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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through September 19th, 2019. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.

Jupiter, in the constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer, and Saturn, in Sagittarius the Archer, gleam brightly after sunset in the southern sky.

Jupiter begins the evening in the south-southwest, and it sets in the west-southwest by 11:00 p.m. In about a month, Jupiter will set about two hours earlier and it will be too low in the sky to see clearly through a telescope because of the greater amount of our atmosphere through which the planet’s image must pass when near the horizon. Before then, a telescope will still reveal the four largest of Jupiter’s many moons, the planet’s banded cloud structure, and its famous oval storm, the Great Red Spot. Look for the Great Red Spot from the West Coast at 8:00 p.m. on the 16th and 18th.

Saturn is to the left of Jupiter and is at its highest in the south as darkness falls, and it is then at its best position for telescopic observation. Several of Saturn’s moons, including its brightest, Titan, are visible through nearly any telescope, as are the planet’s beautiful system of rings. Saturn sets by 1:00 a.m.

The moon is full at 9:33 p.m. on the 13th. Because this full moon happens closest to the start of fall and harvest time in the northern hemisphere, it is also widely known as the Harvest Moon. This full moon also coincides with the moon being at the greatest distance that its elliptical orbit takes it from the earth–at the point called the moon’s apogee–on the same night at 6:16 p.m. The centers of the Earth and the moon are then separated by 252,515 miles, about 30,000 miles farther than when at their closest as they will be on the 27th. The moon then is at its perigee. The moon’s phase is waxing gibbous on the nights before the full moon, and it is waning gibbous before it becomes last quarter on the 21st. The moon is visible all night when it is full. Between the 14th and 19th, the moonrise changes from 7:44 p.m. to 10:20 p.m.

The International Space Station has three upcoming passes that will be particularly fine from the Los Angeles area. The first is on the morning of the 13th, when the brilliant space station will cross the sky from northwest to southeast between 5:50 and 5:57 a.m. It will be at its highest, 63 degrees above the northeast horizon, at 5:54 a.m. On the 16th, the ISS will suddenly appear at 5:04 a.m. when it moves into sunlight already 68 degrees high in the south. It will be visible for another three minutes as it descends to the southeast horizon. The ISS makes an evening pass over Los Angeles between 8:02 and 8:08 p.m. on the 18th when it crosses the sky from the southwest to the northeast, and reaches its highest point, 76 degrees above the southeast horizon, at 8:06 p.m.

Free views of the Sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday, before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next free public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, October 5 between 2:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Follow The Sky Report, All Space Considered, and Griffith Observatory on Twitter for updates on astronomy and space-related events.

From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.