Astroblog

Morning sky as seen from Darwin facing north at 4:00 am ACST on 22 October (90 minutes before sunrise), the Orionid radiant is indicated with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at an equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.	Morning sky as seen from Brisbane facing north at 3:44 am AEST on 22 October (90 minutes before sunrise), the Orionid radiant is indicated with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at an equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.	Morning sky as seen from Adelaide facing north at 4:55 am ACDST on 22 October (90 minutes before sunrise), the Orionid radiant is indicated with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at an equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.

The Orionids are a worthwhile shower that somewhat favours the Southern Hemisphere, normally best seen between 2-5 am, with the radiant, the point where meteors appear to originate from, being just under Betelgeuse, the bright red star in Orion. The maps above show the views from Darwin, Brisbane and Adelaide at astronomical twilight (90 minutes before sunrise). Similar views will be seen at the equivalent local time at similar latitudes (Adelaide stands in for Melbourne, Sydney and Perth).

If you draw an imaginary line between Procyon and Aldebaran, then drop another imaginary line from Betelgeuse to the horizon, the radiant is just next to the intersection of those two lines.

The Orionids are the debris from Halley's comet. The Orionids maximum is on October 21 UT (October 22 Australian time).

This year the waning Moon will significantly interfere with viewing in the early evening and the rates will be low. Once the moon sets around 4 am the rates will be better.

If you decide to get up, allow at least 5 minutes for your eyes to adjust, and be patient, it may be several minutes before you are rewarded with you first meteor, then a couple will come along in quick succession.

Choose a viewing spot where you can see a large swathe of sky without trees or buildings getting in the way, or with street-lights getting in your eyes. The darker the spot the better (but do be sensible, don't choose a spot in an insalubrious park for example). Look to the north-east, and the distinctive red star Betelgeuse below the saucepan will be easy to spot, forming a rough line with with bright Procyon,  Mars and Jupiter below and to the east of it. The meteors should originate just below Betelgeuse. However, let your eyes roam a bit to pick up meteors that begin their "burn" a fair distance from the radiant.

A lawn chair or something similar will make your observing comfortable (or a picnic rug spread on the ground and a nice pillow), and having a Thermos of hot coffee, tea or chocolate to swig while watching will increase your comfort. (Here's some hints on dark adaption of your eyes so you can see meteors better).

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: Meteors, Orionids, unaided eye

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 4:19 pm 0 comments

The Full Moon is Monday October 26.  The Moon at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on October 29, difficult occultation of Beta Tauri is also on the 29th.

North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Saturday,  October 24 as seen from Adelaide at 4:52 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). 

Saturn is low above the north-western horizon.  Mars forms a line with Jupiter and the bright star Regulus. The pair come closer over the week ahead of a spectacular meeting in November.

The insets shows the  telescopic view of Mars Jupiter at this time. 

 

 

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time  (90 minutes before sunrise). 

Western sky on the evening of  Saturday,  October 24 as seen from Adelaide at 20:36 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). 

Mercury is low above the horizon under Scorpios. 

Venus is lost in the twilight 

 

 

 

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

North-eastern horizon on the evening of Saturday, October 24 as seen from Adelaide at 21:08 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). 

Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 4th and is still a magnificent telescopic sight.

The Moon is not far from Saturn making it easy to find the ringed world. 

The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.     

 

 

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

Morning sky as seen from Adelaide facing north at 4:00 am ACDST on Thursday 22 October, the Orionid radiant is indicated with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at an equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.

The Orionids are a normally worthwhile shower, best seen between 2-4 am, the radiant being just under Betelgeuse, the bright red star in Orion. This year the waning Moon will significantly interfere with viewing in the early evening and the rates will be low, once the moon sets around 4 am the rates will be better. The best viewing is the mornings of the 21st to 23rd with the highest rates on the morning of the 22nd, when between 4-5 am under dark skies you should see about a meteor every 4-5 minutes or so. 

 

 

 

 

Occultation of Beta Tauri (Elnath), Thursday October 29/30. (waning)

The western sky at 23:37 ACDST Thursday, October 29, as seen from Adelaide. The Moon is about to occult the bright star Elnath low on the horizon.The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen).	The western sky at 00:0 AEDST Friday, October 30, as seen from Canberra. The Moon is about to occult the bright star Elnath low on the horizon. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen).	The western sky at 00:51 AEST Friday, October 30, as seen from Melbourne. The Moon is about to occult the bright star Elnath low on the horizon. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen).

