Skywatch Alert: Aurora Glow, Shooting Stars & Planetary Spectacle Dazzle the Night Sky (Sept 3-4, 2025)

Key Facts

• Aurora Afterglow – A strong solar storm on Sept. 1–2 lit up skies across Europe and North America space.com, with auroras observed as far south as Oregon, Illinois, and New York in the U.S., and even in England’s Midlands economictimes.indiatimes.com. Now that the geomagnetic storm has peaked, Northern Lights will likely retreat to their usual high-latitude haunts. Skywatchers in places like Canada, Alaska, northern Europe – and in the Southern Hemisphere, Tasmania and New Zealand – should still keep an eye out for any faint auroral glows on the horizon over the next couple nights if minor geomagnetic activity persists.
• Meteor Shower in Moonlight – Early September brings a lull in meteor activity (no major showers are active) amsmeteors.org. One minor shower, the Aurigids, peaked on Sept. 1 (around 10 meteors per hour at best) ts2.tech and continues through Sept. 5. You may catch a few “shooting stars” after midnight on Sept. 3–4, emanating from the constellation Auriga. However, the nearly full Moon (~95% illuminated) will wash out all but the brightest meteors ts2.tech, so only a handful might be visible. (Tip: try to position yourself so that the Moon is behind a building or tree to improve your night vision for meteor-spotting ts2.tech.)
• Brilliant Moon & Upcoming Eclipse – The Moon is waxing toward full and dominating the evening sky. This final full Moon of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, traditionally called the “Corn Moon,” reaches 100% illumination on Sunday, Sept. 7 livescience.com. That same night it will undergo a total lunar eclipse (visible from Asia, Australia, Africa, and much of Europe) and transform into an eerie coppery “Blood Moon” during the 82-minute totality livescience.com – the longest total lunar eclipse since 2022. (North America won’t see this eclipse, as it occurs before moonrise there livescience.com, but folks in the Americas will still enjoy a brilliant Corn Moon rising on Sept. 7.)
• Planetary Parade – A celestial lineup of planets is gracing the sky. In the pre-dawn hours before sunrise, Venus and Jupiter form a dazzling duo in the east – Venus blazes low on the horizon as the radiant “Morning Star,” while Jupiter shines about 20° above it along the ecliptic ts2.tech. (Mercury had been joining them last month, but by early September it has vanished into the Sun’s glare.) Over in the evening, Saturn is rising at dusk and remains visible all night long among the stars of Aquarius. The ringed planet is nearing its Sept. 21 opposition (when Earth lies directly between Saturn and the Sun), so it’s currently about as close, bright, and well-positioned for viewing as it gets ts2.tech. In fact, NASA notes that around opposition Saturn will be “at its closest and brightest all year” miragenews.com – a great time to point a telescope at its famous rings.
• Human-Made Sights – Not everything in tonight’s sky is natural – satellites and spacecraft are putting on their own shows. SpaceX has launched dozens of new Starlink internet satellites in the past week (28 were deployed on Aug. 31 alone) and conducted Falcon 9 launches on Sept. 2 (California) and Sept. 3 (Florida) to add even more ts2.tech. These recently launched satellites tend to travel in tight “train” formations, appearing as strings of moving lights after dusk or before dawn – a strange sight if you’re not expecting it. (If one of this week’s rocket launches flew near your area at twilight, the exhaust plume might also produce a ghostly glowing streak in the sky for a few minutes.) Meanwhile, the International Space Station (ISS) continues to make regular flyovers. The ISS looks like a very bright, fast-moving star gliding across the sky for 2–5 minutes. Many locations are seeing ISS passes in the early morning hours this week – you can check NASA’s Spot the Station service to get alerts for when and where to look science.howstuffworks.com.
• Comets & Asteroids – No naked-eye comets are currently gracing the skies, but astronomers are buzzing about a rare visitor: Comet 3I/ATLAS, only the third interstellar object ever detected passing through our solar system. It’s an interstellar comet from beyond our Sun’s domain. At the moment it lies about 4.5 astronomical units (~416 million miles) from the Sun science.nasa.gov – far too faint to see without large telescopes. Scientists around the world are studying it as it nears the Sun; the comet should remain observable with big telescopes through September, before it disappears behind the Sun (potentially re-emerging in December) science.nasa.gov. Meanwhile, on Sept. 3 a small asteroid about 20–40 meters in size (designated 2025 QD8) made a close flyby of Earth. It passed safely at about 0.57 times the Earth–Moon distance (no threat to us) space.com space.com. You wouldn’t have noticed it in the sky – it was too dim – but the Virtual Telescope Project hosted a live webcast to watch this space rock zoom by space.com.

