Astroblog

To be read in conjunction with the astrophiz podcast #245

https://astrophiz.com/2026/10/29/astrophiz-245-november-sky-guide-a-daylight-occultation-of-jupiter-mars-and-jupiter-close-together-uranus-at-opposition-and-the-leonid-storms-to-come/

  

North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Tuesday,  November 3 as seen from Adelaide at 4:52 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).  Saturn is just above the 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 mid November. The waning Moon is in between Mars and Jupiter, with the Moon occulting Jupiter later in the morning. The insets shows the  telescopic view of Mars Jupiter at this time.   Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes before sunrise).	North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Saturdayday,  November 7 as seen from Adelaide at 5:23 ACDST (45 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).  Mars forms a line with Jupiter and the bright star Regulus. The pair come closer over the week ahead of a spectacular meeting on the 16th. The Thin crescent Moon is close to the pair of Venus and Spica, low to the horizon. Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (45 minutes before sunrise).
North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Monday,  November 16 as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 ACDST (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).  Mars and Jupiter  ~1°apart, close enough to fit together in wide field telescope objectives, and forming a triangle with Regulus. The pair of Venus and Spica are low to the horizon. Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (60 minutes before sunrise).	North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Wednesday,  November 25 as seen from Adelaide at 4:53 ACDST (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).  Mars is close to Regulus forming a triangle with Jupiter. The pair of Venus and Spica are low to the horizon. Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (60 minutes before sunrise).

North-eastern sky at midnight on 26 November. Uranus between The Pleiades and Hyades. The inset is the binocular view. Uranus is theoretically unaided eye visible under dark sky sites if you know where to look but is best with binoculars or telescope.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time.

Daylight Occultation of Jupiter, Tuesday, 3 November 2026:

The north-western sky as seen from Brisbane at 9:59 AEST on Tuesday 3 November. The moon is obvious above the horizon, but you will need binoculars or a telescope to see Jupiter.  The left-hand inset shows the magnified view just as the occultation starts, and the right-hand view is the view as Jupiter comes out from behind the Moon.	The north-western sky as seen from Adelaide at 9:50 ACDST on Tuesday 3 November. The moon is obvious above the horizon, but you will need binoculars or a telescope to see Jupiter.  The left-hand inset shows the magnified view just as the occultation starts, and the right-hand view is the view as Jupiter comes out from behind the Moon.	The northern sky as seen from Perth at 6:46 AWST on Tuesday 3 November. The moon is obvious above the horizon, but you will need binoculars or a telescope to see Jupiter.  The left-hand inset shows the magnified view just as the occultation starts, and the right-hand view is the view as Jupiter comes out from behind the Moon.

On the morning of Tuesday 3 November Jupiter is occulted by waning Moon as seen from the most of Australia, Indonesia, Papua new Guinea  and New Zealand. However far north Queensland misses out. The Moon is just past last quarter and high in the north to northwest. It is an obvious signpost for where to look.  Jupiter will not be visible to the unaided eye, but in binoculars and telescopes Jupiter will be obvious close to the Moon. The times of disappearance and reappearance of Jupiter is in the table below. For more details viewing guides and sun safe procedures, see my Daylight Occultation of Jupiter page.  

The western sky as seen at 20:53 ACDST from Adelaide on November 9, 60 minutes after sunset (New Moon). Scorpius is setiing as its arch nemesis, Orion the Hunter, is rising. The Southern Cross is grazing the horizon almost due south.	The Eastern sky as seen at 23:00 ACDST from Adelaide on November 9 (New Moon).  TOrion the hunter can be clearly see, with Sirius and Canopus rising as well.

Scorpius forms a reversed question mark sinking into the western horizon.

Sagittarius  and with it the centre of the galaxy have departed the Zenith and are low on the western horizon. 

Orion, Canis Major and the stars of Carina, Puppis and Vela begin to rise and will be prominent in the late evening sky by the end of the month.

At around 10:00 pm local time the Southern Cross will almost due South in the sky. Most of the magnificent Southern clusters and nebula are sitting on the southern horizon, however, the Lesser Magellanic cloud (there is a move to rename it) and the magnificent globular cluster 47 Tucana are high due south and a delight, the much smaller globular cluster NGC 362 is in the same binocular field. The faint constellation Tucana celebrates the Toucan of the South American Jungles. Sweeping up with binoculars from 47 Tucana is the faint double star Lambda Tucana, sweeping up further is the bright double star beta Tucana.Sweeping east and a little down by 3 binocular fields is the Large Magellanic Cloud, the other dwarf galaxy of our own, with the iconic Tarantula nebula and a wealth of small clusters to explore.

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

Meteors:  The Leonid meteor shower peaks on November 18 but has low rates no more than 3-4 meteors per hour are expected originating in the sickle of Leo. 

Labels: Astrophiz, Monthly sky, Occultation, podcasts

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 7:41 pm 0 comments

The Last Quarter Moon is Monday November 2.   The Moon at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on October 29, difficult occultation of Beta Tauri is also on the 29th. Daytime occultation of Jupiter Tuesday November 3.

