|
Day
& Date |
Planetarium
Show |
Show Time |
Sky Viewing Times (if clear) |
Objects
Visible |
| Thurs., October 1 |
- - - - (sky observing only) - - - - | - - - - - - - - | 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. | Moon, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, Milky Way |
| Sat., October 10 |
Early
Autumn Skies |
6:30 p.m. | 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. | Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, Milky Way,
autumn sky |
| Thurs., October 15 | - - - - (sky observing only) - - - - | - - - - - - - - | 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. | Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, Milky Way, autumn sky |
| Sat., October 24 |
Early Autumn Skies | 5:30 p.m. | 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. | Jupiter, Neptune, Moon, Uranus, autumn sky |
| Thurs., October 29 |
- - - - (sky observing only) - - - - | - - - - - - - - | 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. | Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, autumn sky,
Pleiades |
| Sat., November 7 |
Autumn and Early Winter Skies | 4:30 p.m. | 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, autumn sky, Pleiades |
| Thurs., November 12 | - - - - (sky observing only) - - - - | - - - - - - - - | 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. | Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, autumn sky, Pleiades |
| Sat., November 21 |
Autumn and Early Winter Skies | 4:30 p.m. | 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Moon, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, autumn sky |
| Sat., December 5 |
Winter Skies | 4:30 p.m. | 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Uranus, autumn sky, Pleiades |
| Thurs., December 10 | - - - - (sky observing only) - - - - | - - - - - - - - | 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. | Uranus, Pleiades, Orion Nebula |
| Sat., December 19 |
Winter Skies | 4:30 p.m. | 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Uranus, Pleiades, Orion Nebula |
* or
! Interesting to very interesting events
!! EXCEPTIONALLY
interesting events (must-see!)
E Important
geometrical or
calendar events
| Sept.
28 |
The Moon reaches apogee at 404,432 km
[251,302 miles] from Earth's center. |
|
| 29 |
! |
The waxing gibbous Moon passes 3 degrees
south of the bright planet Jupiter this evening. This Moon rises about
2 hours before sunset; see if you can spot Jupiter in daylight, before the Sun goes
down! |
| Oct. 1 |
* |
If
you are familiar with the constellation Perseus, visible in the NE sky
during early evening, look for its two brightest stars MIRFAK and
ALGOL. Mirfak's brightness (magnitude +1.8) is the same night after
night, but every 68 hours Algol will dim by a factor of four. It is an
eclipsing binary ranging from magnitude +2.1 to +3.4 . Tonight, a
minimum (mid-eclipse) is predicted for 9:08 p.m. |
| 1 |
! |
Free WCSU Observatory
Public Night -- observing
only (if skies are clear), 7:30
to 10:30 p.m.
Call ahead (837-8672) in case skies look "iffy." Objects we might look
at: Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, the Moon, summer deep-sky objects |
| 4 |
FULL Harvest MOON |
|
| 5 |
* |
The planet MARS (magnitude + 0.8, peach-colored) passes near
the star Pollux (magnitude
+1.2, spectral type K0 (golden yellow)) in Gemini: an interersting
opportunity to compare the objects' colors. |
| 5; 8 |
! |
The elusive planet MERCURY reaches its greatest western elongation
(18 degrees west of the Sun) in the predawn sky. Look E during morning
twilight. On the 8th, the zero-magnitude planet passes only 0.3 degree
south of dimmer SATURN, with its rings still hardly tilted toward Earth. |
| 10 |
! |
Free WCSU Observatory
Public Night. Planetarium
show Early Autumn Skies
(held rain or shine), 6:30 p.m.,
followed (if skies are clear) by observing with the 20-inch
telescope from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Objects we might look at: Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, autumn deep-sky
objects |
| 11 |
! |
Last Quarter Moon; the red planet MARS (magnitude +0.7)
passes within 1.2 degrees of it on the night of Oct. 11/12. |
| 13 |
* |
The planet VENUS is near SATURN in the predawn sky this
morning. |
| 13 |
The Moon reaches perigee at 369,067 km [229,327 miles] from
Earth's center. |
|
| 15 |
! |
Free WCSU Observatory Public Night -- observing only (if skies are clear), 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. Call ahead (837-8672) in case skies look "iffy." Objects we might look at: Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, autumn deep-sky objects |
| 16 |
* |
The waning crescent Moon passes near both VENUS and SATURN.
Look E before dawn. |
| 18 |
New Moon |
|
| 24 |
! |
Free WCSU Observatory Public Night. Planetarium show Early Autumn Skies (held rain or shine), 5:30 p.m., followed (if skies are clear) by observing with the 20-inch telescope from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Objects we might look at: Jupiter, Neptune, Moon, Uranus, autumn deep-sky objects |
| 25 |
First Quarter Moon; the Moon reaches apogee at 404,166 km
[251,137 miles] from Earth's center. |
|
| 29 |
! |
Free WCSU Observatory
Public Night -- observing
only (if skies are clear), 6:30
to 9:30 p.m.
Call ahead (837-8672) in case skies look "iffy." Objects we might look
at: Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, autumn deep-sky objects, Pleiades |
| Nov. 1 |
E |
Daylight Saving Time ends at 2:00 a.m. Set your clocks back one hour. |
|
MERCURY
|
— |
reappears as a predawn object in the E sky
during
late September and the first two weeks of October. |
|
VENUS |
— |
blazes
in the NE predawn sky during September and October, though its predawn
altitude gradually decreases as it closes with the Sun again.
Venus passes near SATURN on
the
morning of Oct. 13, and the waning crescent Moon passes near both
planets on Oct. 16. |
|
MARS |
— |
moves
through Gemini into Cancer, brightening from magnitude +0.9 in late
September to +0.6 by the end of October. Mars passes near the Last
Quarter Moon on the night of Oct. 11/12. |
|
JUPITER
|
— |
dominates
the southern evening sky during the fall, setting in the SW after
midnight. It fades a bit, from magnitude -2.7 in late September to -2.4
by the start of November, as its distance from Earth increases. Still,
it remains very conspicuous low in the southern sky. |
|
SATURN |
— |
reappears
as a pre-dawn object in the E sky during October, passing near
MERCURY on the morning of Oct. 8 and VENUS on Oct. 13 . In October,
Saturn's rings are tilted only 1.5 degrees (start of month) to 3.1
degrees (end of October); this angle increases to about 5 degrees by
the end of 2009. |
STAR WATCH is brought
to you by WCSU Astronomy. Thanks for
connecting! For more information, please call the Observatory line at
(203) 837
- 8672
or Dr. Dennis Dawson at (203) 837 - 8671.