Full Report

Skywatchers have plenty to look for on the nights of September 3–4, 2025. From the lingering afterglow of an aurora outbreak, to a moonlit meteor shower, a nearly-full Moon, bright planets adorning the sky, and even human-made satellites flying overhead – there’s a bit of everything happening. Below we break down all the major sky phenomena to watch for, with tips on when and where to see them. Whether you’re an avid stargazer or just curious and looking up for the first time, the next two nights offer a variety of cosmic sights that are accessible to the general public.

Aurora Alert: Geomagnetic Storm Fades After Dazzling Displays

One of this week’s headline events was a surprise Aurora Borealis show that reached unusually far from the poles. A long-duration M2.7-class solar flare erupted on Aug. 30, hurling a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth watchers.news watchers.news. That solar blast slammed into Earth’s magnetic field on Sept. 1, sparking geomagnetic storming through Sept. 2. The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center had issued a watch for a G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storm on Sept. 1–2 watchers.news, and indeed a vibrant auroral display unfolded overnight. The storm didn’t quite reach the severe G4 levels that some models hinted at (the CME’s magnetic orientation was not ideal for maximum auroras), but it did achieve G2–G3 intensity space.com space.com – enough to put on a brilliant show.

Reports came in of Northern Lights visible in at least 18 U.S. states, including ones as far south as Oregon, Utah, Missouri, Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, among others economictimes.indiatimes.com. Typically, auroras that far south are rare, but this geomagnetic storm was a so-called “cannibal CME” event – essentially two solar eruptions merged into one – which gave it extra potency economictimes.indiatimes.com. “Auroras could extend much farther south than usual,” NOAA had noted in its storm advisory economictimes.indiatimes.com, and that prediction came true. Across northern Europe, skywatchers were also treated to auroral glows; even in England (which normally never sees Northern Lights outside of Scotland), faint pillars of green and red were spotted low on the horizon in places like Norfolk and the Midlands economictimes.indiatimes.com.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the same geomagnetic storm energized the Aurora Australis. People in southern New Zealand and Tasmania reported vivid pink and green skies on the night of Sept. 2. Australian space weather officials had alerted residents of Tasmania, Victoria and even parts of New South Wales that auroras might be visible well north of the usual Antarctic fringe during this event timeanddate.com. Sure enough, photographers as far north as Melbourne managed to capture faint auroral bands.

As we head into the nights of Sept. 3–4, the solar storm is winding down. Earth’s magnetic field is calming and the Kp index (a measure of geomagnetic activity) is expected to drop to more ordinary levels (Kp 3 or below). This means the widespread mid-latitude auroras will likely not continue tonight or tomorrow night. However, there is often a residual afterglow effect at high latitudes for a day or two. Skywatchers in Canada, Alaska, northern Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, and similarly high latitudes should remain alert for possible auroras faintly lighting the northern skies in the late hours, especially if any minor solar wind disturbances persist. In the far-southern hemisphere, folks in Tasmania, southern New Zealand, or Patagonia might also glance to their southern horizon on the off-chance of a remaining auroral glimmer. Any auroras on Sept. 3–4 will be much more subdued than the Sept. 1–2 show – likely only visible as a gentle greenish or whitish glow to the naked eye – but it’s worth a look if you’re in a dark location up north (or down under).

If you’re hoping to see auroras, here are some quick tips: get away from city lights (dark sky is key), give your eyes time to adjust, and look toward the north if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere (or toward the southern horizon if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere). The best hours are often around local midnight to 2 AM, but auroras can appear anytime when it’s dark. And of course, clear weather is essential – check your local cloud forecast. Even if the big geomagnetic storm has passed, the aurora is an unpredictable phenomenon, so a minor display can never be ruled out completely. As NOAA reminds us, geomagnetic storms and auroras are “unpredictable in nature” economictimes.indiatimes.com – sometimes fading and flaring in waves through the night – so it pays to be patient and keep an eye out periodically.

Shooting Stars: Aurigids Meteors Vs. the Moon

September is generally one of the quieter months for meteor showers, coming on the heels of August’s famous Perseids. In fact, no major meteor showers peak in early September amsmeteors.org. However, a couple of minor showers are active, and combined with random “sporadic” meteors, you might still catch a few shooting stars if you’re watching the night sky – especially after midnight. The main shower of interest this week is the Alpha Aurigids (simply known as the Aurigids).

