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Right now, just past the full moon, Pluto will be nearly impossible to spot, especially with smaller scopes. I mean, I have an 8-inch scope and that will not see Pluto. The maximum I can get down to is about 1292 under optimum conditions. So you'll need something at least 12 inches or greater to spot Pluto, plus a lot of patience and that dark sky for sure. Meteor showers. No major meteor showers are active in September, so we enter a bit of a lull after the excitement of August. Meteoric dust from thousands of comets passing over the eon is visible before dawn as the zodiacal light and sunlight reflecting off the dust creates a faint glow. You'll need a very dark eastern horizon with no speed lights nearby. Higher elevations get a better view too. Zodiacal light appears as a faint, cone-shaped glow aligned with the ecliptic. On September mornings, well before dawn, the high angle of the ecliptic benefits its use of it. The broad base of the glow is in Leo as that constellation rises and narrows higher in the sky through Cancer and Gemini. Catch it on moonless nights in the third and fourth week of September for the darkest skies. The exact surface from Astronomy Magazine, September 2025, page 29. There is, I did see a note on one particular meteor shower that is not very big but may have a bit of an outburst this year. What is it? Chi? Oh shoot. It's such a CHI. I'll have to look that up again a little bit later on. But about mid-month. See if you might be able to see some of those meteors. So we're making a little bit more activity than this article predicts. But under night and dark skies, always get out there and see if you can see some meteors tricking through. You may be pleasantly surprised.
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