October Night Sky
D.W.Q.M.: Duke Juliano: "There's this man in Florence claims that by arranging ground glasses in a certain order, it's possible to see the moon and stars as large as your hand."
Marco: "Is that a good thing?" (from the Fourth Doctor story, the Masque of Mandragora.)
The month isn't over yet. LOL. ;)
Today's astronomy post is brought to you by Sky and Telescope, and my astronomy calendar. ;)
The Moon and Planets
October 7th: the crescent moon is below Venus, ver low in the southwest at dusk.
October 16th: (starting October 16th) Mars will be closer to the Earth (and brighter in the sky) than it will be until 2018. Note: This should not be confused with the Mars Hoax. Mars will NOT be as big as the moon-this is just the closest it's going to be to Earth for a few years. :) [see October 29th]
October 17th: Full Moon. Partial eclipse of the Moon peaks at 8:03am EDT-best seen west of a line from Toronto to Miami.
October 18th: Moon near Mars after 8pm, EDT
October 24th: Moon near Saturn after midnight.
October 29th: Mars nearest Earth, very bright in the East as darkness falls, won't be this close again until 2018.
October 30th: Daylight Savings ends.
Meteors!
October 21st: Orionid meteor shower peaks...unfortunately the moon interferes (boo!)
Did anybody see the Draconids? Apparently the geometry was right for a brief shower on October 8th, 17h Universal time. Back in 1985, they produced 500 meteors per hour for a couple of hours. Just curious.
Other cool stuff
Astronomers have discovered that our new 10th Planet isn't travelling alone! So, since they named the planet 'Xena', guess what they are planning on naming it's moon? Yup, that's right, "Gabrielle". I was still hoping for Mondas, and then, possibly 'Telos' for the moon. LOL, ROFL. ;) (Cyberman joke, sorry.) ;)
This Day in Astronomy
October 4th, 1957: Sputnik 1, the first artificial sattelite to orbit Earth, is launched by the Soviet Union.
October 5th, 1923: Edwin Hubble discovers a cepheid variable in M31-the first proof of the remoteness fo the galaxies.
October 6th, 1995: Discovery of the first planet orbiting a sun-like star (51 Pegasi).
October 7th, 1959: Luna 3 takes the first pictures of the Moon's far side.
October 22nd, 1975: Venera 9 is the first spacecraft to return images of the surface of Venus.
Clear skies and happy viewing!!
Marco: "Is that a good thing?" (from the Fourth Doctor story, the Masque of Mandragora.)
The month isn't over yet. LOL. ;)
Today's astronomy post is brought to you by Sky and Telescope, and my astronomy calendar. ;)
The Moon and Planets
October 7th: the crescent moon is below Venus, ver low in the southwest at dusk.
October 16th: (starting October 16th) Mars will be closer to the Earth (and brighter in the sky) than it will be until 2018. Note: This should not be confused with the Mars Hoax. Mars will NOT be as big as the moon-this is just the closest it's going to be to Earth for a few years. :) [see October 29th]
October 17th: Full Moon. Partial eclipse of the Moon peaks at 8:03am EDT-best seen west of a line from Toronto to Miami.
October 18th: Moon near Mars after 8pm, EDT
October 24th: Moon near Saturn after midnight.
October 29th: Mars nearest Earth, very bright in the East as darkness falls, won't be this close again until 2018.
October 30th: Daylight Savings ends.
Meteors!
October 21st: Orionid meteor shower peaks...unfortunately the moon interferes (boo!)
Did anybody see the Draconids? Apparently the geometry was right for a brief shower on October 8th, 17h Universal time. Back in 1985, they produced 500 meteors per hour for a couple of hours. Just curious.
Other cool stuff
Astronomers have discovered that our new 10th Planet isn't travelling alone! So, since they named the planet 'Xena', guess what they are planning on naming it's moon? Yup, that's right, "Gabrielle". I was still hoping for Mondas, and then, possibly 'Telos' for the moon. LOL, ROFL. ;) (Cyberman joke, sorry.) ;)
This Day in Astronomy
October 4th, 1957: Sputnik 1, the first artificial sattelite to orbit Earth, is launched by the Soviet Union.
October 5th, 1923: Edwin Hubble discovers a cepheid variable in M31-the first proof of the remoteness fo the galaxies.
October 6th, 1995: Discovery of the first planet orbiting a sun-like star (51 Pegasi).
October 7th, 1959: Luna 3 takes the first pictures of the Moon's far side.
October 22nd, 1975: Venera 9 is the first spacecraft to return images of the surface of Venus.
Clear skies and happy viewing!!
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