The Aurigids are a little-known meteor shower that originate from dust left by an ancient comet (C/1911 Kiess). They are typically a low-rate shower – at their peak on the night of August 31/September 1, observers only saw around 5–10 meteors per hour under ideal conditions ts2.tech. That peak has now passed, but the Aurigids continue to trickle on until about September 5. This means on the nights of Sept. 3–4, it’s possible to see a few meteors per hour associated with this shower. The meteors will appear to radiate from the constellation Auriga (the Charioteer), which rises in the northeast by late evening and climbs high overhead in the pre-dawn hours. Auriga is a northern constellation (near Capella, a bright star), so observers in the Northern Hemisphere are better positioned – those in the Southern Hemisphere will find Auriga low on the horizon or out of view, resulting in fewer meteors.

Unfortunately, moonlight will be a major hindrance for meteor watchers this week. The Moon is just a few days from full and very bright. On Sept. 3 and 4, the waxing gibbous Moon will be ~95% illuminated and will rise in the mid-to-late afternoon, shining all night long. Its glare will wash out the faintest meteors, drastically reducing the number of “shooting stars” visible ts2.tech. Even during the early pre-dawn hours – normally the best time for meteor observing, as Earth faces the oncoming stream of meteoroids – the Moon will be still high in the sky, acting like a giant natural floodlight.

If you’re determined to try meteor spotting despite the bright Moon, here are a few pointers. First, time your watch for when the Moon is lower in the sky or briefly behind obstructions. On Sept. 3, for example, the Moon sets just after 5 AM (depending on your location), so there’s a short window of dark sky before dawn breaks – though by that time, meteor rates are waning. If you can’t wait that long, you could use a trick: block the Moon from view with a building, hill, or tree while you lie back and scan the darker parts of the sky ts2.tech. This can help preserve your night vision. Second, find as dark a location as possible, away from city lights or street lamps, to maximize the number of meteors you can see. And third, be patient – allow at least 15-20 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the darkness, and give yourself a good hour or more of watching, as meteors often come in spurts with lulls in between.

Aside from the Aurigids, sporadic meteors (random background meteors not belonging to a major shower) will provide a bit of activity – roughly 5-10 per hour under dark skies, though again, many of the faint ones will be drowned out by moonlight. Another minor source of a few meteors might be the chi Cygnids, a weak shower that technically runs in September (peaking around Sept. 14). A handful of slow Chi Cygnid meteors might appear, seeming to come from the direction of the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) in the evening sky. But this is a very low-rate shower, active sporadically, and won’t significantly add to the count.

In summary, don’t expect a meteor storm by any stretch – the next couple nights will at best produce a trickle of meteors. If you do manage to see one, consider yourself lucky! The ones that do streak by could still be memorable: September meteors often include a few bright fireballs (especially from the Aurigid shower) which can leave persistent trains. Just make sure to keep that pesky Moon out of your eyes for the best chance to catch a shooting star.

Lunar Showcase: Bright “Corn Moon” and a Coming Eclipse

The Moon takes center stage in the night sky this week – in fact, you may find it steals the show from some of the fainter phenomena like meteors and the Milky Way. On Sept. 3–4, the Moon is a waxing gibbous, nearly full and shining with an intense brilliance. Moonrise is roughly during the late afternoon or early evening (depending on locale), and the Moon hangs high through the night, setting only around sunrise. Its silvery light will cast distinct shadows on the ground, illuminating the landscape almost like a dim streetlamp.

We are approaching the September full moon, which occurs on Sunday, Sept. 7 (exactly full at 18:10 UTC). This full moon is special for a few reasons. In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the final full moon of the summer season, coming before the autumn equinox on Sept. 22. Colloquially, many know the September full moon as the Harvest Moon – however, this year the Harvest Moon title actually belongs to October’s full moon (because the October 2025 full moon falls closer to the equinox) livescience.com. Instead, September’s full moon is sometimes called the “Corn Moon.” According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac and other traditions, the Corn Moon is a name reflecting this time of year when corn and other crops are ready for harvest. (Other historical names include the Barley Moon, Wine Moon, or Fruit Moon, all signifying harvest season livescience.com.)

