The Planets

High and bright in the southern sky at dusk, Jupiter sets before midnight.
By the end of the month, Mars rises about midnight.
Venus rises brightly in the East just before dawn.
By mid-month, Saturn just comes into view over the eastern horizon as the sky brightens with the dawn

The Moon

Last Quarter: September 3
New Moon: September 11
First Quarter: September 19
Full Moon: September 26

Constellation of the Month: Lyra the Lyre

Lyra was a musical instrument played by the great Greek musician Orpheus. When Orpheus' wife Eurydice died, Orpheus followed her to the underworld and sang so persuasively that even the cold-hearted god Hades agreed to let her follow Orpheus back to earth.

However, Orpheus had been warned not to look back at Eurydice even once during the journey. But just as he reached the bright sunlight he unthinkingly glanced back to see if Eurydice was following him. At once he lost Eurydice forever.

Orpheus later died of grief, and Zeus sent a vulture to rescue his lyre and put it up in the heavens, where it became the constellation Lyra.

How to find Lyra: Look straight overhead about 8 p.m. The bright star is Vega, the main star in Lyra. Lyra's stars form a parallelogram underneath a small triangle.

Events

• September 3: One hour before sunrise, the moon will be about 2 degrees east of the             Pleiades. You can see it better with binoculars.

• September 13:  At dusk Mercury is right of the Moon low in the W-SW

• September 23: Autumn equinox (4:51 a.m. CDT)