Astroblog: Thursday October 26 to Thursday November 2

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Thursday October 26 to Thursday November 2

The Full Moon is Sunday, October 29. Saturn is highest in the northern evening sky around 9 p.m. local time. Jupiter is rising around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky. It is close to the Moon on the 29th. Venus is high in the morning twilight but is beginning to head towards the horizon. There is a partial lunar eclipse really only visible in WA as the moon sets on the morning of the 29th. There is a spectacular occultation of the Pleiades cluster from the late 30th to early 31st.

The Full Moon is Sunday, October 29. There is a partial lunar eclipse really only visible in WA as the moon sets on the morning of the 29th. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the earth, on the 26th.

Evening sky on Saturday, October 28 as seen from Adelaide at 21:13 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset), Saturn is above the northern horizon. 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 Sunday, October 29 as seen from Adelaide at 23:00 ACDST. Jupiter is above the horizon with the Moon below. 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 Tuesday, October 31 as seen from Adelaide at 00:40 ACDST, (click to embiggen). The moon is just about to cover the star Merope in the Pleiades. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time.

about 30 minutes later the moon will cover the brightest star of the Pleiades, Alcyone.

From Brisbane, Merope is covered at 00:30 AEST

From Melbourne, Merope is covered at 01:07 AEDST

From Perth, Atlas is covered at 23:10 AWST on the 30th.

From Darwin, the Moon grazes the outer edges of the Pleiades.

Morning sky on Sunday, October 29 as seen from Perth at 05:04 AWST, (~10 minutes before moon-set, click to embiggen). The moon is just beginning to enter the Earth's inner shadow. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time.

From the rest of Australia, the moon will have set before any significant amount of eclipse happens.

Morning sky on Saturday, October 28 as seen from Adelaide at 05:20 ACDST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Venus is beginning to lower 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, Saturday, October 28 as seen from Adelaide at 21:04 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Saturn is high in the north, and Jupiter is rising in the east.

Scorpius and Sagittarius are readily visible below the zenith heading towards the western horizon.

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 furthest from the Sun on the 24th, it will now sink towards the horizon.

Mars is lost in the twilight.

Jupiter rises around astronomical twilight and is now well visible in the late evening sky. It is close to the Moon on the 29th.

Saturn is past opposition but is still bright and a worthwhile telescopic object.

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