An occultation best seen from the east coast around midnight. The Moon is waning and low above the horizon. The Moon rises with Elnath occulted in most locations.

Place	Disappears Dark Limb	Reappears Bright Limb
Adelaide ACDST	-	00:07 (30th)
Brisbane  AEST	-	23:48
Canberra AEDST	23:54	00:53(30th)
Darwin ACST	-	-
Hobart AEDST	-	01:00 (30th)
Melbourne AEDST	-	00:51 (30th)
Perth AWST	-	-
Sydney AEDST	23:55	00:55 (30th)

 

Whole sky on Saturday,  October 24  as seen from Adelaide at 21:08 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Saturn is visible in the northeast

 

Scorpius, and the core of the Milky way are sinking to the west. 

 

The Pointers are declining from their zenith in the Southern sky as the Southern Cross sinks to the south west.  The Moon is waxing and the fainter clusters and nebula are harder to see.     

 

   

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

  

Mercury is lowering in the the evening twilight. 

Venus is lost in the twilight.

Mars is low in the twilight not far from Jupiter. The pair come closer over the week ahead of a spectacular meeting in November.

Jupiter climbs higher the morning twilight but remains low on the horizon forming a line with Mars and the bright star Regulus.

Saturn  Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 4th. Saturn is the brightest object above the north-eastern horizon. The moon is not far from Saturn on the 24th making it easy to find the ringed world. 

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACST, Western sky at 10 pm ACST. 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

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 6:17 pm 0 comments

Venus in the twilight on Friday, October 16 as seen from Largs Pier at 20:08 ACST. Samsung S24, 5x Zoom, ISO 2000 1/33 sec exposure	Western sky on the evening of Saturday, October 17 as seen from Adelaide at 20:08 ACST (30 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Venus is just above the horizon and below Mercury. Venus is a clear thin "Crescent Moon" shape and is increasing in size. The shape is readily in 10x50 binoculars (although the brightness may make it hard to see due to internal lens reflections).

The planets seen thorough binoculars are generally disappointing, Jupiter is a clear oblate spheroid, although featureless, but you can see the bright sparks of its satellites shuttling around. Saturn is a featureless ellipse, where you cant distinguish the rings from the planets body (but is is clearly an elliptical shape much boarder than Jupiter).

But for the next few days you can easily see crescent Venus in 10x50 binoculars (and even to an extent in smaller binoculars).

The wire thin crescent shape is readily seen in 10x50 binoculars, although the brightness may make it hard to see due to internal lens reflections. Best seen close to twilight and with  a binocular stand or something to rest your arms on so the binoculars don't shake. 

You only have about 4 more days  until Venus disappears  into the twilight, but then by the 30th is is high enough above the eastern twilight horizon for the thin crescent to be seen in binoculars. 

So why not grab you binoculars and go have a look tonight? 

Labels: binoculars, Venus

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 7:02 pm 0 comments

The First Quarter Moon is Monday October 19. The Moon at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth,  on October 17.

North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Saturday,  October 17 as seen from Adelaide at 5:03 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). 

Saturn is low above the north-western horizon.  Mars is in the heart of the Beehive cluster (M44). Mars forms a line with Jupiter and the bright star Regulus.

The insets shows the  telescopic view of Mars Jupiter at this time. 

 

 

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time  (90 minutes before sunrise). 

Western sky on the evening of  Saturday,  October 17 as seen from Adelaide at 20:13 ACDST (45 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). 

Venus is just above the horizon and below Mercury. 

Venus is a clear thin "Crescent Moon"  shape and is increasing in size.  The shape is readily visible in even small telescopes, and even 10x50 binoculars (although the brightness may make it hard to see due to internal lens reflections). 

 

 

 

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time  (45 minutes after sunset).

North-eastern horizon on the evening of Saturday, October 17 as seen from Adelaide at 21:00 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). 

Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 4th and is still a magnificent telescopic sight.

The asteroid Vesta is past opposition but is still easily visible in binoculars.  Unfortunately there are no bright guide stars to easily get to it, but my Seeing Vesta page has useful printed charts to help locate Vesta. 

