September stargazing

No matter how big your problems may appear, just look up for awhile and realize how small they really are.

Stargazing Summary

With summer's luminaries dropping from view, a new season opens in the evening sky. Pegasus slides into view in the east shortly after nightfall, marked by the Great Square. The constellations that form the "celestial sea" -- Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, and others with a watery theme -- flow across the south. And four of the five planets visible to the unaided eye put in good showings this month, with a sixth planet, giant Uranus, worth a look through binoculars.

More stargazing information: http://stardate.org/nightsky

Radio Programming Highlights

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September 1-4: Lunar kicks. Humanity has been roughing up the Moon over the last half-century &emdash; blasting it with booster rockets and orbiting probes. And it's all in the name of science. Join us for details, plus a celestial arrow and much more.

September 5-11: Lunar lumps. The Moon is one of the lumpiest bodies in the solar system, which helped it drag some early lunar orbiters to an early doom. But a new orbiter is getting ready to tackle those lumps. Jooin us for details on this and more.

September 12-18: Lunar companion. The Moon has a dazzling companion late this week: the giant planet Jupiter. We'll have details. And we'll also talk about a constellation with a split identity. Listen this week for details on this and more.

September 19-25: Faint giant. Uranus is one of the biggest planets in the solar system, but it's so far out that it doesn't get much attention. We'll change that this week, with stories of its icy heart and its doomed moons. Join us for details.

September 26-October 2: A busy hub. The heart of the Milky Way galaxy is a busy place -- a giant black hole surrounded by billions of stars -- some of which swing hair-raisingly close to the black hole. Listen this week for the crowded heart of the Milky Way.

September Program Schedule: http://stardate.org/radio/calendars

Find an Affiliate: http://stardate.org/radio/affiliates

This Month in StarDate Magazine

The stars at night (and during the day) are big and bright around the black hole deep in the Milky Way's busy downtown. Read all about it in our feature "Urban Jungle." And in "Sausages from Space," learn how today's scientists are making new discoveries about the outer solar system as the Voyager spacecraft launched in the 1970s keep chugging onward.

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New Light on the Darkness

Fact sheets on six black holes have been added to the StarDate Black Hole Encyclopedia. Some are supermassive black holes at the hearts of galaxies, while others are intermediate-mass black holes at the hearts of star clusters. The new black holes are NGC 1194, NGC 2273, NGC 2960, NGC 4388, M15, and M82 X-1.

Find out more: http://blackholes.stardate.org

News from the Observatory

Astronomers Discover Stars Locked in Fatalistic DanceAstronomers at The University of Texas at Austin and the Smithsonian Institution have discovered a pair of burnt-out stars orbiting each other at breakneck speeds. Studying the pair over time will allow tests of general relativity.

Find out more: http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news