As the sugar maples reveal their hidden colors, we welcome Saturn to the evening sky.
On Sept. 1, the Ring King stands about a fist-and-a-half high in the southeast around 10 p.m. By month’s end, it’s in view by 8. On Sept. 21 the planet reaches opposition, when it lies directly opposite the sun, rising around sunset and staying up the entire night. If you have a small telescope, take a look. Saturn’s rings are so narrowly tipped this season they resemble a toothpick stuck through an olive.
The must-see event is the double conjunction of the waning crescent moon, Regulus (Leo’s brightest star) and Venus at dawn on Sept. 19. All three will scrunch together less than a degree apart! We also have both a total lunar and partial solar eclipse on tap. Unfortunately, neither will be visible f