As you read through this page, click on the links to see sketches and or photos of the items mentioned.
We'll start our September tour of the heavens overhead in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra.
Starting in Cygnus, our first target will be M29, find the center star of the "cross" (lambda Cygnus), just slightly below and towards Alberio you will find the interesting "H" shaped 6.6th Magnitude open cluster. It contains approximately 81 stars but only 6 - 10 are visible through the typical telescope.
Another beautiful target within Cygnus is the double star Alberio. This is one of the prettiest doubles in the skies. The stark color difference is readily apparent in any telescope. If you had any doubt that stars are different colors this one will remove it. Alberio is the star located at the bottom of Cygnus, closest to Lyra.
Another treat in Cygnus is simply scanning the length of the constellation with your lowest power eyepiece. The Milky Way courses through Cygnus and provides a remarkable sight. Rich starfields fill the eyepiece everywhere you look. See if you can pick out the dark spots, these are know as dark nebula. These are areas where cosmic dust in the Milky Way is obscuring our view of the stars. Many of these are catalogued a B (Barnard) objects, although at this point just looking for them is reward enough.
Moving up and over to Lyra, which is easliy identified due to the star Vega which is the brightest in the summer sky and the smal parallelogram hanging off of it. Within Lyra there are several double stars, one of which (Epsilon Lyra) is a double-double. I've only managed to resolve this into 4 stars on a couple of occasions, as the conditions must be excellent. Give it a try, it will take high power to split these. Binoculars will split Epsilon Lyrae into a double star, as well as Delta Lyrae (the top left star of the Parallelogram). M57 is one of the brightest Planetary nebulae available to us beginners. It is also very easy to locate due to it's position almost exactly midway between the bottom 2 stars of the parallelogram.
Next we'll move northeast to the constellations of Andromeda and Cassiopea.
M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy), to locate M31, find the "W" of the Constellation Cassiopea. The larger part of the base of the "W" points right at the Andromeda Galaxy. Simply follow this line approximately a fist's width and slightly toward the horizon and scan this area with your lowest power eyepiece. You will see a bright blob in the middle with light extending off of both sides. I've been told that on a very good night, from a dark site, Andromeda will fill the field of view of your eyepiece. The Andromeda Galaxy is the most distant object that can be viewed with the naked eye at about 2.2 million light years away, which makes this a very easy first galaxy target for your scope.
The Andromeda Galaxy is considered the Milky Way's twin and is a member of a group of galaxies known as the local group. It's made up of about 300 billion stars and is considerably larger than the Milky Way. M31 is a spiral galaxy, but as we are seeing it edge on no spiral structure can be detected. Within the same low power eyepiece view, you may also detect M32 which is an elliptical galaxy. M32 is a very small smudge just below Andromeda (in the telescope view). It appears to be more of a fuzzy star than a galaxy through most beginners instruments but it's still another distant galaxy composed of millions of stars. M32 is located approximately 20,000 lightyears South of Andromeda. It is an elliptical galaxy.
Moving over to Cassiopea, M103 is our next target. To locate M103 find the star that makes up the bottom of the smaller part of the "W" of Cassiopea (Ruchbah), M103 is located right next to this star in a straight line from it toward the star that makes the end of the "W" (Epsilon Cygni). M103 is a very loose open cluster of about 60 stars.
Next, we'll use Ruchbah again, but with the other side of the "W" to find NGC's 869 and 884 (commonly referred to as the Perseus Double-Cluser). Follow this line down approximately a fist's width, and using your lowest power eyepiece, you will be treated to one of the most beautiful sights in the heavens. NGC 869 and 884 are a pair of Open Clusters each containing approximately 100 stars. It is located a a very rich area of stars which only adds to the beauty of this target. The sight is indeed a memorable one, and one I'm sure you'll return to often to show your friends.
Planets in September
Jupiter is at it's brightest for the year during September. It reaches opposition on September 15th (it's closest point to the Earth). It rises as the sun sets, and sets as the sun rises, which means you have plenty of time to view this gas giant. Try sketching it as this will help you to discern the detail visible in the planet. The 4 moons of Jupiter give us a view of a miniature ever-changing Solar System. The moons in order from the planet are Io, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. Watch for transits of the moons across the Jutpiter disk, this will be evidenced by the shadows cast on the planets surface. See if you can detect the Great Red Spot. I've found that a Blue (80A) filter greatly enhances the GRS. This is a very low contrast feature, so it may be a bit of a challenge through smaller instruments (it was through mine). How many Belts can you count? I've heard folks say they counted 10, the most I've been able to discern is 5. Most of all, enjoy the view!
Saturn rises about 2 and a half hours after Jupiter. The rings are tilted very favorably for viewing (about 16º) at this time. See if you can make out the Cassini Division (the separation in the rings). The division is a dark line running around the rings near the outer edge. How many of Saturns moons can you detect? I've seen 2, Titan is almost always visible. The thing I find fascinating about Titan is that had it been closer to the sun, it could have been another Earth. It is believed that the Titan atmosphere is very similar to Earth's.
Venus, Mercury and Mars are all visible just before dawn, although for me this is a little earlier than I get up. If you are up late though, at about 4:00AM the hunter (Orion) makes an appearance, warning us that Winter is on it's way.
Enjoy the September skies, this is one of the best months for observing (especially in the North), not too cold, no bugs, and gorgeous sights to be had in just about every area of the sky.