00:00What's up for September?
00:04Saturn puts on a spectacular show,
00:07a sunrise conjunction shines bright,
00:10and we ring in the autumnal equinox.
00:13Saturn will be putting on an out-of-this-world performance this month.
00:17While Venus and Jupiter shine in the eastern morning sky,
00:21the ringed planet will be incredibly bright in the sky throughout September,
00:26in the eastern evening sky and western early morning sky.
00:31But why is Saturn the star of the show?
00:34Well, on September 21st, Saturn will be at opposition,
00:38meaning Earth will find itself in between Saturn and the Sun temporarily lined up.
00:44This also means that Saturn is at its closest and brightest all year.
00:49Saturn will be visible with just your eyes in the night sky,
00:52but with a small telescope, you might be able to see its rings.
00:58If you look to the east just before sunrise on September 19th,
01:02you'll see a trio of celestial objects in a magnificent conjunction.
01:07In the early pre-dawn hours,
01:09look east toward the waning crescent moon setting in the sky,
01:12and you'll notice something peculiar.
01:15The moon will be nestled up right next to both Venus and Regulus,
01:19one of the brightest stars in the night sky.
01:22The three are part of a conjunction,
01:24which simply means that they look close together in the sky,
01:28even if they're actually far apart in space.
01:31To find this conjunction, just look to the moon.
01:34And if you want some additional astronomical context
01:37or want to specifically locate Regulus,
01:40this star lies within the constellation Leo, the lion.
01:44On September 22nd, we mark the autumnal equinox,
01:49or the official start of fall in the northern hemisphere.
01:53Astronomically, this is the time when the sun finds itself exactly above the equator.
01:59On this day, our planet isn't tilted toward or away from the sun,
02:04and both day and night are almost exactly 12 hours, with a few small exceptions.
02:10Here are the phases of the moon for September.
02:14You can stay up to date on all of NASA's missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.
02:22I'm Chelsea Goad from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
02:25and that's what's up for this month.
02:28The Earth is a new year.
02:32The Earth is a new year.
02:33The Earth is a new year.
02:34The Earth is a new year.
02:35The Earth is a new year.
02:36The Earth is a new year.
02:37The Earth is a new year.
02:38The Earth is a new year.
02:39The Earth is a new year.
02:40The Earth is a new year.
02:41The Earth is a new year.
02:42The Earth is a new year.
02:43The Earth is a new year.
02:44The Earth is a new year.
02:45The Earth is a new year.
02:46The Earth is a new year.
02:47The Earth is a new year.
02:48The Earth is a new year.
02:49The Earth is a new year.
02:50The Earth is a new year.
02:51The Earth is a new year.
02:52The Earth is a new year.
02:53The Earth is a new year.
02:54The Earth is a new year.
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