Abrams Planetarium
SKYWATCHER'S DIARY: October 1995
To the reader
The Skywatcher's Diary for October 1995 has been prepared
by David Nette and Robert Victor. Sometimes you can see next month's in advance by looking in our archives. Credit to
Abrams Planetarium,
Department of Physics and Astronomy at
Michigan State University
would be appreciated. Our illustrated
Sky Calendar accompanies
the printed version of Skywatcher's Diary as it is sent monthly to
Michigan newspapers, but does not accompany this Internet version.
If you would like a sample copy, send your request with a self-
addressed, stamped envelope to
Sky Calendar
Abrams Planetarium
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
This month's most
striking sights include the moon passing near planets and bright stars,
on the evenings of October 6, 12, 25-27, and the mornings of October
13, 16, 19, 22. Morning events are mentioned in Skywatcher's Diary
one day prior to the event. *For observers with telescopes*, Saturn's
rings are visible again, but are unusually close to edgewise; the location
and telescopic appearance of the planet is described under October 4, 5,
6, 29.
-
- At dusk, the Moon is in the south, just past First Quarter phase and a
little more than half full. The lighting on the lunar landscape is now ideal
for seeing detail with binoculars and small telescopes. Tonight the
striking trio of craters Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel lies on the
Moon's terminator (day-night boundary), just below the Moon's center,
showing a beautiful display of light and shadow.
As the sky darkens, look below and lower right of the Moon for eight
stars forming the Teapot of Sagittarius. Bright Jupiter is low in SW, 33
degrees to Moon's lower right. First-magnitude Antares twinkles 5
degrees below Jupiter.
-
- To see the planet Venus early this month, you need a very clear sky and
an unobstructed view of the horizon between W and WSW shortly after
sunset. From the latitude of southern Michigan, Venus now sets only
half an hour after sunset, so begin searching no later than 10-15 minutes
after sundown. By early in November, Venus will set a full hour after
the Sun and will be more readily noticed by casual observers.
-
- Mercury passes inferior conjunction tomorrow, nearly between Earth
and Sun. By the start of October's 3rd week and for the rest of the
month. Mercury will put in its best morning appearance of this year.
-
- Start looking within 15 minutes after sunset, and within the next 45
minutes you can view a total of four planets! Fifteen minutes after
sundown catch Venus before it sets between 10-15 degrees south of due
west. Jupiter is the most prominent "star" of the evening, in SW as the
sky darkens. An hour after sunset look for Antares 5 degrees below
Jupiter, and Mars 22 degrees to Jupiter's lower right. Saturn then
appears as a bright "star" in ESE, 25 degrees to Moon's lower left.
Through a telescope tonight, the ancient lunar crater Gassendi is in
excellent view on the Moon's terminator (day-night boundary). Jupiter's
outermost Galilean moon Callisto is well to the west of the planet for
the rest of this week. Saturn's rings are tipped nearly 2 degrees from
edge-on, with their sunlit face in view.
-
- An hour after sundown the waxing gibbous Moon is in ESE to SE.
Saturn is 11 degrees to Moon's lower left. Later in the evening, when
Saturn is higher, examine its rings, now tipped only 2 degrees to our
line of sight. Titan, Saturn's brightest satellite, is well to the east of the
planet tonight. [Here's how to tell which direction is east in your
telescope field: Allow Saturn to drift through the field; objects east of
Saturn, including Titan, will follow the planet.]
-
- At nightfall the Moon is low in ESE with Saturn just 6 degrees lower
right. Through a telescope, Saturn's rings appear narrow as their
illuminated N face is tipped about 2 degrees into our view. Saturn's
largest moon, Titan, remains east of the planet tonight.
-
- At dusk the Moon, approaching Full, is low in E to ESE. Saturn is 17
degrees to its upper right. Watch the SE horizon 24 degrees lower right
of Saturn for the rising of Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish.
This star is sometimes called "The Solitary One", because it's in a
section of sky devoid of bright stars.
-
- The Moon, just past Full, rises about 10 degrees N of due east very near
the time of sunset. An hour later the Moon is low in E, with Saturn 30
degrees to its upper right.
