How to See the Celestial Events, Rocket Launches, and More Happening in September – Travel + Leisure

After the August roam of meteor showers and astronaut sigh, September is comparatively reasonably slower when it involves what’s going on within the skies. However that doesn’t mean it’s completely quiet. Right by draw of the first half of the month, you’ll are making an strive to succor an spy out on celestial actions, while the old couple of days of September are scheduled to be busy on the spaceflight front. And consume this downtime to rest up sooner than October, which goes to bask in a packed calendar.

September 2: Corn Moon

The month kicks off with a corpulent moon on Sept. 2 — the Plump Corn Moon, within the Native American tradition. As that you just may well ask, the moon will get its title from the corn harvests that always happen on this month. September’s corpulent moon is in most cases known as the Harvest Moon, but this yr, the Harvest Moon falls in October (the title goes to whichever corpulent moon occurs closest to the autumnal equinox).

September 11: Neptune at Opposition

A planet reaches a degree known as opposition when it’s 180 levels a ways from the solar within the sky, from the perspective of Earth. Indisputably, the solar, the Earth, and the planet originate a straight line one day of opposition. Extra virtually speaking, opposition is the handiest time to focus on a planet, which may maybe well be the brightest it would bag all yr. Neptune’s opposition falls on Sept. 11, 2020, so be clear that you just may well bask in bag entry to to a telescope to bag a appropriate behold on the eighth planet. Even with a dinky private telescope, you will want as a ability to search Neptune’s frosty blue hue.

September 22: Autumnal Equinox

Lovers of sweater climate, leaf-peeping, and all things pumpkin spice — bask in a great time! Sept. 19 marks the astrological delivery of topple within the Northern Hemisphere and spring within the Southern Hemisphere. At precisely 9: 31 a.m. EDT, the solar will irascible what’s known as the celestial equator, which is an imaginary circle that’s drawn out from the Earth’s equator, marking an equal day and night time.

September 29: Northrop Grumman Cygnus NG-14 Start

On Sept. 29, Northrop Grumman will delivery a cargo resupply mission to the Worldwide Dwelling Put from NASA’s facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, using a Cygnus spacecraft atop an Antares rocket. While there won’t be any astronauts on board, the starting up can be a fun one to behold, as it’s scheduled to lift off at 10: 26 p.m. EDT — night time launches from Wallops are assuredly visible across the Mid-Atlantic tell, and in most cases even into Fresh York and Fresh England. So, if the skies are particular, behold up pleasing after liftoff. Must you’re no longer inner viewing differ, on the opposite hand, you can seemingly be in a predicament to procure a livestream of the starting up by draw of NASA’s channels.

September 30: SpaceX GPS III SV04 Start

Can’t behold the Northrop Grumman delivery on the 29th? Don’t stress — your next probability to search a rocket delivery is relaxing one day later. SpaceX is scheduled to delivery a GPS satellite tv for computer for the U.S. Air Force from Cape Canaveral Air Force Put in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket on Sept. 30. The starting up window is from 8 p.m. to boring night time, native time, so that makes two night time launches in a row. Given Cape Canaveral’s extra southerly predicament when put next with Wallops Island, handiest viewers within the South can be in a predicament to search the starting up IRL. Viewers farther away will prefer to tune in to SpaceX’s livestream, which does supply the profit of staring on the mission’s Falcon 9 booster land on a drone ship.

Show: Launches and landings are field to agenda adjustments, and while this files used to be pleasing on the time of e-newsletter, we sigh checking for updates from spaceflight providers.