Late September is a good time to take in the breadth of the Milky Way Band as it arches across the night sky.

You will need to have a reasonably dark sky to see it well, which all too few who want to look up at the stars can enjoy without traveling farther into the country. With the new moon this Saturday, Sept. 28, leading up to first-quarter next Saturday, moonlight won’t be a significant hindrance in seeing the Milky Way for a few nights.

This week, enjoy the crescent moon in the western sky. Depending on your sky conditions, you can trace the Milky Way Band in the evening, from the south-southwest, high overhead and reaching the northeastern sky.

The widest and brightest part of the Milky Way is in the vicinity of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer, which in the evening is low in the south-southeast. You are literally looking towards the bright central hub of the grand Milky Way galaxy in which we live. This is most easily seen in far southern latitudes, especially the tropics and Southern Hemisphere, where Sagittarius is much higher in the sky. A dark site is needed to appreciate it the most.

The principal stars of Sagittarius form a shape of a tea kettle, and very whimsically, the billowing Milky Way appears like steam rising from the teapot’s spout.

Look for the bright planet Jupiter and the not quite as bright planet Saturn (to the left), in this general area of the sky, this year.

High up in the sky, the Milky Way passes behind the brighter stars marking the Northern Cross, which is part of the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Even with some light pollution, or a little moonlight, you may still be able to see the haze of the Milky Way in Cygnus, if nowhere else. This is because in early to mid evening, Cygnus is riding high up, away from the glow we often see on the horizon due to fading twilight or town lights.

From Cygnus on down towards Sagittarius, the Milky Way seems to split into two! This is not an actual split; we are looking at the silhouette of vast clouds of gas and dust (nebulae) that are obscuring the mass of background stars in the Milky Way.

The Milky Way thins as it extends northeast through the W-shaped Cassiopeia constellation.

What we are seeing is the relatively thin spiral arms of our galaxy; the sun is one of the billions of stars that populate the arms. We have an inside view, looking at the neighboring arms as they overlap.

If you have even a small telescope, sweep the Milky Way Band and be amazed at how the hazy band resolves into the sight of many hundreds of stars bright and dim, some colorful, packed in the eyepiece view. Use low power. Slowly scan across the Milky Way, and then at right angles away from it.

As the late September night continues, you will witness other parts of the Milky Way Band. At around 4 a.m., Cygnus is setting in the west-northwest. Orion is well up in the southeast. You will see the Milky Way stretching from the west-northwest, high overhead and down to the east.

To the right of Cassiopeia, look for the Great Andromeda Galaxy (also called M31). It appears as a dim, fuzzy ellipse to the unaided eyes, if you have dark skies; binoculars show it well. This is most amazing, if to see the Andromeda Galaxy just beyond the hazy Milky Way Band. You are literally looking at two spiral galaxies at the same time. Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. M31 is about 2.5 million light years away.

Keep Looking Up!
