Don’t Miss These Astrophotography Opportunities in September 2025

Every month brings some unique astronomical events that you can observe with the naked eye and photograph. In this article, let us take a look at the astrophotography opportunities in September 2025.

September 7: Full Harvest moon

The ninth full moon of 2025 will appear on September 7. The September full moon is also known as the harvest moon. Full moons are always a great opportunity to photograph them with a telephoto lens. It will also allow you to capture the moonrise in the evening and the moonset in the early morning.

September 7: Total lunar eclipse

This month, it is going to be a special full moon. The moon will be completely covered by Earth’s shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse. The totality will last more than 1 hour, giving photographers ample time to capture the blood moon. However, the total lunar eclipse will not be visible from everywhere on Earth. Check a planetarium app like Stellarium to see when and if the total lunar eclipse is visible from your location.

September 19: Lunar occultation of Venus

On the early morning of 19^th September, the bright planet Venus will disappear behind the moon, of course, from our perspective. This occultation, however, won’t be visible from all locations in the world. For some locations, it will only appear as a close approach or a conjunction between the Moon and Venus. We recommend checking Stellarium to see if it is visible from your location.

September 21: Partial solar eclipse

A partial solar eclipse happens when the Moon covers only a portion of the Sun, resembling a bite off a cookie.  A partial solar eclipse can only be safely witnessed through a specialized solar filter or by staring at the Sun’s reflection.  This partial eclipse will be visible exclusively from New Zealand, Antarctica, and the southern Pacific Ocean.  It will be best visible from New Zealand, with 76% coverage.

September 21: New moon

The new moon week is the best time to plan your dark sky trips. Capture the minute details of constellations, nebulae, and galaxies without any interference from moonlight. Whether you are a wide-field astrophotographer or a deep sky photographer, the nights around the new moon will offer you the best conditions for astrophotography.

Other opportunities throughout the month

Along with the celestial events mentioned above, the sky will present more opportunities to catch a few more objects. And some will be better than before.

The “Milky Way season” is still on

The Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way, one of the most beautiful and popular regions to photograph, now rises early in the night sky, visible right after sunset. This will be a great opportunity to photograph the Milky Way standing tall, along with other nightscape and deepscape images.

Moon meets the planets

The moon will be positioned with different planets throughout the month. The month begins with a conjunction between the Moon and Saturn on 9th September. On 16th September, the Moon will come close to Jupiter. Moon and Venus will come close to one another on 19th September, with the Moon occulting Venus. On 24th September, the Moon will meet the red planet, Mars.

Sunspots

The sun is undergoing what is called the “solar maximum”. During this period, the activity on the solar surface remains high. This would be a great opportunity to photograph the sunspots with a white-light filter attached to your telephoto lens.

[It is mandatory to follow precautions during solar photography. Make sure the filter is tightly and correctly attached to the lens. Do not look at the sun with your naked eyes or through the viewfinder of your camera.]

Hope you have a great month with lots of astrophotography opportunities ahead.

Clear skies!

---