October 1 – 7
Look for the thin crescent moon above the Evening Star on
the evening of the 3rd. Look in the low south-southwest around 8:00
PM.
Because of the changing perspective created by the orbital
motions of Earth and Mars, we can observe Mars moving eastward relative to a
star in Sagittarius. The star is called Kaus Borealis and it’s the star at the
top of the teapot asterism forming the core of the Sagittarius constellation.
Watch Mars and its position relative to Kaus Borealis on the
nights of the 5th, 6th, and 7th. Mars will
move from the right of Kaus to its left in a space of three nights. This is a
great chance to detect the motions of the planets.
The nearly first quarter moon is surrounded by star clusters
and nebulae on the night of the 7th. Get you binoculars out and scan
the regions above and below the moon for small hazy clouds and tiny sprinkles
of stars.
October 8 – 14
Capricorns is not one of the easiest to find constellations
on account of its large size and large number of faint stars. The moon will
definitely help you locate this constellation on the night of the 10th.
Stargazers will find the moon at the top center of this constellation. The
constellation looks a lot like a grin, making the moon look like a sparkle of
light off the lips surrounding Capricornus’ grin.
The moon’s above a bright star on the 12th. That
star is very low and the only bright star in this dark portion of the sky, in
fact, you might say it’s solitary. Fomalhaut has a history of being called the
Solitary One for this reason.
October 15 – 21
Stargazers with binoculars will find the 7th
planet, Uranus in the same field of view at the moon on the 15th.
Uranus will be much easier to see than Neptune
was on the 12th. Place the moon at the bottom center of your
binoculars and then identify the upside down L shape of four stars. Uranus is
the star at the end of the L.
Want to learn to identify Aries the Ram? Then wait no later
than 9:00 PM the night of the 16th. Aries is the small hook of three
stars located twice as high above the horizon as the moon. Its brightest star
is called Hamal.
The evening sky is graced with a grouping of the nearly full
moon and two large and bright star clusters late on the evening of the 17th.
Look for the moon in the east around 10:00 PM and there stargazers will also
find the Pleiades to the upper left of the moon and the Hyades to the lower
left of the moon. The moon will be too full to show more than just lunar seas
through binoculars, but the Pleiades and Hyades will show around two dozen
stars each. The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, form a tight
grouping that shines more than the larger and sparser Hyades star cluster. What
a contrast. Don’t be fooled by the brightest star in the Hyades. It’s a giant
orange star called Aldebaran and only half as far away as the Hyades.
Stargazers will find the moon inside the Hyades star cluster
on the night of the 18th. Even better, stargazers with binoculars
can watch the moon drift past the bright star Aldebaran over the course of an
hour. Point binoculars at the moon at 11:00 PM and notice how Aldebaran appears
very close to the upper left edge of the moon. Thirty minutes later, Aldebaran
appears nearly above the moon and by midnight, Aldebaran is located to the
upper right of the moon. You might try taking pictures of this with a digital
camera zoomed in about six magnification (use an optical zoom, not digital).
Pictures taken every minute will let stargazers make a time lapse movie of the
event.
The Orionid meteor shower peaks on the night of the 20th
and morning of the 1st. Unfortunately for 2016, the moon is third
quarter, so it appear in the sky at the same time as the shower’s radiant. This
means star gazers will not see as many meteors from this shower, however, the
brighter ones will still be visible. Stargazers still might want to make a
night of observing this shower since it’s the last one of the year before the
nights start getting really cold.
The Gemini Twins must be soccer players. On the 21st
you’ll find the moon near the feet of Gemini and stargazers will swear it looks
like Gemini is about to score a goal. Of course, stargazers will have to
picture Gemini as the legs of a soccer player than a twins standing side by
side.
October 22 – 31
A very attractive star cluster keeps
company wit the moon on the 23rd. To see it, stargazers will need a
pair of binoculars and to wait until nearly 3:00 AM. Place the moon in the
lower right of the binoculars and the Beehive star cluster will appear as a
tight clump of stars to the upper left. Now move your binoculars to center the
Beehive and to remove the moon from your view. The Beehive has a strong
resemblance to a bees swarming around their hive. The Beehive was one of the
few star clusters that ancient star-observing cultures were aware of before the
invention of the telescope.
Start looking for earthshine on mornings beginning the 24th.
The moon will be in the low east as your drive to work.
The bright star above the moon on the 25th is
named Regulus. Regulus is the brightest star of Leo the Lion and 79 light years
away. It actually consists of two pairs of stars, which each pair orbiting each
other. Leo the Lion has two distinct parts, the head appearing as a question
mark of six stars and a triangle to stars representing the lion’s hind
quarters. In drawings, Leo sits like the Sphinx in Egypt .
Jupiter disappeared back in late July or early August,
depending on your western horizon and amount of smoke in the sky. Now Jupiter
is reappearing. You’ll find it below a very thin moon on the morning of the 27th.
To see it, look for the moon in the low east at about 6:45 AM. Stargazers might
find binoculars helpful in seeing the moon. Below the moon is a bright spark of
light. That’s the giant planet Jupiter.
A more satisfying astronomical treat waits stargazers on the
morning of the 28th. That morning Jupiter, a very thin moon, and a star names
Porrima form a small grouping ideal for binoculars. The moon forms the bottom
of the triangle, Jupiter the upper right, and fainter Porrima the upper left.
Porrima is a star in Virgo the Maiden.
This Month’s Sources
Astronomical Phenomena of the Year 2016, The Nautical
Almanac Office and Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office
Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events for Calendar Year
2016, http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calender-2016.html
Hamal: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamal
Night Sky Explorer
Regulus, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulus
Dark Skies and Bright
Stars,
Your
Interstellar Guide
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