Semantics aside, this upcoming full Moon will be bright and beautiful. For most viewers, the best time to appreciate it is when it’s near the horizon during moonrise on Sept. 7. As the Moon rises in the east around dusk that day, it may have a golden or orange hue (due to Earth’s atmosphere) and appear unusually large – an effect known as the “Moon illusion.” Take a moment to watch it ascend; a full moon rising is a majestic sight that requires no special equipment. By the nights of Sept. 3–4, you can already notice the Moon looking almost full – it’s ~95% illuminated and will grow to ~99% by Sept. 5–6. The brightness will be nearly the same as full, so if you have a telescope or binoculars, those nights are great for observing lunar details (like craters and seas) with high contrast along the terminator (though the almost-full moon can be glaringly bright through optics – consider using a moon filter or sunglasses).

The big lunar event on the horizon is the total lunar eclipse slated for the night of Sept. 7–8, 2025. As mentioned, this eclipse will be visible across much of the Eastern Hemisphere – essentially, if you are in Europe (eastern parts), Africa, the Middle East, Asia, or Australia, you have a chance to see it (weather permitting). During a total lunar eclipse, the full Moon passes through Earth’s umbral shadow, causing the Moon to darken and often turn a deep reddish-copper color – hence the nickname “Blood Moon.” This particular eclipse is getting attention because the totality phase lasts an impressive 82 minutes livescience.com, making it the longest total lunar eclipse since November 2022. Observers in, for example, India, China, Southeast Asia, or Western Australia will get to witness the Moon drift into shadow and acquire that eerie dark red glow late on Sept. 7 (local time). In Europe and Africa, the eclipse occurs around moonrise/sunset – for instance, in central Europe the Moon will already be eclipsed as it rises on the early evening of Sept. 7.

Unfortunately for North and South America, this eclipse happens in the middle of our day (it’s centered around 18:40 UTC), so the Americas will miss out on the Blood Moon show livescience.com. North Americans had their turn earlier in 2025 with the March 14 eclipse, but now it’s the Eastern Hemisphere’s treat. However, even without an eclipse, the full Corn Moon will still be a gorgeous sight on Sept. 7 for American skywatchers. So if you’re not in the eclipse-visible zone, you can still enjoy watching the brilliant Moon rise and imagining the spectacle happening on the other side of the world. And of course, photos and live streams of the eclipse will likely be available from observatories and avid astrophotographers – NASA and other agencies often share imagery after such events.

For those in regions where the eclipse will be visible: mark your calendars and plan for it! You don’t need any special equipment to enjoy a lunar eclipse – it’s perfectly safe to watch with the naked eye (unlike solar eclipses). If your time zone places this event conveniently in your evening or early night on Sept. 7, try to find a spot with a clear view of the sky. The Moon will gradually enter Earth’s shadow, and during totality you’ll see it turn a dim reddish color as only scattered sunlight (filtered through Earth’s sunsets) reaches it. This particular eclipse should be quite dark and dramatic, given the long duration. We won’t go too deep into it here since it’s just beyond the 3–4 Sept window of this report, but consider this an early heads-up for an exciting celestial event on the weekend.

Planetary Highlights: Venus at Dawn, Saturn at Dusk, and More

Planets are putting on a show of their own this week, conveniently spread between the morning and evening sky. If you’re an early riser (or willing to rise early), the predawn hours before sunrise offer a brilliant sight: Venus and Jupiter shining together in the eastern sky. Venus is currently the Morning Star, having transitioned from the evening sky a couple months ago. It’s extremely bright (magnitude –4.5 or so) and appears low on the horizon in the east about 1–2 hours before sunrise. Jupiter, meanwhile, is higher up and a bit to Venus’s right, glowing steadily at around magnitude –2.5. Both are unmissable if you have a clear view east – they are the brightest “stars” in that portion of the sky. In fact, around 6:00–6:30 AM local time (varying by location) you can see Venus blazing close to the horizon and Jupiter roughly 20 degrees above Venus (that’s about two fists at arm’s length) ts2.tech. They make a striking pair, and many casual observers might mistake them for approaching airplanes or other lights because of how bright they are.

Over the past several weeks, Mercury had also been in the morning sky below Venus and Jupiter, creating a sort of three-planet line. However, Mercury is now dropping back toward the Sun’s glare. By Sept. 3–4, Mercury becomes virtually impossible to see – it’s too close to the horizon and rising just before sunrise. Essentially, Mercury has gone into hiding (it will pass through inferior conjunction – between Earth and the Sun – later in September). So enjoy Venus and Jupiter on their own. If you have binoculars, scan a bit above Venus and you might also pick out the Beehive Cluster (M44) in the constellation Cancer – on Sept. 4, Venus will actually be passing a few degrees south of this star cluster, offering a neat juxtaposition of the Morning Star with a cluster of distant stars (though the bright twilight sky may make the Beehive hard to spot without optics).

