September Podcast: Exploring Vega’s Neighborhood

By: J. Kelly Beatty September 1, 2024 1

Use this month’s Sky Tour podcast to check out a very special Harvest Moon, track down all five bright planets, explore some lesser-known constellations, and bounce around the Summer Triangle. It’s a great introduction to the late-summer sky, all in a friendly, informative narration that’s suitable for the whole family.

This episode is sponsored by Celestron, manufacturer of high-quality telescopes and an industry leader in developing exciting optical products with revolutionary technologies.

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Ask a stargazer about this month’s astronomical significance, and the answer you’ll most likely get is: “the autumnal equinox.” It marks the celestial end of summer and the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. This year, September’s equinox takes place on the 22nd at 8:44 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

There’s another celestial event associated with this equinox, and that’s the Harvest Moon. Traditionally, it’s the name assigned to the Full Moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox. At this time of year, the full Moon rises only about 30 minutes later on successive evenings. So it never really gets dark between sunset and moonrise for several successive evenings, a boon to farmers working late to try to harvest their crops at day’s end.

This year’s Harvest Moon, on the 17th, will undergo a partial lunar eclipse that will be visible throughout the western hemisphere. The Moon only barely grazes the umbra. Watch for a dark divot to appear at the top of the Moon. It’ll slide left to right, getting deepest at 10:44 p.m. Eastern Time.

Vega's neighborhood — Use the bright star Vega, nearly overhead on late-summer evenings, to find some interesting star patterns in its vicinity.
*Sky & Telescope*

Meanwhile, after evening twilight, lift your gaze way up to find a bright star that’s almost directly overhead. That’s Vega. Use it to find three compact, four-sided patterns nearby. The first of these is to Vega’s immediate lower left, a parallelogram marking the main stars of the constellation Lyra, the Lyre, and Vega is its alpha star.

Now look to Vega’s north by about 1½ fists. This time look for a compact trapezoid, with two modestly bright stars and two faint ones. This is the head of Draco, the Dragon. A third quartet is to the west of Vega. This is known as the Keystone of the constellation Hercules. Look beyond the Keystone toward west, a little more than one fist, to spot a lovely semicircle of stars called Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown.

There’s lots more to discover overhead during August nights, and you can track it all down using this month’s episode of the Sky Tour astronomy podcast. Use it to find all five bright planets, plus a lovely assortment of easy-to-spot stars and constellations.

Read the full podcast transcript.