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         Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night. 

October gets us back into the fall observing season with chances to see each naked-eye planet, a bunch of great lunar encounters, and a wonderful night of sights for the trick-or-treaters.

Naked-eye PLANETS...

• Around Sunset – Saturn (S), Jupiter (SSW), Maybe Venus & Mercury (WSW)

Mercury

• Technically just a few degrees to the left of Venus, but it’s much dimmer, so is essentially not visible. Your best chance is probably on October 31st when it’s directly below Venus and sets relatively late.

Venus

• Get the timing and view right, and you might be able to catch Venus in the 30 minutes to an hour after sunset, less than 10˚ above the horizon. Look WSW after the sun sets and find the brightest point of light in that direction.

Mars

• Makes its return! Get out after 6am, but before sunrise, starting mid-month, and look directly East to find the ruddy red point of light that is Mars. The view keeps improving as Mars rises earlier and is higher each morning, until on the 31st it rises at 6am and is 18˚ above the horizon at sunrise.

Jupiter

• Already high in the sky as dusk turns to night off in the SSW and will probably be the first point of light you can see. It will set in the SW by 10pm at the beginning of the month. Throughout the month it’ll set earlier, by 8:30pm at the end.

Saturn

• Yet again, Saturn will trail behind Jupiter in the sky by about 25˚. It starts off in the S about 25˚ above the horizon, and second in brightness to Jupiter. Throughout each night it’ll move toward the South, then set in the SW by midnight at the beginning of the month. Throughout the month it’ll set earlier, by 10pm at the end.

EVENTS...

First Quarter Moon – 5th (Visible until midnight)

Full Moon – 13th (Visible all night)

Last Quarter Moon – 21st (Visible from midnight into the morning)

New Moon – 27th (darkest skies)

1st – 6th – Close Encounter – Moon, Jupiter, Saturn – Yet again a great lineup with Saturn and Jupiter starting each night in the SSW, almost 30˚ above the horizon and about 25˚ apart from each other. Beginning on the 1st, the three will be evenly spaced, with the Moon being 25˚ to the right of Jupiter, which is 25˚ to the right of Saturn. The next night the Moon travels to 12˚ to the right of Jupiter, and on the 3rd it closes the gap to just 1.5˚, definitely within a camera’s range. Now the Moon spends the night of the 4th directly between Jupiter and Saturn. On the 5th, Saturn is just 2.5˚ up and to the right of the Moon. On the 6th, the Moon bids adieu to the gassy outer planets and finishes the encounter 12˚ to the left of Saturn, creating a great evening lineup of the Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter until Jupiter sets around 10pm.

20th – 22nd – Orionid Meteor Shower – A decent meteor shower, producing around 20 meteors per hour. The thick waning crescent Moon rises a bit after midnight, making late evening when it’s not out your better chance to see the most meteors. Either way, go out any of these three days, let your eyes get dark adapted (don’t look at your phone), find a nice spot to lie down away from light pollution, and be patient.

26th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mars – In making its comeback, Mars also makes a great view with the very thin crescent Moon just 7˚ above it in the SSE after 6:30am.

29th – Close Encounter – Moon, Venus – Might be tough, but if you have a nice clear SW horizon, find bright Venus and a very thin crescent Moon in almost the same spot, the Moon being 4˚ above Venus.

Halloween: 31st – This should be a GREAT night to take the telescope out for those trick-or-treaters. Look SW and the beautiful crescent Moon is just 4˚ to the left of Jupiter, a second awesome target for the scope. Up and to the left is Saturn, a classic outreach object. If you have a great view of the SW horizon, you may even catch bright Venus.

CONSTELLATIONS...

Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.

After Dinner:

The Summer Triangle: Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, Delphinus - Look straight up before 8pm and you’ll be able to see Lyra (the Harp), Cygnus (the Swan), Aquila (the Eagle), (and Delphinus the Dolphin.)  These three constellations have the three brightest stars of the summer constellations (Vega, Deneb, Altair – respectively.)  Those bright stars create the summer triangle.  Off to the east of this is the small but beautiful constellation of Delphinus. If you’re under dark skies (away from city lights) you may just catch a glimpse of the Milky Way passing through Cygnus and Aquila. 

Before Bed:

Fall Constellations: Pegasus & Andromeda - Look pretty much straight up before 10pm and you’ll be able to see the Great Square of Pegasus, with Andromeda curving off of one corner. If your skies are decently dark, you might catch the faint fuzz that is the Andromeda Galaxy.

Before Work:

Orion – Look south to find the vertical bow-tie that is Orion the Hunter.

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