On the other side of the day, the evening sky features the majestic Saturn. Saturn reached opposition in late August 2025 (actually, some sources say the exact date is Sept. 21, 2025, but Saturn’s opposition occurs roughly once every year and a week, and in 2025 it’s in late September miragenews.com miragenews.com). At opposition, a planet is opposite the Sun in our sky and thus rises around sunset and sets around sunrise. Saturn is currently just a couple weeks from opposition, meaning it’s effectively at its brightest and best right now. In fact, all of September is a great time to observe Saturn according to NASA, since the ringed planet will be “putting on an out-of-this-world performance this month” and is at its closest and brightest for the year around the 21st miragenews.com. You can find Saturn rising in the east around the time evening twilight fades (roughly 8 PM local time on Sept. 3, a bit earlier by Sept. 4). It sits in the constellation Aquarius, which for mid-northern latitudes means Saturn doesn’t get super high in the sky (Aquarius is along the ecliptic but toward the southern part of the sky). Still, it reaches a respectable altitude late at night.

To the naked eye, Saturn appears as a moderately bright, yellowish “star”. It’s not nearly as bright as Venus or Jupiter, but at magnitude ~0.4 it outshines most stars in that area. If you’re unsure which point of light is Saturn, try this: around 10–11 PM, look toward the southeast. The Moon (if up) will be to the west, so it won’t interfere too much with Saturn’s area. You might notice one relatively bright star about a third of the way up from the horizon. Check a star chart or an astronomy app to confirm it’s Saturn – one giveaway is that Saturn shines with a steady light, whereas nearby stars might twinkle more noticeably.

Viewing Saturn through a telescope is a highlight of any skywatching session. Even a small telescope (60–90mm aperture) at low magnification can reveal Saturn’s rings – appearing as a tiny bulge or handle on each side of the planet. With a larger backyard telescope (~6-8 inches), you can clearly see the separation between the planet and rings and perhaps even the dark gap of the Cassini Division within the rings on a steady night. Saturn’s largest moon Titan (about magnitude +8) is also visible in telescopes or even good binoculars, appearing as a faint point near the planet. Right now, Saturn’s rings are tilted at an angle to us, providing a nice view of their structure (though note that over the next few years, the ring tilt as seen from Earth will gradually decrease, eventually appearing edge-on in 2025–2026, which will make them trickier to see).

What about Jupiter in the evening? Jupiter is still a pre-dawn object for now in early September. It rises quite late at night (around midnight or later, depending on the date and your location). By the pre-dawn hours, as mentioned, it’s shining high in the sky in the east. If you’re up late (past midnight), you might catch Jupiter rising in the east-northeast as Saturn is moving toward the southwest. Jupiter will be climbing higher each week and will become a prominent evening planet by October–November when it reaches its opposition. But for Sept. 3–4 nights, Jupiter is essentially a late-night to morning target. That said, if you are out in the very early morning (say 4–5 AM), Jupiter will be high in the south and absolutely brilliant. With binoculars or a small telescope in those pre-dawn hours, you can observe Jupiter’s four Galilean moons and even some cloud bands on the planet – a rewarding treat to wrap up a night of stargazing.

Meanwhile, Venus – although best seen at dawn – is actually technically also in the evening sky on the opposite side of the Sun. How can that be? Venus passed between Earth and the Sun (inferior conjunction) back in mid-August 2025, moving from the evening sky to the morning sky. It’s now well established as a morning object. It won’t be visible in the evening for many months. So for now, if you want to see Venus, morning is the time. Mars, for its part, is completely out of view this month – it’s near the far side of the Sun from our perspective (approaching a solar conjunction). Mars will be back in the morning sky later this year, but during early September 2025 it is essentially invisible, lost in the Sun’s glare.

Lastly, for completeness, Uranus and Neptune are around too. Neptune is actually nearing its own opposition (Neptune’s opposition in 2025 falls around Sept. 19). At magnitude ~7.8, Neptune is not visible to the naked eye, but with binoculars or a telescope you could find it in the constellation Pisces. On these nights, Neptune is rising by 8–9 PM and is high around 1–2 AM. Similarly, Uranus (magnitude ~5.7, technically barely naked-eye under dark skies) is in Aries and rises later at night (around 10–11 PM). Uranus will reach opposition in November 2025. While these two outer giants are more for dedicated hobbyists to seek out, it’s fun to know they’re there. Under the right conditions, a good pair of binoculars can reveal Uranus as a tiny greenish star-like point if you know exactly where to look. Neptune generally requires a telescope. There are finder charts available for those interested. But again, for the general public, the star attractions planet-wise are Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn – which are bright and obvious.