-
- Tonight and Tuesday, moonrise occurs in evening twilight, before the
sky fully darkens. By Wednesday, the Moon rises after nightfall.
Beginning Wednesday, there will be a "window" of dark moonless
skies, lasting longer each night, ideal for observing the Milky Way, the
Andromeda Galaxy, and the Pleiades star cluster.
-
- Three-and-a-half hours after sundown, the waning gibbous Moon is in
E with the Pleiades star cluster 15 degrees lower left. To unaided eye,
the Pleiades appears to consist of only a handful of stars; with optical
aid, many more of the cluster's hundreds of stars are seen.
-
- Three-and-a-half hours after sunset the Moon is low in E to ENE with
the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, 7 degrees to its upper left. Aldebaran, the
eye of Taurus, is 11 degrees to Moon's lower left. An hour before
sunup on Thursday, Moon is high in WSW with the Pleiades 8 degrees
upper right. Ruddy Aldebaran shines 8 degrees to Moon's upper left.
-
- Three-and-a-half hours after sunset, the Moon is very low in ENE with
first-magnitude Aldebaran only a degree or two to its right. The Pleiades
glitter 14 degrees above Aldebaran. This Arabic name means "The
Follower", because the star follows the Pleiades across the sky. At
dawn Friday Moon is high in SW with Aldebaran 4 degrees lower right.
-
- An hour before sunrise Saturday, the Moon is high in SSW. Look for
Aldebaran 16 degrees to Moon's lower right. Look just south of due
east for elusive Mercury, only 6 degrees above the horizon 45 minutes
before sunup. Mercury will brighten and climb nearly 3 degrees higher
in the next week.
-
- Look high in SSE an hour before sunup Sunday for the Moon,
approaching Last Quarter. Betelgeuse in Orion is 14 degrees to its lower
right. The Gemini Twins, Pollux and Castor, shine about 20 degrees
upper left of the Moon. Procyon in Canis Minor is 20 degrees to
Moon's lower left. Knowing the Moon travels some 13 degrees
eastward against background stars daily, can you predict its location on
Monday morning?
-
- An hour before sunup on Monday, the Last Quarter Moon is high in
SSE. The Moon is now nearly between bright Procyon and the Gemini twins.
-
- An hour before sunup Tuesday the fat waning crescent Moon is in SE.
Look for bright Procyon 12 degrees to Moon's lower right.The Gemini
twins, Castor and Pollux, shine above the crescent.
-
- An hour before sunup Wednesday the Moon is high in SE. Look for
the star Regulus, heart of Leo, 16 degrees to Moon's lower left. Watch
the Moon as it wanes, or becomes less full, with each passing morning.
The invisible New Moon is a week from today.
-
- Twenty minutes after sunset, Venus is very low in WSW. As Venus
sets and the sky darkens, Jupiter gleams in SW, and nearby Antares and
Mars become visible. First-magnitude Antares twinkles 6 degrees lower
right of Jupiter. Mars, visible in binoculars, is 7 degrees right of Antares
and a little lower.
-
- In the predawn darkness hours of October 20-26, watch for very fast
"shooting stars" of the Orionid meteor shower, whose particles
originally came from Halley's Comet. If you trace their paths backward,
you can see they appear to radiate from a section of sky north of the
main stars of Orion, giving the shower its name.
An hour before sunup Friday the slender crescent Moon is in ESE, with
Regulus, heart of Leo, 11 degrees above. Mercury now appears at its
farthest from the Sun (18 degrees) for this time around. Mercury's best
morning appearance of 1995 lasts through at least next week. Forty-five
minutes before sunrise, look for this planet 9 degrees up, and 10
degrees south of due east.
-
- The thin crescent Moon is low in ESE at dawn Saturday. Mercury, now
brighter than zero magnitde, is 17 degrees to Moon's lower left. Try to
predict where the Moon will appear on Sunday, then get up again that
morning to verify your prediction.