The insets shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.     

 

 

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

Lunar X and V as seen at sunset on the 18th (although true First Quarter is on the 19th), they will still be visible in the twilight 45 minutes after sunset. The Moon is very obvious above the northwest horizon.	Closer telescopic view of the Lunar X and V at sunset

 

Dates and time Lunar X and V are visible. Typically visible from about 4hours from the starting time, times in colour are daylight saving times.

Date	UT	AEST	ACST	AWST
Oct 18	05:37	16:37	16:07	13:37 (moon in daylight, X but still visible in twilight)

 

Morning sky as seen from Adelaide facing north at 4:00 am ACDST on Thursday 22 October, the Orionid radiant is indicated with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at an equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.

The Orionids are a normally worthwhile shower, best seen between 2-4 am, the radiant being just under Betelgeuse, the bright red star in Orion. This year the waning Moon will significantly interfere with viewing in the early evening and the rates will be low, once the moon sets around 4 am the rates will be better. The best viewing is the mornings of the 21st to 23rd with the highest rates on the morning of the 22nd, when between 4-5 am under dark skies you should see about a meteor every 4-5 minutes or so. 

Whole sky on Saturday,  October 17  as seen from Adelaide at 21:0 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Mercury is visible in the north-west. Saturn is visible in the northeast

 

Scorpius, and the core of the Milky way are coming off  the Zenith. 

 

The Pointers are declining from their zenith in the Southern sky as the Southern Cross sinks to the south west.  The Moon is waxing and the fainter clusters and nebula are becoming harder to see.     

 

   

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

  

Mercury is high in the the evening twilight above bright Venus. 

Venus is becoming bigger and is falling deeper in the twilight below Mercury.

Mars is low in the twilight not far from Jupiter.

Jupiter climbs higher the morning twilight but remains low on the horizon forming a line with Mars and the bright star Regulus.

Saturn  Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 4th. Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. 

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACST, Western sky at 10 pm ACST. 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

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 10:44 pm 0 comments

North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Monday,  October 12 as seen from Adelaide at 5:11 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Mars is in the heart of the Beehive cluster (M44). Mars forms a line with Jupiter and the bright star Regulus. The insets shows the binocular view of Mars in the Beehive cluster and telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.	Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing showing the movement of Mars with respect to the Beehive from 10 to 13 October. The large circle represents the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. The small circle the field of view of a 30 mm telescope eyepiece. use the horizon chart to the left for orientation, Jupiter and Pollux will help guide you, although Mars is obvious. Click to embiggen and print and use with a red-light torch (or a standard torch with red cellophane over it) so as to not disturb your night vision..
Binocular view of Mars in the heart of the Beehive (M44) om 11 October at 5:12 ACDST as simulated in stellarium. The guide stars are as indicated in the Black and white binocular chart (click to embiggen).	Binocular view of Mars in the heart of the Beehive (M44) om 12 October at 5:12 ACDST as simulated in stellarium. The guide stars are as indicated in the Black and white binocular chart (click to embiggen).

From Saturday 10 October to Tuesday 13 June, Mars crosses the Beehive cluster (M44) in the morning. Under dark skies this delightful open cluster looks like a faint nebulous patch, but binoculars or a telescope will reveal it's wonderful starry mass. 

While in principle seeing Mars in the heart of the beehive is possible with the unaided eye, this is far better seen with binoculars or a small telescope, On the 10^th Mars on on the outskirts of the cluster, and on the 11^th and 12^th Mars is in the heart of the cluster. Then on the 13^th it is on the outskirts again. The cluster fits neatly into medium power telescope eyepiece fields on the on the 11^th and 12^th, although it is close to the horizon (16° at astronomical twilight). On the days leading up to the crossing and a couple of days after, Mars and the cluster are in the same binocular field.

The view is best at Astronomical twilight, and hour and a half before sunrise, much later than this and the Beehive gets washed out by the encroaching twilight. Mars is not so bright that it will drown out the clusters dimmer stats, so this will be a nice opportunity for some astrophotography.

