Astroblog: Thursday October 19 to Thursday October 26

Monday, October 16, 2023

Thursday October 19 to Thursday October 26

The First Quarter Moon is Sunday, October 22. Saturn is highest in the northern evening sky around 9 pm local time. Saturn is close to the waxing Moon on the 24th. Jupiter is rising around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky. Venus is high in the morning twilight and is leaving the star Regulus behind. Venus is furthest from the Sun on the 24th.

The First Quarter Moon is Sunday, October 22. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the earth, on the 26th.

Evening sky on Tuesday, October 24 as seen from Adelaide at 21:08 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset), Saturn is above the northern horizon close to the waxing Moon.. The inset is the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Evening sky on Saturday, October 22 as seen from Adelaide at 23:00 ACDST. Jupiter is above the horizon. The inset is the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (an hour before local midnight).

Morning sky on Saturday, October 21 as seen from Adelaide at 05:29 ACDST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Venus is rising higher in the morning twilight. The inset is the telescopic view of Venus at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Whole sky on Saturday, October 21 as seen from Adelaide at 21:04 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Saturn is high in the north, Jupiter is rising in the east.

Scorpius and Sagittarius are readily visible below the zenith.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the morning twilight.

Venus is high and is leaving the bright star Regulus behind. Venus is furthest from the Sun on the 24th.

Mars is lost in the twilight.

Jupiter is rising around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky.

Saturn is past opposition but is still bright and a worthwhile telescopic object. Saturn is close to the waxing Moon on the 24th.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky