What’s Up in the Night Sky? – October 2022

Fred Barrett | Oct 05, 2022

It crashed! A NASA mission known as DART succeeded in colliding with an asteroid to test technologies for protecting Earth from asteroids that might be on a collision course with us. The space flight gathered information on a defense technique known as kinetic impact. Kinetic energy is equal to the Mass of an object multiplied by the square of its speed and divided by 2. The equation shows that when an object, even if small, is travelling at a very high speed, the result is a great deal of force. For example, a bullet weighs very little but is moving extremely fast. That speed results in a huge impact by that tiny object because the speed is squared in the equation.

DART stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. To that end, the satellite was launched towards a small asteroid Dimorphos (160 meters dia.) in orbit around a larger asteroid Didymos (780 meters dia.). The asteroid system is about 11 million kilometers from Earth. There is no danger doing this experiment. The idea was to see how impacting the smaller Dimorphos with a small satellite at a very high speed of 6 Kms per second, would affect its orbit. The information gathered will give scientists important information on how to deflect or shift the position of possible Near Earth Objects (NEOs) that might be headed our way. It took an incredible navigation system to hit such a tiny object so far away.

We have the Orionid meteor shower flashing the sky between October 2 and November 7. It peaks on the night of Oct. 20-21.The radiant is just north of the orange star Betelgeuse at the upper quadrant of the constellation Orion. Orion rises in the east about 10 pm but you can start your observing early since meteors will appear all over the sky tracking from the eastern horizon. As the night progresses and Orion gets higher, observations will improve. This happens because the Earth rotates during the night and faces more directly into the meteor stream as morning approaches. This meteor stream is the product of successive passes of comet 1P/Halley around the Sun. Expect about 20 meteors per hour later in the night. The Moon is a waning crescent and rises well out of the way around 3 am. Dress warm because you’re not moving around to generate heat.

The great spectacles this month are Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Saturn rises in the east soon after sunset and you can follow its track until it sets about 3 am. It will rise to 30 degrees in the south as midnight nears. Except for some brightness interference from the Moon early in the month, it will present a very bright view at a magnitude of 0.5. In a modest telescope the rings appear tilted 15 degrees with the north face sunlit. You should be able to make out Saturn’s largest moon Titan in binoculars.

Jupiter is at spotlight brightness shining at a magnitude of -2.9. You can observe it all evening in the constellation Pisces, just below the great square of Pegasus. It’s in full view in early evening and rises up to 45 degrees above the horizon by 10:30 pm. The atmospheric belts move fast enough to notice changes and watch for the Great Red Spot to come into view. The 4 Galilean moons, as always, are a treat to follow from night to night.

Mars is approaching opposition in 2 months. You should start now to follow its changes as it increases in size. Mars rises above the eastern horizon about 9 pm in early October and increases in brightness to -1.1 by month’s end. It stands above Betelgeuse and east of Aldebaran. This is the best time to get familiar with its geography from Olympus Mons to Syrtis Major to Hellas Basin. It can only get better and more fun as it approaches and looms larger. Venus is at superior conjunction and will reappear as an evening star in a month or so.

Here are this month’s highlights: October 4: Moon is at perigee – 367,181 Kms. October 7: Moon passes 3 degrees south of Neptune. October 8: Moon is below and left of Jupiter in early evening. Mercury is low in east at sunrise. October 9: Full Moon. This is the Full Hunter’s Moon. Game has fattened up for winter and it’s the best time to lay in a larder for winter. Better lay in some wood too! No point in being fat and frozen. October 12: Moon passes about 1 degree north of Uranus. October 13: Two Galilean moon shadows cross Jupiter just after sunset; difficult observation. October 15: Moon is 3 degrees above Mars at 1 am. October 17: Moon is at apogee – 401,980 Kms. Last quarter Moon. October 20-21: Orionid meteor shower peaks. October 22: Venus is at superior conjunction. October 24: Zodiacal light is in the east and will remain for about 2 weeks. Old crescent Moon can be seen just before sunrise. October 25: New Moon. October 29: Moon is at perigee – 366,152 Kms. October 30: Mars is stationary. October 31: Galileo absolved of all heresy charges by the Vatican 30 years ago. And that’s that!

It’s another great month for planet observing with a meteor shower thrown in to boot! Put some warm layers on, get comfortable and enjoy the sky!

Follow the links below for information and upcoming events at the North Frontenac Dark Sky Preserve:

www.northfrontenac.com/en/open-for-business/dark-sky-preserve.aspx

www.visitfrontenac.ca/en/explore-and-do/dark-sky-preserve.aspx

Useful books, star charts and related items for beginners and through to advanced amateurs can be ordered from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada at www.rasc.ca/publications. A subscription to our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine “SkyNews” can be arranged at the RASC website.

Fill me in on your observations and send me your questions. I welcome emails and all feedback. You can contact me through this paper or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Clear Skies!