To sum up the planetary prospects: Venus and Jupiter will grace the morning twilight (with Venus especially eye-catching), while Saturn owns the evening hours. If you have a chance, try to catch Venus and Jupiter in the same view – it’s a lovely reminder of the clockwork of the solar system to see two planets close together. And don’t miss Saturn this month; as NASA’s skywatching team puts it, Saturn is “shining throughout the month” and is a highlight of September’s sky miragenews.com miragenews.com.

Man-Made Marvels: Satellites, Space Station Passes & Rocket Launches

Not everything that glitters in the night sky is a natural star or planet. Human technology is leaving its own imprint on the heavens, and on the nights of Sept. 3–4 you might notice some of these man-made marvels if you know when to look.

First up are the Starlink satellites. SpaceX has been launching these light-dot satellites in large batches to build its orbiting internet network. In the past week alone, SpaceX conducted a flurry of launches: on August 31, a Falcon 9 rocket carried 28 new Starlink satellites to orbit, and this was followed by another Starlink launch on Sept. 2 from California and yet another on Sept. 3 from Florida ts2.tech. Each launch releases a “train” of satellites that follow each other across the sky. Right after deployment, they can appear very bright (since they’re low in orbit and all bunched together), and people on the ground often report seeing a line of strange moving lights, sometimes prompting UFO reports! As the days go by, the satellites spread out and raise their orbits, and they become dimmer (often invisible without binoculars).

Because of the recent launches, there’s a chance that Starlink satellite trains will be visible in the evenings or early mornings this week. These are best spotted within a day or two after launch, in the hour or two after sunset or before sunrise (when the satellites are still illuminated by the Sun while it’s dark on the ground). To know if and when a Starlink pass might occur for your area, you can use online trackers (the website Heavens-Above, for example, lists Starlink passes). As an example, the Sept. 2 California launch might produce visible passes for observers in the western U.S. shortly after sunset on Sept. 3 as the cluster of satellites travels overhead. Similarly, the Sept. 3 Florida launch’s fresh batch could be seen from parts of the U.S. East Coast or Southeast on the morning of Sept. 4 before dawn, appearing as a string of pearls moving across the sky. If you do see a set of evenly spaced lights gliding silently overhead, don’t worry – they’re not alien spacecraft, just Elon Musk’s satellites 🙂.

Beyond Starlink, there are other satellites and spacecraft one can see. One notable example is China’s Tiangong space station, which is similar to the ISS and can be visible at times in early morning skies for certain locations (Heavens-Above can also provide Tiangong pass timings). Tiangong isn’t as bright as the ISS, but it can rival the brightest stars when conditions are right.

Speaking of the International Space Station, it remains one of the brightest and most reliably visible human-made objects in orbit. The ISS orbits Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of ~420 km, and it’s visible when it passes overhead during dusk or dawn hours (when the station is sunlit but the ground is dark). Many locations worldwide are currently getting ISS passes in the predawn hours. For instance, in early September, mid-northern latitudes (like most of the U.S., Europe, etc.) have a series of morning passes. The ISS looks like a fast-moving star – typically as bright as Jupiter or Venus at its best – traveling west-to-east (generally) across the sky. It does not blink or have flashing lights (planes do, satellites don’t), and it takes about 5 minutes to cross the sky. If you’ve never seen it, it’s quite a sight to behold knowing there are astronauts aboard that bright point of light. To find out when it flies over your town, you can use NASA’s “Spot the Station” website which will send alerts, or the timeanddate.com satellite tracker, etc. As an example quote, NASA says if you sign up for their Spot the Station alerts, “you’ll generally receive a notification about 12 hours before the space station will pass overhead” science.howstuffworks.com – a convenient way to not miss it.