Labels: Beehive cluster, binocular, Mars, telescope

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 7:54 pm 0 comments

Eastern horizon on the evening of Monday, October 12 as seen from Adelaide at 20:54 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. The asteroid  Vesta is at opposition and 1s easily visible in binoculars on the 12th.  unfortunately there are no bright guide stars to easily get to it. The insets shows the telescopic view of Saturn and the binocular view of Vesta at this time.  Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time	Vesta last night taken on my Samsung S24 in astrophoto mode. 5x zoom, 2 minutes exposure. Vesta comes to opposition on Monday the 12th. The Guide stars theta (𝛉) Ceti and Zeta 𝜻 Ceti, are indicated along with Vesta and HIP 8230.(click to embiggen)
Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing showing the movement of 4 Vesta over October. The large circle represents the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Saturn and the Guide stars theta (𝛉) Ceti and Zeta 𝜻 Ceti, are indicated along with Vesta, HIP 7999 and HIP 8230.Click to embiggen and print.  Use the horizon chart to the left for orientation first.  Use the chart above to orient yourself to get to the guide stars.	Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing showing the movement of 4 Vesta over October. Guide stars are indicated. The large circle represents the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click to embiggen and print.  Use the horizon chart to the left for orientation first.

The Asteroid 4 Vesta is one of the iconic minor planets, and one of two orbited by the Dawn spacecraft. At favorable oppositions Vesta is bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye under dark sky conditions. This year it only gets to magnitude 6.5 making it binocular only. It will be easily visible in binoculars and small telescopes even under suburban skies.

This year Monday, October 12 is a reasonable opposition of Vesta, when it will reach a magnitude of 6.5 at its brightest with no Moon interference and few reasonable guide stars.

Labels: 4 Vesta, Asteroid, binocular

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 6:12 pm 0 comments

The New Moon is Sunday October 11.

North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Monday,  October 12 as seen from Adelaide at 5:11 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). 

Saturn is low above the north-western horizon.  Mars is in the heart of the Beehive cluster (M44). Mars forms a line with Jupiter and the bright star Regulus.

The insets shows the binocular view of Mars in the Beehive cluster and telescopic view of Jupiter at this time. 

 

 

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time  (90 minutes before sunrise). 

Western sky on the evening of  Monday,  October 12 as seen from Adelaide at 20:23 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). 

Venus is just above the horizon when the sky is fully dark. Venus is near the crescent Moon and below Mercury. Crescent Venus and the crescent moon will (just) fit into the field of view of 10x50 binoculars.  

Venus is a clear thin "Crescent Moon"  shape and is increasing in size.  The shape is readily visible in even small telescopes, and even 10x50 binoculars (although the brightness may make it hard to see due to internal lens reflections). 

 

 

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

Western sky on the evening of  Tuesday,  October 13 as seen from Adelaide at 20:23 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). 

Venus is just above the horizon when the sky is fully dark. Mercury is below the crescent Moon and above Venus. Mercury is 3° to the right of the 3rd magnitude star Alpha Librae (Zubenelgenubi), a visual binary of yellow and white stars worth a look with binoculars  (see the inset). Some places may see the Chinese space station pass close to Venus and Mercury. 

Venus is a clear thin "Crescent Moon"  shape and is increasing in size.  The shape is readily visible in even small telescopes, and even 10x50 binoculars (although the brightness may make it hard to see due to internal lens reflections). 

 

 

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

Eastern horizon on the evening of Monday, October 12 as seen from Adelaide at 20:54 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). 

Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 4th and is still a magnificent telescopic sight.

The asteroid Vesta is at opposition and us easily visible in binoculars on the 12th.  unfortunately there are no bright guide stars to easily get to it. 

The insets shows the telescopic view of Saturn and the binocular view of Vesta at this time.     

 

 

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

Whole sky on Saturday,  October 10  as seen from Adelaide at 20:53 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Venus is prominent in the north-west. Saturn is visible low in the east

 

Scorpius, and the core of the Milky way are coming off  the Zenith. 

 

The Pointers are declining from their zenith in the Southern sky as the Southern Cross sinks to the south west.  The Moon is new and the fainter clusters and nebula are easier to see.     

 

   

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

  

Mercury climbs higher in the the evening twilight. The planet reaches its greatest elongation, 25° from the Sun, on the 12th, also on the 12th, the 2-day-old thin crescent Moon will appear about 5° away, between Mercury and Venus. On the 13th, the planet is 3° to the right of the 3rd magnitude star Alpha Librae

Venus is becoming bigger but is slowly returning horizon-wards. On the 12th, Venus will be 3° to the left of the 2-day-old thin crescent Moon with Mercury above the pair, best viewed about an hour after sunset.

