Overview: A week of autumn skies in Bucharest
The week of September 29 to October 5, 2025 offers clear autumn skies over Bucharest. The Sun stays in Virgo for most of autumn, setting at 18:53 this week, while nights grow longer from about 20:30 to roughly 08:48. This is a great window to watch planets, bright stars, and the changing face of the September sky from the Romanian capital.
Moon watchers should note that on September 30 the Moon reaches First Quarter at 02:54. During this week the Moon is visible mainly in the first half of the night, helping to triangulate the brighter planets and a few of the season’s stellar landmarks.
Planets on the evening and morning sky
Starting after 19:00, Saturn appears in the eastern half of the sky, rising around 18:40 and reaching its highest point in the south near 00:30. Although Saturn is not at its brightest due to its distance of about 1.4 billion kilometers, it still shines as a steady “star” in the Pisces region. To the right of Saturn, near the horizon, you can spot Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus as a comparably bright, non-tlickering point of light.
In the early morning, Venus and Jupiter rise in the East. Venus, the brighter of the two, begins its ascent around 05:00 and stays prominent until sunrise. Jupiter follows shortly after, becoming visible around 00:30-02:00 in the east, and will be particularly easy to identify high above Castor and Pollux in Gemini as dawn approaches.
During this week, Saturn sits in Pisces and Venus travels through Leo, offering a delightful contrast between a ringed giant and a brilliant morning star. Note how Saturn’s pale, steady glow contrasts with the more rapid twinkle of brighter stars, a reminder of the difference between planets and stars when observed from Bucharest’s urban skies.
Constellations and notable stars to watch
September evenings reveal a few bright stars along the southern and western horizons. In the southwest, Antares — a red supergiant in Scorpius — dominates the skyline shortly after dusk, fading slightly as the sky grows darker and the horizon clears. Its warm, coppery glow distinguishes it from the bluer Be stars higher up in the sky.
To the west lies Arcturus in Boötes, a distant sun about 37 light-years away and markedly brighter than most celestial bodies in the autumn air. It’s a strong orange-hued beacon that helps orient the mid-northern sky. A little north of Arcturus, Capella — a prominent, golden star in Auriga — looks nearly paralleled to Antares in brightness and reveals itself as a quadruple star in reality when observed with a modest telescope or good binoculars.
Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus rounds out the quartet of horizon-bright stars visible low in the sky. It sits relatively close at about 25 light-years and hosts a circumstellar dust disk with a planet-like presence suggested by the disk. These markers give observers a vivid sense of the nearby, real structure of our galaxy as it shows up from Bucharest’s vantage point.
Observing tips for Bucharest observers
To maximize viewing in Bucharest, choose a site with a clear western and southern horizon and minimal light pollution, such as a park away from heavy street lighting. A simple pair of binoculars will help you resolve Saturn’s disk and rings, plus the brighter stars described above. Allow your eyes to adapt to the dark for 15–20 minutes, and be patient as Saturn and Venus appear at different elevations. Keep a small notebook or a sky app handy to map the rising times and positions as the week progresses.
Conclusion: A week of accessible skies
The September 29–October 5 window in Bucharest provides a compact blueprint of the autumn sky: Saturn glowing in Pisces after sunset, Venus and Jupiter making morning appearances, and a handful of brilliant stars marking the season. Whether you’re a seasoned stargazer or just starting out, this week offers approachable targets that highlight the beauty of the celestial cycle from our city, under Virgo’s late-summer-to-fall backdrop.
