At the start of September, look for Saturn at dusk (7:30 p.m.) about 10 degrees above the western horizon — about the width of a fist held at arm’s length.

Saturn shines at 0.9 magnitude, similar to a bright star. In fact, it’s almost exactly as bright as Spica, the star shining to its left. Spica and Saturn are like eyes gazing at us low in the west.

On Thursday night, the crescent moon can help you find both Spica and Saturn. Look west around 7:45 p.m. and find the moon first. Spica is 10 degrees to the right of the moon. Saturn is 10 degrees to the right of Spica. Saturn will set in early September by 8:30 p.m.; Spica, slightly higher in the sky, will follow it down by 9 p.m.

As we go through September, Saturn will be a little lower every night as it gets dark.

Venus, the brightest planet, has been lost in the sun’s light for all of July and August. It will finally emerge from behind the sun in late September. Look for Venus extremely low in the west around 6:45 p.m. starting Sept. 20. You’ll need a flat western horizon and you’ll also need to look fast. The planet sets by 7 p.m. in those last 10 days of the month, giving you a mere 15-minute window to see it.

Jupiter, the king of the planets, rises in the east at 10 p.m. at the start of September and by 8 p.m. at the end of the month. At minus 2.7 magnitude, it is too bright to miss. Just look east for the brightest dot of all, and that’s Jupiter. Early in the month, look for Jupiter high overhead by daybreak.

At the beginning of September, Mars rises in the east around 2:30 a.m.; at the end of the month, it rises at 2 a.m. It shines at first magnitude and has a pale orange color. Mars starts the month in the constellation of the Gemini, whose two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, shine about as brightly as Mars itself. During the month Mars will pass out of Gemini and into the next constellation of the zodiac, Cancer the Crab. Also, look for the waning crescent moon close to Mars early on Sept. 23.

Mercury popped into the morning sky at the end of August. Look for the planet low in the east around 5 a.m. during the first week of September. It shines at minus 0.3 magnitude.

SEPTEMBER SKY MAP

On the map for September, the constellation of Scorpius the Scorpion is setting in the southwestern sky. These bright stars of Scorpius make a pattern that really does look like a scorpion. Scorpius also really looks like Maui’s fishhook, used to pull the Hawaiian Islands from the bottom of the ocean.

Also low in the southwest, though above the scorpion, is Sagittarius the Centaur.

The next zodiac signs to the left of Scorpius and Sagittarius are much fainter. Capricornus the Sea Goat is somewhat dim, though still visible if you are away from downtown lights. To the left of Capricornus, you need really dark skies to find Aquarius the Water Bearer and Pisces the Fish. Next to Pisces is Aries the Ram. Its stars are somewhat brighter than Pisces and Aquarius, though Aries is really small, like a little stick of three stars. The planet Jupiter is current in this constellation.

Low in the southern sky is Fomalhaut, a first magnitude star in the constellation of Piscis Austrinis, the Southern Fish.

Overhead is the Summer Triangle, which is made up of three bright stars from three different constellations. This includes Vega, the brightest star in the triangle, in Lyra the Harp; Altair, in Aquila the Eagle; and Deneb, the dimmest of the three, in Cygnus the Swan.

Turning to the north, the North Star is visible 21 degrees above the horizon. Whatever your latitude in the northern hemisphere, the North Star is that far above the horizon. Hono-lulu is at 21 degrees north.

The North Star is in the Little Dipper, officially Ursa Minor, the Little Bear. Ursa Minor as a whole is a pretty faint constellation. That said, the Little Bear is the only constellation in Hawaii that is completely circumpolar. In other words, not a single star sets below the horizon from our latitude.

On the other hand, the constellation known as the Big Bear, or Big Dipper, does rise and set from Hawaii. In Hawaii, September is virtually a Big Dipper-free month and is missing from our map.

Finally, all six constellations that tell the story of Perseus and Andromeda are visible on our September map.

Look for Cassiopeia’s distinctive "W" shape in the northeastern sky on our map. In the Big Dipper’s absence, we can use Cassiopeia to find the North Star. Find the middle star of the five stars that make up the "W" of Cassiopeia. Imagine that this middle star makes the point of an arrow with the stars on each side of it. This arrow points, roughly, to the North Star.

Mike Shanahan is director of Education, Exhibits and Planetarium. For more information, go to www.bishopmuseum.org/planetarium/planetarium.html.