North-Eastern horizon on the morning of Tuesday,  November 3 as seen from Adelaide at 4:52 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). 

Saturn is just above the 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 mid November.

The waning Moon is in between Mars and Jupiter, with the Moon occulting Jupiter later in the morning.

The insets 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). 

North-eastern horizon on the evening of Saturday, October 31 as seen from Adelaide at 21:17 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 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).

The north-western sky as seen from Adelaide at 9:50 ACDST on Tuesday 3 November. The moon is obvious above the horizon, but you will need binoculars or a telescope to see Jupiter.  

The left-hand inset shows the magnified view just as the occultation starts, and the right-hand view is the view as Jupiter comes out from behind the Moon.  

For a full list of occultation times from representative cities, viewing guides and sun safe procedures, see my Daylight Occultation of Jupiter page.  

 

 

 

 

 

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 31  as seen from Adelaide at 21:17 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. Scorpius forms an inverted question mark above the western horizon

 

The Pointers are low in the Southern sky as the Southern Cross is almost above the Southern horizon.  The Moon is waning 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 is lost 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 mid November. The waning Moon is in between Mars and Jupiter.

Jupiter climbs higher the morning twilight but remains low on the horizon forming a line with Mars and the bright star Regulus. The waning Moon is in between Mars and Jupiter, with the Moon occulting Jupiter  later in the morning.

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. 

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACDST, Western sky at 10 pm ACDST. 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 @ 11:20 pm 0 comments

The north-western sky as seen from Brisbane at 9:59 AEST on Tuesday 3 November. The moon is obvious above the horizon, but you will need binoculars or a telescope to see Jupiter.  The left-hand inset shows the magnified view just as the occultation starts, and the right-hand view is the view as Jupiter comes out from behind the Moon.	The north-western sky as seen from Adelaide at 9:50 ACDST on Tuesday 3 November. The moon is obvious above the horizon, but you will need binoculars or a telescope to see Jupiter.  The left-hand inset shows the magnified view just as the occultation starts, and the right-hand view is the view as Jupiter comes out from behind the Moon.	The northern sky as seen from Perth at 6:46 AWST on Tuesday 3 November. The moon is obvious above the horizon, but you will need binoculars or a telescope to see Jupiter.  The left-hand inset shows the magnified view just as the occultation starts, and the right-hand view is the view as Jupiter comes out from behind the Moon.

WARNING! This daytime occultation occurs not far from the Sun and should be attempted by experienced observers only. The Moon will be 76 degrees (around 12 hand-spans) from the Sun. Exposure to the Sun through a telescope eye-piece can result in instant blindness. Any observation should be carried out with the sun blocked from view by a building or similar large, obscuring object with no possibility of the sun being accidentally observed.

On the morning of Tuesday 3 November Jupiter is occulted by waning Moon as seen from the most of Australia, Indonesia, Papua new Guinea  and New Zealand. However far north Queensland misses out. The Moon is just past last quarter and high in the north to northwest. It is an obvious signpost for where to look.  Jupiter will not be visible to the unaided eye, but in binoculars and telescopes Jupiter will be obvious close to the Moon. The times of disappearance and reappearance of Jupiter is in the table below. 

Most of Australia sees Jupiter's satellite Europa get occulted first, then Jupiter will take around 2 minutes to disappear behind the Moon. For Darwin and  Brisbane Jupiter will skim along the Moons surface as it exits from occultation. Caloundra sees the Moon graze Jupiter, every where in QLD above Caloundra on the coast and Cape York sees a very close approach, well worth watching.  

Telescopic view of Jupiter and its satellites just before the occultation. Europa leads the way.	Telescopic view of Jupiter and its satellites just after the occultation. Europa still leads the way and the other satellites will appear to "pop" out.

Start watching about half an hour before hand to get set up and familiar with the sky. This is a daytime occultation requiring a small telescope or binoculars and extreme caution and attention to Sun safety. 

My blog of the 2012 Daylight Jupiter Moon graze should give you a feel for what it will look like, and some photography hints. 

Jupiter and its satellites will appear to "wink out" as it goes behind the bright limb of the Moon, reappearance will be harder to see as you have to be looking just at the right moment.

The occultation occurs in the early morning with the Moon reasonably high above the north-western to northern horizon. The Moon just past last quarter and should be obvious, but you will still need extreme care with the sun. 

The Moon is a signpost to Jupiter which will only be visible in binoculars or telescopes. It is advisable to set up and practice on the Moon in the morning before the event, so you are familiar with your telescope set-up. Set up at least half an hour ahead of time so that you can be sure everything is working well and you can watch the entire event comfortably (trying to focus your telescope moments before the occultation will cause a lot of unnecessary stress). Jupiter will be clearly visible in a telescope or binoculars near the Moon. Again, the Sun will be close by, so only experienced observers who can block out the Sun should attempt this.

Labels: binocular, Daylight, Daytime, Jupiter, Moon, Occultation, telescope

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

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