🔭 Astronomical Events
August 31 – September 6, 2026
Written by Mia Astrology ✨🌌
After the astronomical chaos of August, and I mean that affectionately because we somehow managed to squeeze a total solar eclipse, the Perseids, a deep partial lunar eclipse and enough dramatic Moon activity into one month to make the rest of 2026 feel slightly insecure, the first week of September arrives with a completely different personality.
There is no enormous eclipse demanding that we reorganise our lives, book accommodation two years in advance or stand beside a road arguing about cloud forecasts, but there is something I genuinely love about this particular week because the sky becomes properly usable again.
The Moon is waning, which means the evenings grow progressively darker, the Aurigid meteor shower peaks on September 1, the Moon slides beautifully close to the Pleiades, Last Quarter arrives on September 4, and then on September 6 the Moon moves into a close pairing with Mars while simultaneously reaching perigee, its closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit.
And if you live somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere where summer nights have been frustratingly bright, September is when stargazing starts feeling serious again.
Here in Iceland, I notice this immediately.
There is always a point toward the end of summer when you suddenly look outside late at night and think, Oh. There you are.
The stars are back.
Not the half-hearted handful we get during the brightest Icelandic summer nights, but actual darkness, actual constellations and an actual Milky Way beginning to reclaim the sky, and after spending June and July pretending that 1:00 AM twilight counts as darkness, I am extremely ready for it.
So while this week does not have an eclipse screaming for attention, do not underestimate it.
There is plenty happening up there.
☄️ THE BIG EVENT
Aurigid Meteor Shower Peaks
September 1, 2026
The first night of September brings us the peak of the Aurigid meteor shower, one of those smaller meteor showers that rarely receives the publicity of the Perseids but deserves considerably more attention than it gets.
The Aurigids are active from roughly August 29 through September 2, with maximum activity expected around September 1.