John Wheeler: The September night sky deserves a look

FARGO — In September, the sky gets dark significantly earlier, allowing us to observe the night sky without having to stay up too late. The brightest object in the night sky this fall, other than the moon, is the planet Jupiter. However, the Milky Way is also spectacular this time of year.

At about 9 p.m., look for three bight stars almost overhead; Altair, Deneb and Vega.



Get away from city lights and you will see the brightest portion of the Milky Way galaxy in this region. This brightest part is the center of the galaxy where there is a concentration of stars. On a clear night, there appear to be a countless number of stars visible.

The Milky Way is about 100,000 light years across and our solar system is about 25,000 light years from the center. Look at it with binoculars or a telescope and it will take your breath away. It is estimated that there are well over 100 billion stars in the Milky Way.

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