Feature Article September 30, 2004
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A Meteor Shower And Total Lunar Eclipse Highlight October SkiesAt the beginning of October, sunset in this area is at about 6:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and astronomical twilight ends at about 8:30 p.m. By the end of October, sunset will be a few minutes before 6:00 p.m., with astronomical twilight lasting until a few minutes after 7:30 p.m. However, on Sunday October 31, at 2:00 a.m., our clocks will return to Standard Time, and so Halloween will seem to be even longer, with sunset being before 5:00 p.m., and the end of astronomical twilight just after 6:30 p.m.
The autumn sky still features the Milky Way passing overhead in the late evening, in a grand northeast-to-southwest sweep in the early night and in an east-to-west direction in the late night. It contains three familiar constellations: Cassiopeia, in the shape of a large letter W, which is now high in the northeast; Cygnus, the Swan, also called the Northern Cross, which is now further west from its evening overhead position of last month; and Aquila, the Eagle, now in the southwestern sky. Low in the south, where the teapot of Sagittarius was seen last month, we now find the constellation Capricornus, the Seagoat (or Goat-fish), a strange amphibious creature from an ancient myth. To the modern stargazer, this enclosed V-shaped star pattern looks like the hull of a large boat viewed from the front. Deneb, the brightest star in Cygnus, Altair, the brightest star in Aquila, and Vega, the brightest star in Lyra, are the three brightest stars in the western half of the sky, dominating that region until they set after 3:00 a.m. Meanwhile, as the night advances, the bright stars of the winter sky are moving up into the eastern and southern sky, led by the famous star cluster, the Pleiades, sometimes called the Seven Sisters. In Japan, this cluster is known as Subaru; and its stylized representation is used as a logo by a well-known car manufacturer. This little cloud of stars can be seen in the eastern sky any time after 10:00 p.m. On a clear, moonless night, test your eyesight. You should be able to distinguish the clusters six brightest stars. Then, note whether you can see the Seventh Sister or the "Lost Pleiad. With a pair of binoculars, marvel at the brightest two dozen stars in the cluster. The outline of the Orion, the Great Hunter, can now also be seen rising in the southeast by midnight.
Among the bright planets, Saturn rises in the east at about midnight, and is still nearly in a straight line with the Gemini stars, Castor and Pollux, though brighter than both. It is very high in the southeast by dawn. Venus with its extreme brilliance completely dominates the eastern sky after it rises at about 3:00 a.m. Watch its apparently close approach to the bright star Regulus in the first week of October, especially on the morning of October 3, when the two objects are almost indistinguishable. Of the two objects, the planet appears 150 times brighter than the star! Later in the month it marches downward among the stars of the constellation Leo, getting much closer to Jupiter, the second brightest planet by the end of the month. Jupiter itself is best seen about an hour or so before sunrise just above the eastern horizon, beginning on October. In the last week of the month, Mars may be seen for a short while in the dawn sky, beginning about 45 minutes before sunrise, if one looks carefully below Jupiter. Mercury cannot be easily seen this month. Be sure to set the alarm for 5:00 a.m. in order not to miss the view of the crescent moon near Venus on October 10 and 11, and above Jupiter on October 12. The morning of the 13th, if clear, will provide experienced observers a chance to view one of the thinnest lunar crescents ever seen -- very, very close to the eastern horizon 30 minutes before sunup.
We are again into another eclipse season in October 2004. Each of the years two eclipse seasons brings one solar and one lunar type of eclipse. This season brings us an October 14th partial solar eclipse, not seen from Canada, but visible from northern China, Japan and western Alaska. In Canada, we do have a front row seat for the Total Lunar Eclipse of the night of October 27, the night that is called the Hunters Moon. This will be a long lunar eclipse, with totality lasting 1 hour and 22 minutes, and may be similar in colour to last years, with a lunar surface ranging from dull grey to rusty red to pale yellow - far different from the very dark eclipses of the early 1990's when volcanic ash from Mount Pinatubo eruptions caused the light refracted through the earths atmosphere to be very dark and almost make the moon disappear. The moon first contacts the earths outer penumbra (or partial shadow) at 8:05 p.m., though the first slight darkening will not be noticeable until about 8:40 or 8:45 p.m. The edge of the moon (the left side) hits the earths shadow at 9:14 p.m., and the partial phases are now very noticeable. Use binoculars to follow the march of the shadow over the larger craters. At 10:23 p.m., the moon is completely within the earths umbra and the total eclipse begins. Mid-eclipse is at 11:04 p.m. The total phase ends at 11:45 p.m. The partial phase ends at 12:54 a.m. The last bit of darkening on the edge of the moon (at the right hand limb) may be noticeable at about 1:20 to 1:30 p.m., but the moon is not completely out of the earths penumbra until 2:03 a.m. I would be interested in hearing descriptions of the range of colours seen over the lunar surface from top to bottom.
The well-known Orionid Meteor Shower reaches is peak on the night of October 20-21, though these meteors may be seen for almost the entire month. I suggest watching for a couple of hours on the peak night and several nights after it, between midnight and 3:00 a.m. Most meteors should appear in the southern and eastern sky.
More information about observing the night sky may be found in the newly revised edition of The Beginners Observing Guide, which is now available at Sharbot Lake Pharmacy