Additionally, those living near rocket launch sites might literally see rocket launches or their effects in the sky on these nights. SpaceX’s launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base (California) on Sept. 2, for example, took place in the evening – which, for many in Southern California and neighboring regions, meant a spectacular rocket plume was visible after sunset (a comet-like cloud caused by the exhaust illuminated high in the atmosphere). Similarly, the Sept. 3 Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, occurred just before dawn (around 7:06 AM Eastern Time) ts2.tech. If skies were clear, folks in Florida and perhaps along the Southeast coast might have caught a glimpse of a bright streak or expanding glow in the predawn sky from that liftoff. These “jellyfish” shaped neon clouds can be breathtaking if you ever chance to see one; they only happen when a launch occurs during twilight.

In summary, keep in mind not every moving light up there is a natural object. Between scheduled satellite launches, the myriad satellites in orbit, and the bright ISS routinely passing by, the human presence in space is noticeable. For an added challenge during your skywatching, see if you can identify a satellite or two. They generally appear as steady (non-blinking) moving points of light. You’ll typically spot random ones if you watch the sky for a while after dusk. Low Earth orbit satellites often take a few minutes to cross and fade out as they enter Earth’s shadow. Higher satellites (like some navigation or military satellites) move slower. And if you see a cluster in a line – well, that’s probably a fresh Starlink train! Just remember to differentiate them from aircraft (which usually have red/green flashing lights and move slower across the sky).

One more note: space weather can even affect satellites – the recent geomagnetic storm slightly increased atmospheric drag on satellites, which can change their orbits a bit. There was no significant impact reported for the Starlinks or others from the Sept 1–2 storm, but it’s a reminder of how the auroras and satellites can be indirectly related.

Comets and Asteroids: Interstellar Visitor & a Close Flyby

Finally, let’s turn to some small celestial visitors – comets and asteroids. While none of these are visible to the naked eye right now, there are a couple of noteworthy things happening that space enthusiasts are following.

Comet 3I/ATLAS is generating a lot of excitement in the astronomy community. Discovered on July 1, 2025 by the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile, this comet is special because it’s not from around here – it’s an interstellar comet. The “3I” designation means it’s the third interstellar object ever confirmed (after ‘Oumuamua in 2017 and comet 2I/Borisov in 2019) en.wikipedia.org. In other words, Comet 3I/ATLAS originated outside our solar system entirely and is just passing through.

Right now, Comet 3I/ATLAS is very far away – currently about 4.5 AU from the Sun (that’s four and a half times the Earth-Sun distance, or roughly 670 million km) science.nasa.gov. It’s approaching the inner solar system on a hyperbolic trajectory. It will reach its closest point to the Sun in late October (around Oct. 30) at about 1.4 AU (inside the orbit of Mars) science.nasa.gov. Even at closest approach, it won’t come super close to Earth (no closer than ~1.6 AU from us, so no danger) science.nasa.gov. Because of its great distance and likely small size, Comet ATLAS is extremely faint – currently around magnitude 18–19, way beyond what the eye can see. Only large telescopes can observe it, and even then it’s just a fuzzy dot.

However, astronomers are very keen on studying 3I/ATLAS because interstellar objects carry material from other star systems. Already, telescopes like Hubble and Webb have been pointed at it. Preliminary findings suggest it might be one of the oldest comets we’ve ever observed (possibly over 7 billion years old), coming from a region of another star system that ejected it eons ago skyatnightmagazine.com. Through September, the comet will remain observable to professional astronomers, but after that it will swing around the far side of the Sun from Earth’s perspective, making it unobservable for a couple of months. NASA notes that it “should remain visible to ground-based telescopes through September, after which it will pass too close to the Sun to observe”, likely reappearing by early December science.nasa.gov. So this is a rare opportunity for scientists to gather data on an interstellar interloper.

For the casual skywatcher, unfortunately, Comet 3I/ATLAS won’t be something you can see in your backyard (unless you have a high-end telescope and CCD camera). It’s just a cool piece of news to know that out there, beyond the glow of the city, an alien comet is silently hurtling through our solar system right now. Who knows – perhaps in the coming years, discoveries of interstellar objects will become more common, and maybe one will be bright enough to spot without huge telescopes. But for now, we simply tip our hat to Comet ATLAS as it makes its one-time visit.

Switching to asteroids, we have a recent close approach that made some buzz: Asteroid 2025 QD8. This is a newly discovered near-Earth asteroid, estimated to be on the order of 50–120 feet (15–40 meters) in diameter space.com – roughly the size of a commercial airliner. On Sept. 3, 2025, this asteroid flew by Earth at a distance of about 135,000 miles (218,000 km) space.com. That’s about 57% of the Earth–Moon distance, which in cosmic terms is a pretty close shave, though still comfortably far in human terms. To be clear, there was no risk of impact – the asteroid’s trajectory was well determined and it passed by harmlessly space.com. These kinds of close flybys happen fairly frequently with small asteroids; QD8’s size is comparable to the Chelyabinsk meteor of 2013, but since it didn’t hit us, it just zipped past and headed back into space.

