Learn what is happening in September 2008 and what has happened in September in the past. Discover highlights of the night sky and learn what to look for in September 2008.
September Highlight - Mercury, Venus and Mars
Copyright 1995-2003, California Institute of Technology
The three closest planets to Earth, and the closest to the Sun (not including Earth) form a triangle this month. It starts very low in the western sky, appearing just half an hour after sunset. At this time, the triangle will be less than 6 degrees wide. The three planets continue their dance for most of the month, until very late in the month when Venus will be easy to spot, but Mercury and Mars will be out of sight, literally.
Learn more about the planet Venus and take a solar system tour.
September Skymap
Nick Greene
Check out this map for the month of September, or create your own customized map with our Free Sky Maps tool.
Note: This map is for a median time and location and September have slight differences from your location and viewing time. Planets and moons shown on this map will have the highest probability of appearing in different locations.
Use this handy Sky Map Symbols Key to figure out what you should be looking for.
Events in September
NASA
Check out our Astronomical Events Calendar to learn about other happenings in space and on Earth. Here is a sampling of highlights.
- 4: Saturn is in Conjunction with the Sun
- 7: Moon at apogee
- 10: Cassini, Distant Epimetheus Flyby
- 12: Perseids Meteor Shower Peak
- 20: Moon at Perigee
- 22: Autumnal Equinox
Featured Constellation - Pegasus
Nick Greene
Featured Biography - Georges-Henri Lemaître
Georges-Henri Lemaître is credited with proposing the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe, although he called it his 'hypothesis of the primeval atom'. He based his theory, published between 1927 and 1933, on the work of Einstein, among others. Einstein, however, believed in a steady-state model of the universe.This Month in History
Check every day to learn what happened "This Day in History."
- 2: 1988 - Phobos 1 - USSR Mars Orbiter/Lander (launched July 7, 1988) was lost en route to Mars through a command error.
- 7: 1958 - Black Knight missile of the United Kingdom was launched from the Australian range at Woomera to an altitude of over 300 miles.
- 10: 1960 - X-15 flown at more than 2,100 mph and to 80,000 feet.
- 17: 1857 - Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky (Russian Rocketry Pioneer) born in the village of Ijevskoe, Ryasan Province, Russia.
- 26: 1958 - Vanguard (SLV-3) reached 265 miles' altitude and was destroyed 9,200 miles downrange over Central Africa on reentry into the atmosphere.