Here comes the dark-sky season!
The start of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere is just a matter of weeks away, but we can already see the nights getting longer, with sunsets now over an hour and a half earlier than they were around the June solstice. As these earlier nights for observing come along, let’s look at the exciting sights we can look forward to seeing as the dark-sky season begins.
September
With September here, the long summery days are gradually changing into early nights. Indeed, we’ll see spring and summer’s stars making way for the dark-sky season as autumn approaches.
Let’s begin our dark-sky adventure at a well-known asterism, the Plough, sitting upright just above the northern horizon. The next bright star to its south-southeast is Arcturus (Alpha (α) Boötis), which we usually think of as a springtime star.
Next, high overhead, we find the ’s stars: (Alpha (α) Lyrae), (Alpha (α) Aquilae) and (Alpha (α) Cygni), and. Maybe we can spot (Alpha (α) Aurigae), just above the northern horizon.
