THE SKY THIS SEPTEMBER: FALL BRINGS BEST VIEWING

It was 2 a.m. and I couldn't sleep, having just got back from the rest of my job in the other seven dimensions of the universe, when I looked out the kitchen window and these words sprang into my mind: Hark! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and my Jupiter and Saturn are shining from the sun. Arise, fair planets, and kill the envious stars who are already sick and pale with grief that thou their guests are far more fair than they.

This is what happens when you mix my daughter's literary interests with my scientific brain.

There is no doubt that the doldrums of summer are just about ready to be defeated by the brilliant return of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in the east and the planet Venus in the west. When it rains, it pours.

You can catch Venus just after sundown in the west. There is no missing its bright glare. It is hard to believe that such a brilliant, pure white light could drive the Aztecs to offer human sacrifices. Of course, it's also hard to imagine that the planet's surface is so hot it could melt lead. Once considered our lovely sister planet, she turned out to be an alien stepsister instead. If you look even closer, you can see Mercury between Venus and the Sun.

While Jupiter and Saturn won't be at their best until November, they are worth staying up a little late. Saturn breaks from the horizon first around midnight in the beginning of the month, but by 10:30 towards the end of the month. Jupiter follows shortly and both are surrounded by the interesting star clusters and constellations of the winter. Seeing the color contrast from yellow Saturn to pinkish Jupiter to red Aldebaran against the dark velvety sky makes me want to try my hand at poetry, but I will leave that for my daughter.

There are other planets that are also visible but will require a sharp eye or a telescope. Uranus and Neptune are three fist widths high in the south around 10:30. Red Mars can be seen just before the Sun in the morning dawn but is faint as far as planets go. Even Pluto is high in the south at sunset, but at magnitude 13 you will need a very large telescope to see it.

The Big Dipper is well placed in the northwest. Its last two stars of its dipper point to the north star, while in the northeast the queen, Cassiopeia, (looks like a "W") is poised for easy viewing.

Fall is the best time to observe in this part of the country, so enjoy one of the free things in life.

Dr. Michael Cobb is an astronomer and professor of the physics department at Southeast Missouri State University.