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If you are at all an early riser or a late go-to-bed type, you have probably noticed Jupiter already, blazing in the east in the early hours.
Here in October the planet will dominate the late-night and wee hours of the morning. In early October, Jupiter rises in the east at 10:15 p.m., and works its way up the sky throughout the rest of the dark hours.
In early October, Jupiter will be exactly overhead at 4:50 a.m. and will be high in the west as day breaks around 5:30 p.m. By the middle of October, Jupiter rises at 9:20 p.m. and will be directly overhead at 4 a.m. By Halloween, Jupiter rises in the east at 8:15 p.m., is overhead at 2:45 a.m. and is halfway down the western sky at daybreak.
Jupiter starts the month at a spectacular minus 2.5 magnitude and gets brighter, ending October at minus 2.73. Throughout the month, Jupiter remains inside the horns of Taurus the Bull, and fairly close to the bright star Aldebaran, one of the Bull’s eyes. Look for the waning gibbous moon next to Jupiter on Oct. 5-6, and again on Halloween.
At the start of the month, Venus is nearly a third of the way up in the east as day breaks; by Halloween, it’s only about 20 degrees above the horizon by dawn, or two palms at arm’s length. Venus stays at just over minus 4 magnitude all month, the brightest thing in the sky except for the sun and moon.
Look for the waning crescent moon next to Venus on the mornings of Oct. 11 and 12. Early on the morning of Oct. 3, Venus also appears to make a close approach to the star Regulus in Leo the Lion; on that morning, the two will be less than half a degree apart, which is a lot less than the width of your little finger at arm’s length.
3 MORE PLANETS
Look for Mars throughout October about 15 degrees above the western horizon (1.5 palms) at dusk. The planet sets just before 9 p.m. in early October and at 8 p.m. late in the month.
From Oct. 15 to 23, Mars will be within four degrees of the star Antares (that’s about the width of two fingers). Look for the two at around 7:15 p.m. Antares means "the rival of Mars," and is so named because Antares’ reddish hue is similar to that of the planet Mars. The waxing crescent moon will be below Mars and Antares on the 17th, and above the two reddish dots on the 18th.
Mercury hugs the western sky at dusk for nearly all of October. Look west about 6:40 p.m. anytime from about Oct. 7 to the end of the month. Mercury is the bright dot about five degrees above the western horizon. You have less than a half-hour to see Mercury, since it sets at 7 p.m. through the month. On Oct. 16, look for a young crescent moon less than one degree above Mercury.
At the start of the month, Saturn is low in the west at about 7 p.m. However, it sets by 7:15 p.m. early in the month and is lost in the sun’s light by the 10th.
OTHER SKY EVENTS
» Orionid Meteor Shower: The peak night for this shower is the evening of Oct. 20-21. That is, stay up late on the 20th and into the early hours of Oct. 21. This is a good shower, caused by debris from Halley’s Comet, with up to 20 to 25 meteors an hour. There is no interference from the waxing crescent moon, which sets long before the prime shower viewing time. As always, meteor showers are better after midnight.
» Possible fireball show: The Taurus Swarm was a fireball show that occurred in 1951. Some astronomers predict that the swarm will return every 61 years, and that means it might return in 2012. This is by no means a sure thing, but check out the early-morning skies from Oct. 28 through Nov. 11 for potential fireballs.
OCTOBER SKY MAP
The North Star is low in the sky in Hawaii. It’s in the end of the Little Dipper’s handle. Other highlights on this map include the Summer Triangle, still midway up in the western sky even though it’s October. This triangle is made up of three bright stars from three different constellations. This includes Vega, the brightest star in the triangle, in Lyra the Harp; Altair, in Aquila the Eagle; and Deneb, the dimmest of the three bright stars, in Cygnus the Swan. We’ve shown both the individual constellations and the triangle on our map.
Pegasus is right in the middle of the sky.
In the east, the planet Jupiter rises, as do the first of the brilliant winter constellations. The Pleiades are rising, followed by Taurus and Auriga.
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Mike Shanahan is director of education, exhibits and planetarium. For more information, go to www.bishopmuseum.org/planetarium/planetarium.html.
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