Suggested Searches

September

These night-sky objects are visible in September. We invite you to find them and compare your view to Hubble's!

The Milky Way above Devil's Tower National Monument.
NPS / Damon Joyce

Hubble's Night Sky Challenge is a year-round observing adventure for amateur astronomers to commemorate 35 years of Hubble science and discoveries. This challenge can also serve as a guide for star parties. Below, you’ll find a list of Messier and Caldwell night sky targets visible during September that Hubble has imaged over the years for both Northern and Southern Hemisphere observers.

Helpful Tips

  • Some objects may be visible from most locations on Earth, while others are only visible at specific latitudes and may not be accessible for those in other parts of the world. This page has two lists of recommended targets: one for the Northern Hemisphere and another for the Southern Hemisphere. For best results, we recommend using the list that corresponds to the part of the world you live in.
  • If the name of the object starts with an "M," it's part of the Messier catalog; names that start with "C" are part of the Caldwell catalog.
  • A difficulty scale of 1-3 denotes how easy an object is to find: 1 is the easiest and 3 the hardest. The easiest targets for each hemisphere are listed first, and the most difficult ones are listed last.

Northern Hemisphere Objects

These night sky objects are visible to viewers in the Northern Hemisphere.

A dense globular cluster of thousands of stars.

M15: Great Pegasus Cluster

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Difficulty: 1

Cluds of dust and gas in shads of blue, yellow and dark brown that make up a protion of the Dumbbell Nebula

M27: Dumbbell Nebula

Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Difficulty: 2

Field is filled with white stars, smattered with blue-white and reddish-orange stars. Stars are concentrated at the center of the image. All are on a black background.

M55: Specter Cluster

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Difficulty: 2

A bright cluster of white and orange stars, concentrated more densely at the center.

M75

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Difficulty: 2

Large bright star at the top left of the image, surrounded by dark dust and gas. Stars pepper the image in the bottom right.

C20: North American Nebula

Object Type: Bright Nebula
Difficulty: 2

colorful streams of yellow, blue, and green gas and dust extend from the lower left to the center right.

C27: Crescent Nebula

Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Difficulty: 2

A bright pink central star is surrounded by a football-shaped rim of dense blue and red gas. The cavity and its rim are trapped inside smoothly-distributed greenish material in the shape of a barrel and comprised of the star's former outer layers. At larger distances, and lying along the long axis of the nebula, a pair of red "ansae", or "handles" appears. Each ansa is joined to the tips of the cavity by a long greenish jet of material.

C55: Saturn Nebula

Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Difficulty: 2

Tens of thousands of stars fill this image as tiny dots, more concentrated in the upper left corner. Stars taper off as you move down and to the right.

C57: Barnard's Galaxy

Object Type: Irregular Galaxy
Difficulty: 2

Several stars shine against black space.

M71: Angelfish Cluster

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Difficulty: 3

Bright green dust and gas surrounds an inner shell of tightly wound dust and gas, in the center of it all is a bright purple star.

C15: Blinking Planetary

Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Difficulty: 3

Southern Hemisphere Objects

These night sky objects are visible to viewers in the Southern Hemisphere.

A dense globular cluster of thousands of stars.

M15: Great Pegasus Cluster

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Difficulty: 1

Cluds of dust and gas in shads of blue, yellow and dark brown that make up a protion of the Dumbbell Nebula

M27: Dumbbell Nebula

Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Difficulty: 2

Field is filled with white stars, smattered with blue-white and reddish-orange stars. Stars are concentrated at the center of the image. All are on a black background.

M55: Specter Cluster

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Difficulty: 2

Hubble image of m75

M75

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Difficulty: 2

Large bright star at the top left of the image, surrounded by dark dust and gas. Stars pepper the image in the bottom right.

C20: North American Nebula

Object Type: Bright Nebula
Difficulty: 2

colorful streams of yellow, blue, and green gas and dust extend from the lower left to the center right.

C27: Crescent Nebula

Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Difficulty: 2

A bright pink central star is surrounded by a football-shaped rim of dense blue and red gas. The cavity and its rim are trapped inside smoothly-distributed greenish material in the shape of a barrel and comprised of the star's former outer layers. At larger distances, and lying along the long axis of the nebula, a pair of red "ansae", or "handles" appears. Each ansa is joined to the tips of the cavity by a long greenish jet of material.

C55: Saturn Nebula

Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Difficulty: 2

Tens of thousands of stars fill this image as tiny dots, more concentrated in the upper left corner. Stars taper off as you move down and to the right.

C57: Barnard's Galaxy

Object Type: Irregular Galaxy
Difficulty: 2

Several stars shine against black space.

M71: Angelfish Cluster

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Difficulty: 3