-
- Look for the last easy old Moon very low in ESE 45 minutes before
sunup on Sunday. The thin crescent is oriented as if it is "holding
water". Mercury is only 5 degrees lower left of the Moon. Far to their
left shines Arcturus, very low in ENE.
-
- About half an hour before sunrise on Monday, Floridians may have a
chance to see a very old and very thin crescent Moon, within 18 hours
before New. Use binoculars, and look about 10 degrees S of due east
and 9 degrees below and a little right of Mercury.
-
- While it is nighttime tonight in North America and daytime Tuesday in
Asia, a total solar eclipse will be visible within a narrow track across
several countries, including Iran, India, and Vietnam.
-
- The invisible New Moon occurred at 12:36 a.m. EDT this morning.
Look early Wednesday evening for your first chance at seeing the
young Moon of the new cycle.
-
- Look early, about 15 minutes after sunset, for the young crescent Moon
and Venus, very low, between SW and WSW. Venus, which will be
our spectacular "evening star" from mid-autumn 1995 until late spring
1996, is 6 degrees to the lower right of the Moon this evening. Jupiter,
in SW 20 degrees to Moon's upper left, seems for now to be more
prominent than Venus because it's higher and sets later. As the sky
darkens a little, use binoculars to see Antares 7 degrees lower right of
Jupiter, and Mars 8 degrees upper left of the Moon and 7 degrees right
of Antares.
-
- Look low in WSW at dusk for the thin crescent Moon with Jupiter 5
degrees to its left. Don't confuse reddish Mars with Antares, the heart of
the Scorpion. Mars is 7 degrees lower right of the waxing crescent
Moon, while Antares twinkles 7 degrees lower left of the Moon and 7
degrees lower right of Jupiter.
-
- At dusk the Moon is low in SW with Jupiter 10 degrees to its loer
right.First-magnitude Antares and slightly fainter Mars are 7 and 10
degrees to Jupiter's lower right. Mars is 6 degrees to the right of Antares
and a little higher. Binoculars will help you locate Antares and Mars.
The glow you see on the Moon's dark side is earthshine, caused by
sunlight reflected off the Earth to illuminate the Moon.
-
- In early dusk the Moon is in SSW with bright Jupiter 24 degrees to its
lower right. If you look early enough, you can catch Venus before it sets
in WSW. Using binoculars, sweep along the line from Jupiter toward
Venus and look for Mars, within 10 degrees lower right of Jupiter and
13 degrees upper left of Venus. Three weeks from tonight, these three
planets will converge into a very compact group! Look each clear night!
-
- Saturn, of first magnitude, is in SE at dusk. Rising high into the south
in late evening, Saturn is in fine position for telescopic observation.
Look for the illuminated N face of Saturn's rings, now inclined nearly
2.5 degrees to our line of sight. In coming weeks, the rings will fade as
sunlight strikes them at an ever-more-glancing angle. In mid-
November, the Sun will cross to the other side of the ring's face (due to
the orbital revolution of Saturn around the Sun). From mid-November
until February 1996, the rings will look dark!
-
- Half an hour after sunset, the emerging "evening star" Venus is very
low in WSW, 20 degrees lower right of bright Jupiter. Keep watch
nightly as Venus closes in on Jupiter by 1 degree daily. Between them,
Mars is visible in binoculars as the sky darkens; tonight look for it 9
degrees lower right of Jupiter.
On Tuesday 45 minutes before sunup, aim binoculars very low, about
15 degrees south of due east, to catch perhaps a last glimpse of
departing Mercury. The planet serves as a guide to emerging Spica, 4
degrees to Mercury's lower right.
-
- In early evening twilight, five solar system bodies are visible! From left
to right they are: Saturn in SE; the Moon; bright Jupiter low in SW; and
Mars and Venus 8 degrees and 19 degrees to Jupiter' lower right,
respectively. To see Mars and Venus, you need to look early, and
binoculars help!
In late October and early November, the star Arcturus can be seen in
twilight at both dusk and dawn. At dusk, look low in WNW; it's below
the horizon for most of the night, and reappears in ENE at dawn.
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