Mars is low in the twilight.  From the 11th to the 13th, Mars crosses the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer. At magnitude 1, the Red Planet is much brighter than any of the stars in the Beehive Cluster, making for an interesting photo opportunity.

Jupiter climbs higher the morning twilight but remains low on the horizon forming a line with Mars and the bright star Regulus.

Saturn  Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 4th. Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. 

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACST, Western sky at 10 pm ACST. 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

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 6:30 pm 0 comments

 Eastern horizon on the evening of Sunday,  October 4 as seen from Adelaide at 20:47 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). 

Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. Saturn is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 4th and is visible the entire night. But is best for telescopic observation from around midnight on, and its rings are widening.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.    

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

Tonight, 4 October, is the opposition of Saturn, where it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. So of course it is completely clouded out here. Despite this, have a chart and some images I took earlier this year and in 2025 when the rings were edge on (and even earlier in 2021 with my previous webcam setup) as some encouragement to view Saturn when the skies let you.  

Saturn with rings opening 01-09-26, 8" Newtonian, ZWO ASI 224MC, 2x Barlow 640x40 frame.	Saturn_20-08-21, 8" Newtonian, ToYou Cam  astro modded, 2x Barlow 640x40 frame
Saturn with rings edge on 05-11-25, Moons Enceladus and Rhea just visible. 8" Newtonian, ZWO ASI 224MC, 2x Barlow 640x40 frame.	Saturn with rings almost edge on 19-8-25 8" Newtonian, ZWO ASI 224MC, 2x Barlow 640x40 frame.

Labels: my images, Opposition, Saturn, telescope

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 9:07 pm 0 comments

To be read in conjunction with the tangent section of the astrophiz podcast #243

 https://soundcloud.com/astrophiz/astrophiz-243-october-sky-guide-saturn-opposition-orionids-venus

This month as Venus swells in size and becomes a wire thin crescent, visible even in binoculars (although best seen at twilight as its brightness may cause reflection artifacts), let us reflect on its reflective atmosphere.

Venus in false colour from the Akatsuki UVI instrument
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Global-view-of-Venus-in-ultraviolet-from-Akatsuki-May-2016-A-false-color-image-using_fig3_356985876

Labels: Astrophiz, bio-signatures, life, Venus

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 7:04 pm 0 comments

To be read in conjunction with the astrophiz podcast #243

https://soundcloud.com/astrophiz/astrophiz-243-october-sky-guide-saturn-opposition-orionids-venus 

   

Eastern horizon on the evening of Sunday,  October 4 as seen from Adelaide at 20:47 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).  Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. Saturn is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 4th and is visible the entire night. But is best for telescopic observation from around midnight on, and its rings are widening. The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.     Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).	North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Monday,  October 5 as seen from Adelaide at 5:21 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).  Saturn is low above the north-western horizon.  Mars forms a triangle with with the bright stars Procyon and Pollux and the waning Moon. Jupiter is low on the horizon. The inset shows the telescopic view of Mars and Jupiter at this time.  Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time  (90 minutes before sunrise).
Western sky on the evening of  Wednesday,  October 7 as seen from Adelaide at 20:19 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). The inset is the telescopic view of Venus. Venus is above the horizon when the sky is fully dark. Mercury is close to Venus on the 6th and 7th. Venus is a clear thin "Crescent Moon"  shape and is increasing in size.  The shape is readily visible in even small telescopes, and even 10x50 binoculars (although the brightness may make it hard to see due to internal lens reflections).   Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time  (60 minutes after sunset).	Western sky on the evening of  Monday,  October 12 as seen from Adelaide at 20:14 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). The insets are the telescopic view of Venus and the binocular view of of the Venus-Moon pair. Venus is low above the horizon with  Mercury above it. Venus is a clear thin "Crescent Moon"  and close to the thin crescent Moon. The shape is readily visible in 10x50 binoculars. The crescent Venus and crescent moon will just fit into the field of View of 10x50 binoculars. You may need to have binoculars mounted on a tripod to see them without too much handshake. Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time  (60 minutes after sunset).