Asteroid 2025 QD8 was not visible without telescopes, but avid amateurs did attempt observations. Perhaps more accessible was a live webcast of the flyby: the Virtual Telescope Project, an online observatory based in Italy, hosted a livestream on Sept. 2–3 to show the asteroid’s movement against the stars space.com. Those who tuned in could literally watch a dot (the asteroid) slowly drift in front of background stars in real time. It’s a reminder of the vast network of astronomers and sky enthusiasts who track near-Earth objects. Incidentally, the discovery of 2025 QD8 came only shortly before its flyby – a testament to our improving surveys. Each time one of these objects is found and tracked, NASA’s Planetary Defense coordination office assesses it. In this case, as with the overwhelming majority of newly found asteroids, no danger was present.

It’s worth noting that if 2025 QD8 had been on an impact trajectory (again, it was not), an object of that size would likely break up in the atmosphere or cause only localized damage. Still, it’s encouraging to see the interest in these close approaches, as they help fine-tune our preparedness. And for the public, knowing an asteroid the size of a house just whizzed past Earth within the orbit of the Moon is pretty awe-inspiring. It underscores that Earth shares its space neighborhood with many rocks – but also that we have the technology to see them coming and watch them go by.

As for other comets: no bright comets are currently visible in early September 2025. The last moderately bright comet was likely in earlier months. Occasionally, unexpected comets can brighten suddenly, but none are predicted right now. Keep an ear out for comet news though – new discoveries happen often, and there are a couple of periodic comets due later in 2025 that might be binocular-visible. For now, the interstellar Comet ATLAS is stealing the cometary headlines (even if only in scientific circles).

Expert Voices and Closing Thoughts

To provide some expert perspective on this week’s sky events, let’s highlight a couple of quotes from astronomers and institutions:

• On the aurora outbreak: Space weather scientist Dr. Tamitha Skov described the recent solar storm as a “cannibal CME” and noted that “as we suspected, the solar storm has made a strong entrance, but it is oriented the wrong way.” In other words, despite the huge eruption, the magnetic field orientation limited the auroral intensity space.com. Another forecaster, Sara Housseal, added that even with the less-than-ideal orientation, the storm “held in the G1–G2 range thanks to the large amount of energy” it carried space.com. The takeaway: it was a significant storm, just not a record-breaker. Meanwhile, the UK Met Office emphasized how rare this was for Britain, saying the auroral oval was “significantly enhanced,” allowing auroras as far south as the Midlands under clear dark skies economictimes.indiatimes.com. And NOAA, as mentioned, had predicted the event well – stating that “auroras could extend much farther south than usual” and alerting skywatchers in over a dozen U.S. states to be on the lookout economictimes.indiatimes.com.
• On Saturn’s prime time: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory encouraged skywatchers to enjoy Saturn this month, highlighting that around its Sept. 21 opposition, “Saturn will be at its closest and brightest all year” miragenews.com. This is essentially an invitation to get outside and marvel at Saturn’s rings through any telescope you can find. As JPL’s “What’s Up” guide put it, “Saturn will be putting on an out-of-this-world performance this month,” shining prominently in the evening sky miragenews.com.

As we wrap up this skywatch alert, it’s clear that the nights of Sept. 3–4, 2025 have a lot in store, even if some of the headline events require being in the right place or having the right gear to fully appreciate. If you’re in the far north (or south), you might still catch a wisp of aurora. Virtually everyone will notice the brilliant Moon, which while overwhelming faint objects, is a spectacle in itself – and it serves as a reminder of the dramatic eclipse soon to come. The planets offer a pleasing show for both early birds (Venus/Jupiter) and night owls (Saturn), so whichever end of the night you prefer, there’s a bright planet to observe. Meteors might make the occasional cameo if you’re patient and crafty about moonlight. And don’t forget to glance for the ISS or surprise satellite flares – those unsung “stars” that move among the constellations.

Every night sky has its stories, and these early September nights are telling a story of transitions: summer to autumn, quiet skies to stormy space weather and back, planets shifting guard between morning and evening, the Moon about to enter Earth’s shadow. Take a moment to step outside, look up, and enjoy the cosmic performance. Clear skies and happy skywatching!