October Skies 2024

Eclipsophiles may charter a boat to get under the Moon's shadow. Annular eclipses become more and more frequent as the Moon slowly moves away from Earth. Mark your calendars-in 50,000 years, there will be no more total solar eclipses. On the 5th, Venus is 3 degrees north of the waxing gibbous Moon. Two days later, on the 7th, Antares is 0.2 degrees north of the Moon, an occultation in the Southern Hemisphere. By the 14th, the waxing gibbous Moon nearly catches up to Saturn, only 0.1 degrees away in the early morning; this is an occultation for Southern Hemisphere viewers. A day later, also in the south, Neptune is occulted; only 0.6 degrees away for the north. The Moon is at perigee on the 16th (357,174 km) and full on the 17th-the largest of 2024, and generating large tides in coastal waters. On the 19th, Uranus is 4 degrees south, and the Pleiades are even closer at 0.2 degrees south. Jupiter is 6 degrees south of the waning gibbous Moon on the 21st. On the 23rd, Pollux is 1.7 degrees north of the Moon, while Mars is 4 degrees south. The bright star in Virgo, Spica, is 0.5 degrees south of the Moon on the 31st.

Mercury comes out from behind the Sun toward the end of the month, but is a very difficult observation because the angle of the ecliptic is almost horizontal-the planet sets about the same time as the Sun does.

Venus is bright in the western evening sky, but also hampered by the shallow ecliptic. The Moon is nearby, but a very thin crescent on the 5th.

Mars is high in the morning sky, as the ecliptic favours early risers. The Red Planet is among the stars of Gemini, The Twins, for most of the month, a little southwest of Pollux and Castor. An observer should be able to notice Mars getting brighter and larger with the passing weeks, as it appears to gradually near Earth; closest approach is in early 2025.

Jupiter seems to stop moving eastward on the October 9, beginning retrograde motion thereafter for about four months. The planet rises shortly after sundown and remains high in the sky all night, giving the best opportunity for viewing.

Saturn is up at sundown, crossing the sky all through the night among the stars of Aquarius-another great viewing time for the Ringed Planet. The Moon glides by on the 14th, getting up close to the gas giant-only 0.1 degrees away.

Uranus rises in early evening near the Pleiades, crossing the sky all night. This would be a good time to catch the blue-green planet without using optical aid. The waning gibbous Moon passes by on the 18th. Uranus is roughly 3 light- hours away-about 3 billion km.

Neptune is in Pisces, The Fish. The planet is tiny, even in a telescope, given its great distance from us, over 30 astronomical units away. That's 30 times our distance from the Sun-Neptune is roughly 4.5 billion km away-its reflected light takes a little over 4 hours to reach us!

The zodiacal light is visible before eastern morning twilight for the first two weeks of October.

The Orionid meteors peak on October 21.