October 2	Moon at perigee
October 3	Last Quarter Moon (ideal for star gazing)
October 11	New Moon (also ideal for star gazing total solar eclipse northern hemisphere)
October 17	Moon at apogee
October 19	First Quarter Moon (Daylight Lunar X on the 18th)
October 26	Full Moon (Moon at perigee again on October 29, difficult occultation of Beta Tauri)

Lunar X and V as seen at sunset on the 18th (although true firt Quarter is on the 19th), they will still be visible deeper in the twilight	Closer telescopic view of the Lunar X and V at sunset

 

Dates and time Lunar X and V are visible. Typically visible from about 4hours from the starting time, times in colour are daylight saving times.

Date	UT	AEST	ACST	AWST
Oct 18	05:37	16:37	16:07	13:37 (moon in daylight, X but still visible in twilight)

Occultation of Beta Tauri (Elnath), Thursday October 29/30. (waning)

The western sky at 23:37 ACDST Thursday, October 29, as seen from Adelaide. The Moon is about to occult the bright star Elnath low on the horizon. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen).	The western sky at 00:0 AEDST Friday, October 30, as seen from Canberra. The Moon is about to occult the bright star Elnath low on the horizon. The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen).	The western sky at 00:51 AEDST Friday, October 30, as seen from Melbourne. The Moon is about to occult the bright star Elnath low on the horizon.The inset shows the telescopic view at the time. (click to embiggen).

An occultation best seen from the east coast around midnight. The Moon is waning and low above the horizon. The Moon rises with Elnath occulted in most locations.

Place	Disappears Dark Limb	Reappears Bright Limb
Adelaide ACDST	-	00:07 (30th)
Brisbane  AEST	-	23:48
Canberra AEDST	23:54	00:53(30th)
Darwin ACST	-	-
Hobart AEDST	-	01:00 (30th)
Melbourne AEDST	-	00:51 (30th)
Perth AWST	-	-
Sydney AEDST	23:55	00:55 (30th)

Stars:

The northern sky as seen at 23:00 ACDST from Adelaide on October 11 (New Moon). The Andromeda galaxy is indicated by the box. Similar views will been seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time.

The Southern sky as seen at 23:00 ACDST from Adelaide on October 11 (New Moon).  The constellation of Octntis (Octant) is indicated, the cricle marks Sigma Octanits, the box Mel227 and the inset the binocular view of star delta Octanits and the nice pair of Pi Octantis.  The small and large Magellanic clouds are also seen. Similar views will been seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time.

Scorpius forms a reversed question mark setting above the western horizon.

Sagitarius and with it the centre of the galaxy have departed the Zenith but it still remains an excellent binocular hunting ground. In the lid of the “teapot of Sagittarius is the great globular cluster M22, well worthwhile in binoculars, and nearby the triffid and lagoon nebula. 

Around midnight the famous Andromeda galaxy is low to the north but should be easily visible in binoculars. At the same time one of our companion galaxies, the Lesser Magellanic cloud and the magnificent globular cluster 47 Tucana are quite high almost due south and a delight in binoculars.

At around 10:00 pm local time the Southern Cross will almost be at the 5’oclock position in the sky. Most of the magnificent Southern clusters and nebula are sitting on the southern horizon, however.
Almost due south of the small Magellanic cloud is the faint and undistinguished triangular constellation of Octantus, the Octant, the navigation instrument that first helped chart the southern skies for European explorers. 

Octanus contains the “south pole star” sigma Octantis, a hard to see 5th Magnitude star close to the south celestial pole. In binoculars, near the broad base of the triangle is the faint open cluster Mel 227. Sweeping down towards the point of the triangle and close to the brighter star delta octanits that forms the point is the nice pair of Pi Octantis.

Here are links to printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACST, Western sky at 10 pm ACST. 

Meteors:  

The Orionids are a normally worthwhile shower, best seen between 2-4 am, the radiant being just under Betelgeuse, the bright red star in Orion. This year the waning Moon will significantly interfere with viewing in the early evening and the rates will be low, once the moon sets around 4 am the rates will be better. The best viewing is the mornings of the 21st to 23rd with the highest rates on the morning of the 22nd, when between 4-5 am under dark skies you should see about a meteor every 4-5 minutes or so.

Labels: Astrophiz, Monthly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 8:55 pm 0 comments