In the Sky: September

Jun 30, 2023

Aug 31, 2023

September will be an interesting month in the sky. Although the planets that were in the western evening sky are gone, Saturn will be present all night, and very bright Jupiter will rise at about 10:30 p.m. as September begins and 8:30 at the end of the month. It will be high in the south by first light. The other planets will now be in the eastern sky before dawn. Since sunrise will be coming later, it may be worth the effort to see them. Brilliant Venus will rise first, at least three hours before the Sun, seeming to leap up in the predawn sky during the month. It will be followed by fast moving Mercury that will reach its highest point on September 22 when it will rise about 1 1/2 hours before the Sun. Only Mars will be too close to the Sun to be seen.

Saturn will be unmistakable in a dim part of the southern sky in the constellation of Aquarius (the Waterbearer). Saturn can be used in a dark sky to find at least some of the stars of this straggling, dim constellation. Its most prominent feature, the water jug, is formed by a small flattened triangle of stars to Saturn’s upper left. (Binoculars will reveal a fourth star above them.) The upper body of the Waterbearer is formed by a line of dim stars to the right of the water jug. His lower body and water flowing from the jug are a couple lines of dim stars that pass to the left of Saturn and end near the far southern constellation Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish). The fish’s mouth is represented by the bright star Fomalhaut that will be directly below Saturn when it is well up in the sky. The rest of the fish is formed by a flattened oval of dim stars to the right of Fomalhaut.

Aquarius is one of the oldest constellation in spite of the fact that it is also one of the dimmest. It has represented several mythological characters including the Greek god Zeus (Roman; Jupiter), who was seen as pouring the water of life down from the heavens. It has also been identified with Ganymede, the beautiful young shepherd who was kidnaped by Zeus and taken to Mount Olympus. He was offered immortality in turn for serving as the cupbearer to the gods.

In some representations, Piscis Austrinus was seen as swallowing the water that flowed out of the water jug of Aquarius. According to Greek mythology, the fish was placed in the sky as a reward for saving the daughter of Aphrodite (Roman; Venus). For this reason, fish were considered sacred and were not eaten by many Syrians. This fish also was considered to be the parent of the Zodiac constellation Pisces (the Fish).

David Voigts is a retired ecologist and the current Conservation Chair for the Prairie Rapids Audubon Society. He is a Tama County native, graduating from Dinsdale High School, and lives in rural Jesup on his wife’s family farm.