September’s astronomical calendar brings meteor showers, a supermoon and planetary encounters to Mexico

September offers Mexican skywatchers a full calendar of visible celestial events, from Saturn’s brightest appearance of the year to the final supermoon of the year.

Saturn reaches opposition on Sept. 8, placing the ringed planet at its closest position to Earth and making it visible throughout the night. The event provides particularly favorable conditions for telescope observations, according to the astronomy site Star Walk.

Before dawn on Sept. 19, the crescent Moon will appear close to Venus above the eastern horizon in a lunar conjunction and occultation event. The autumnal equinox follows on Sept. 22 at 12:05 p.m. Central Mexico time. At that moment, day and night will have equal duration worldwide.

The September Perseid meteor shower will reach its highest activity between Sept. 9 and 11, peaking in the early hours of Sept. 9. Under skies with little light pollution, observers may see an average of five to seven meteors per hour.

The month ends with the Harvest Moon supermoon on Sept. 29. The full Moon will coincide with perigee, the point in its orbit closest to Earth. NASA says the Moon can appear 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. Specialized organizations recommend watching from areas away from urban lights and checking local weather conditions.