as twilight fades away. Capella, equally bright, is barely rising in the north-northeast. They’re both magnitude 0.

That bright light more than a third of the way from Capella to Fomalhaut is Jupiter. Higher above Fomalhaut is Saturn, glowing steadily with a pale yellowish tint.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

■ Even as the stars come out in late twilight, Cassiopeia is already higher in the northeast than the sinking Big Dipper is in the northwest. Later in the evening, Cassiopeia’s broad W pattern wheels higher and stands on end (its fainter end).

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

■ Vega is the brightest star very high in the west after nightfall. Arcturus, equally bright, is getting low in the west-northwest.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1

■ Cygnus the Swan floats nearly straight overhead these evenings. Its brightest stars form the big Northern Cross. When you face southwest and crane your head up, the cross appears to stand upright. It’s about two fists at arm’s length tall, with Deneb as its top.

Saturn (magnitude +0.6, in dim Aquarius) is the brightest “star” in the southeast in twilight. It’s three weeks past opposition. Saturn shines at a good height for telescopic observing by about 9 p.m., while Fomalhaut twinkles two fists at arm’s length below it. Saturn stands highest in the south around 11.

Image of Saturn on Aug. 30, imaged by Christopher Go. South is up. The tiny dot just south of (above) Saturn in this image is Dione.

  featuring Cassiopeia and Saturn, The sky: September 26 – October 1