Astroblog: Thursday October 10 to Thursday October 17

Tuesday, October 08, 2024

Thursday October 10 to Thursday October 17

The First Quarter Moon is Friday, October 11, the Full Moon is Thursday October 17. This is a perigee ("super") Moon. Comet C/2023 A3 may be visible low in the evening twilight from the 13th and should be visible by weeks end not far from Venus. Mercury is low in the twilight below Venus. Saturn is just past opposition, and is visible all night long. Saturn is close to the Moon on the 14th. Mars and Jupiter continue to draw apart and Mars forms a triangle with the bright stars Castor and Pollux.

The First Quarter Moon is Friday, October 11, the Full Moon is Thursday October 17. This is a perigee ("super") Moon as perigee, when the Moon is closest to the earth, is also on the 17th.

Western evening sky on Sunday, October 13 as seen from Adelaide at 19:54 ACDST (30 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is readily visible now and is now visible when the sky is fully dark. Venus is passing through Libra and heading for the head of the Scorpion. Mercury and Comet C/2023 A3 are below it.

You will need a level, unobstructed horizon and possibly binoculars to see them. It might be possible to see the comets tail after the head has set as twilight deepens. 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 (30 minutes after sunset).

The eastern sky at 20:57 ACDST Monday, October 14 as seen from Adelaide (90 minutes after sunset).

Saturn is just past opposition and is visible all night long. Saturn is close to the waxing Moon. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen).

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

Eastern morning sky on Saturday, October 12 as seen from Adelaide at 05:41 ACDST (60 minutes before sunrise), Mars and Jupiter form a line with the red star Aldebaran. Mars forms a triangle with the bright stars Castor and Pollux

The inset is the telescope view of the Jupiter at this time.

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

Eastern evening sky on Thursday, October 17 as seen from Adelaide at 20:29 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset), C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS may be unaided eye visible in the twilight.

Some spectacular photos are emerging, but they are all long exposures, and the unaided eye view may be less impressive, but still well worth viewing although binoculars are advised (have said that the images from SOHO and STEREO spacecraft give us some hope for a nice display).

Detailed printable charts are at my comet page.

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

Whole sky on Saturday, October 12 as seen from Adelaide at 20:55 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Saturn is now above the northeastern horizon as Venus sets on the western horizon. Scorpius is now prominent in the west with the heart of the milky way now just off the zenith. The Southern Cross is low in the Southern sky and Canopus can no longer be seen. The moon is waxing but this is still a good time to see the fainter clusters and nebulae until the full moon arrives.

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

Mercury is now visible in the evening twilight below Venus.

Venus climbs higher in the evening twilight and is readily visible in the evening twilight.

Mars is rising in the morning sky and near Jupiter. The pair continue to draw apart as as Mars passes through Gemini forming a triangle with Castor and Pollux..

Jupiter is rising in the the morning twilight sky. Jupiter is below the red star Aldebaran forming a line with Mars.

Saturn climbs higher in the late evening sky. Saturn is visible all night long. Saturn is close to the Moon on the 14th.

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