Friday, October 21
The Orionid meteor shower peaks at the moment; early risers with clear skies can count on to see some 15 to 18 meteors per hour within the hours main as much as dawn. The bathe’s radiant sits close to Betelgeuse, the brilliant crimson star that serves as Orion’s proper shoulder. (The Hunter is often drawn going through the observer, so the star seems on the left facet of the determine as seen on the sky). Round 5 A.M. native time, this level is a few 65° excessive within the southern sky. For the very best probability of recognizing lengthy meteor trains, nevertheless, look some 45° to 90° away from this level.
In the event you missed the present this morning, don’t fear — the following few mornings ought to maintain elevated meteor charges as nicely.
As darkness falls this night, Cassiopeia the Queen and her daughter, Andromeda the Princess, are rising within the northeast. Cassiopeia is commonly recognizable by the W-shaped sample of her stars; the letter seems going through right-side up tonight after sundown.
The Queen is residence to a number of deep-sky objects, together with the wealthy open cluster NGC 7789, generally referred to as the White Rose Cluster. Spanning about 16′ and glowing at magnitude 6.7, it is a gorgeous object in binoculars or a small telescope. You’ll discover it simply 3° southwest of magnitude 2.3 Caph, the constellation’s beta star. In case your sky is obvious, take a while to admire this cluster. Eager-eyed observers might discover alternating loops of stars and darkness that give the looks of a rose considered from above — therefore, NGC 7789’s frequent identify.
Dawn: 7:17 A.M.
Sundown: 6:11 P.M.
Moonrise: 3:03 A.M.
Moonset: 4:44 P.M.
Moon Part: Waning crescent (15%)
*Instances for dawn, sundown, moonrise, and moonset are given in native time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. native time from the identical location.
Saturday, October 22
Venus reaches superior conjunction with the Solar at 5 P.M. EDT. Presently invisible, Earth’s sister planet will return to the skies as a night star later this 12 months.
Jupiter’s 4 Galilean moons have been busy this month and tonight, the highlight is on Io and Europa. The latter just lately stolen information headlines when NASA’s Juno probe made a close flyby of the icy world. Flip your telescope on Jupiter late this night — you’ll discover the gas giant about 40° excessive within the southeast round 10:00 P.M. EDT. At the moment, two moons sit to its east and two to its west: Callisto is farthest east, with Europa nearer to the planet; on the west, Ganymede is closest, with Io a bit of farther out. Jupiter’s gorgeous Nice Purple Spot must also be on show, positioned roughly within the middle of the planet round this time.
Maintain an in depth watch on issues because the night progresses. Round 11:30 P.M. EDT, you’ll see Ganymede disappear behind the planet’s northwestern limb. Lower than two hours later — word that that is after midnight within the Japanese and Central time zones however nonetheless on the twenty second for these farther west — Europa begins a transit at 1:18 A.M. EDT (10:18 P.M. PDT on the twenty second), transferring onto the planet’s disk from the east. Io follows in Ganymede’s footsteps, disappearing behind the western limb at 2:11 A.M. EDT on the twenty third (11 P.M. PDT on the twenty second). Lastly, Europa’s slowpoke shadow follows it onto the disk, trailing behind the moon throughout the cloud tops starting at 2:36 A.M. EDT on the twenty third (11:36 P.M. PDT on the twenty second).
Dawn: 7:18 A.M.
Sundown: 6:10 P.M.
Moonrise: 4:07 A.M.
Moonset: 5:07 P.M.
Moon Part: Waning crescent (9%)
Sunday, October 23
Saturn is stationary towards the background stars of Capricornus at 5 A.M. EDT, lastly ending its retrograde loop throughout the sky. The planet is seen within the night, about 30° excessive within the south an hour after sundown. Saturn now glows at magnitude 0.5 and sits near 4th-magnitude Iota (ι) Capricorni, simply 35′ to the star’s northeast (higher left).
By way of a telescope, Saturn’s disk stretches 17″ throughout, whereas its rings are 40″ from finish to finish. A number of of its moons are seen, together with magnitude 8.5 Titan, which sits 50″ to the planet’s northwest (higher proper). Notable, too, are Tenth-magnitude Rhea, Dione, and Tethys: Rhea is about 1′ due west of Saturn, whereas Dione is 24″ to its northeast and Tethys is 40″ east-southeast.
Additionally seen is Tenth-magnitude Iapetus, whose brighter hemisphere is now going through Earth. The smaller moon is positioned farther than the opposite seen satellites and is almost 8′ to the planet’s west-southwest. It is going to attain biggest western elongation tomorrow, when it sits due west of the planet.
Dawn: 7:19 A.M.
Sundown: 6:09 P.M.
Moonrise: 5:14 A.M.
Moonset: 5:30 P.M.
Moon Part: Waning crescent (4%)
