Here’s a brief look at what’s going on in the Mile High City this week.
September 22 (Autumnal Equinox):
- Astronomy on Tap – Boulder with Dr. KaChun Yu, Dr. Jane Bright, Dr. John Keller, and Marcel Corchado: Rayback Collective: 6:00 PM
- September equinox is the time when the Sun reaches the point along the ecliptic where it crosses into the southern celestial hemisphere marking the start of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere: 12:19 PM
September 23:
- Look for the waxing crescent Harvest Moon near Spica in the constellation Virgo low in the western sky – catch them before they set: 7:15 PM
September 24:
- Catch the waxing crescent Harvest Moon near Mars low in the western sky in the constellation Virgo – catch them before they set: 7:30 PM
- 60 Minutes in Space Free Lecture: Denver Museum of Nature & Science: 7:00 PM
September 25:
- Find the morning star, Venus within 3 degrees of the Leo I Galaxy Group, including M95, M96, and M105 low in the eastern sky in the constellation Leo until sunrise: 5:00 AM
- Standley Lake Stargazing Virtual Program: “Headlines and Highlights”: Zoom Virtual Meeting: 6:00 PM
September 26:
- The Harvest Moon reaches apogee (it’s farthest from Earth at 405,548km): 4:00 AM
September 27 (Astronomy Day):
- Look for the waxing crescent Harvest Moon near Antares, the red heart of the scorpion, low in the southwestern sky in Scorpius: 8:00 PM
- Denver Astronomical Society Open House: Saturn! Neptune!: Chamberlin Observatory: 7:00 PM
- Colorado Springs Astronomical Society Fall International Astronomy Day Star Party: Mueller State Park Visitors Center: 7:00 PM
September 28:
- Over the next week or so is your last chance to catch the red planet, Mars in the night sky. Find it low in the west in Virgo right before sunset. You won’t see until it appears again in the morning sky next April.
Check Out These Helpful Guides from DAS:
- Where to Explore the 2025 Denver Night Skies
- When to Explore the 2025 Denver Night Skies
- What to Explore in the 2025 Denver Night Skies
Sky Map
- The pdf map of the night sky from SkyMaps.com can be found at https://www.skymaps.com/skymaps
This Week’s Meteoric Activity:
You can keep track of the activity of meteor showers as well as those beyond the limits of visual observing by visiting the NASA Meteor Shower Portal.
- Anthelion (ANT): 1:00 AM in western Pisces: 2 per hour.
- nu Eridanids (NUE): last hour before dawn in western Orion: 1 per hour.
- September epsilon Perseids (SPE): last hour before dawn in central Perseus: 1 per hour
