Adrian Dening's Stars Over Somerset

Thursday, 18 September 2025 19:20

Monday 22nd to Sunday 28th September 2025

Monday 22nd is the autumn equinox. This translates to "equal night and day" and is the point in our orbit around the Sun where the Earth's 23.5 degree tilt is sideways on to the Sun. The same happens again six months later of course, when we have the spring equinox. In between these times, the northern hemisphere is either pointing away from the Sun or towards it and we have winter or summer.

Last week, I mentioned about Saturn being viewable throughout the night as it appears to travel from east to west horizons. This week, if you dig out your telescope to have a better look at the gas giant, it should also be possible to spot Neptune just above and to the left of Saturn.

Pop outside any evening next week, around 10pm - Saturn will be located towards the south east and easy to spot, shining at a magnitude of around +0.6 while Neptune will be a much harder target at a magnitude of only +7.7 making it invisible to the naked eye.

Venture back outside at 6am on Saturday 27th and Jupiter will be quite high in the sky towards the south east, with a very bright planet Venus rising above the horizon in the east.

Why have I chosen 6am on the Saturday specifically? Well if you aim your telescope towards Jupiter then, it will be possible to see the shadow cast by two of Jupiter's moons, Io and Europa, at the same time. How cool is that!

Please remember to pack your telescope away before the Sun rises though, as catching an accidental glimpse of that in your eyepiece would most definitely NOT be cool!

www.starsoversomerset.com

Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium