If you get a nice evening with clear skies and low humidity, then you may get an out of this world show.

Several planets will grace the night sky through the month of September. Jupiter and Saturn will be visible starting at dusk in the southern sky.

September gives us a better month than July or August for viewing these two planets.

That is because these two worlds remain bright and beautiful throughout September yet appear highest up for the night right around nightfall.

If you notice just one bright object in the sky after sunset, it might be the very bright Jupiter. This planet outshines all the stars, plus it is near another bright planet, Saturn. You cannot miss these two if the skies are clear.

Look first for the brilliant Jupiter in the southern sky. Saturn is the bright object immediately to Jupiter’s east (left).

Although Saturn is easily as bright as a first-magnitude star – as bright as the brightest stars in our sky – the ringed planet cannot compete with Jupiter, which outshines Saturn by some 14 times.

Mars rises over your eastern horizon by early-to-mid evening, and is coming up earlier daily, heading for its own opposition on October 13, 2020. At that wondrous time, Mars will ‘pass’ Jupiter as the sky’s fourth-brightest celestial body, after the sun, moon, and the planet Venus.

That will be something to see!

Throughout September and the first half of October, watch for Mars to brighten dramatically as Earth closes in on Mars in our shorter orbit around the sun, passing between it and the sun on October 13, 2020.

Finally, there is Venus, which is the brightest planet. This world reached its brightest in the night sky on August 13th.

But do not worry, the planet will remain very bright and beautiful as a morning “star” the rest of this year.