{"id":3163,"date":"2026-09-01T23:43:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T23:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/?p=3163"},"modified":"2026-09-01T23:43:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T23:43:53","slug":"griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-september-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/2026\/09\/01\/griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-september-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffith Observatory Sky Report through September, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/strong><\/a>LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Sept_2026_Sky_Report.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between September 1 and September 30, 2026. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California.<\/p>\n

All times are in Pacific Daylight Time, PDT.<\/p>\n

SUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the 1st<\/sup>, the sun rises at 6:27 a.m. and sets at 7:19 p.m. On the 30th<\/sup>, the sun rises at 6:47 a.m. and sets at 6:39 p.m.<\/p>\n

PLANETS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mercury<\/strong> is close to the sun all month long and is not safe to observe. Do not observe any planet when it comes close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.<\/p>\n

Venus<\/strong> on the 1st<\/sup>, sets in the west-southwest at 9:00 p.m., and is 39-percent illuminated and 30 arcseconds wide. On the 28th<\/sup>, the sun sets at 6:41 p.m. and Venus sets at 7:39 p.m., 58 minutes later, and is 15-percent illuminated and 47 arcseconds wide. After the 28th<\/sup>, Venus is close to the sun and is not safe to observe. A telescope with a magnification of 100x is needed to see the planet\u2019s disk. Do not observe any planet when it comes close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.<\/p>\n

Mars<\/strong> is in Gemini the Twins. On the 24th<\/sup> Mars enters Cancer the Crab.\u00a0 On the 1st<\/sup>, Mars rises in the east-northeast at 2:00 a.m. and is 92-percent illuminated and 5.1 arcseconds wide. On the 30th<\/sup>, Mars rises at 1:29 a.m. and is 90-percent illuminated and 5.6 arcseconds wide. A telescope with a magnification of 200x is needed to see the small disk of Mars.<\/p>\n

Jupiter<\/strong> is in Cancer the Crab. The planet enters Leo the Lion on the 23rd<\/sup>. On the 1st<\/sup>, Jupiter rises in the east-northeast at 4:25 a.m. and is 32 arcseconds wide. On the 30th<\/sup>, Jupiter rises at 2:59 a.m., PDT, and is 33 arcseconds wide. A telescope capable of magnification 50x will show the Red Spot, and the four bright Galilean moons can be seen moving back and forth, across and behind Jupiter.<\/p>\n

Saturn<\/strong> is in Pisces the Fishes. On the 5th<\/sup>, the planet enters Cetus the Sea Monster. On the 1st<\/sup>, Saturn rises in the east at 8:52 p.m. and is 19 arcseconds wide. On the 30th<\/sup>, the planet rises at 6:53 p.m. The rings and Saturn\u2019s largest moon, Titan, can be seen with a telescope capable of magnification 50x.<\/p>\n

Uranus<\/strong> is in Taurus the Bull. On the 1st<\/sup>, the planet rises in the east-northeast at 11:19 p.m. On the 30th<\/sup>, Uranus rises at 9:25 p.m. On the 15th<\/sup>, Uranus is at Right Ascension 4h<\/sup> 15m<\/sup> 16s<\/sup> and declination of +21\u00b0 6\u02b9 6\u02ba. A magnification of 150x or more is needed to see the planet\u2019s 3.7-arcsecond disk.<\/p>\n

Neptune<\/strong> is in Pisces the Fishes. On the 1st<\/sup>, Neptune rises in the east at 8:21 p.m. On the 30th<\/sup>, Neptune rises at 6:25 p.m. On the 15th<\/sup>, Neptune is at Right Ascension 00h<\/sup> 14m<\/sup> 23s<\/sup> and declination of +0\u00b0 0\u02b9 44\u02ba. A magnification of 150x or more is needed to see the planet\u2019s 2.4-arcsecond disk.<\/p>\n

The moon<\/strong> is at last quarter on the 4th<\/sup>, new on the 10th<\/sup>, first quarter on the 18th<\/sup>, and full on the 26th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL EVENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Autumn begins<\/strong> and summer ends when the sun reaches the autumnal equinox on September 22 at 5:05 p.m. At this moment, the sun crosses the celestial equator from north to south on its journey along the ecliptic. The sun rises at 6:41 a.m. and sets at 6:50 p.m. The day is 12 hours and nine minutes long. The days will continue to grow shorter, and the nights get longer, until the sun reaches the winter solstice on December 21.<\/p>\n

Griffith Observatory normally provides free public sky observing day and night \u2013 weath\u00ader permitting \u2013 through a variety of telescopes. Currently, the Observatory is open Tuesday through Sunday. To plan a visit to the Observatory, please see our website (www.griffithobs.org) for the latest information. The Sky Report, also available on the website, pro\u00advides monthly observing information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Sept_2026_Sky_Report.mp3 This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between September 1 and September 30, 2026. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California. All times are in Pacific … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-skyreport"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3163"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3167,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3163\/revisions\/3167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}