Venus, brightest of all planets, shines in evening’s pastel twilight and sets by nightfall. A young crescent moon accompanies the goddess of love and beauty tonight, October 3; delight in the pair from about 7pm until 7:30pm, depending on your view to the west-southwest horizon. Saturn and Mars catch the eye to the left of Venus, in the southwest, as twilight deepens.
On Wednesday, the 5th, the waxing crescent appears at the top of Scorpius the Scorpion, arcing toward Saturn. The moon, the ringed planet and Scorpius’ red heart star, Antares, form a crisp equilateral triangle. A summertime constellation, the Scorpion sets early in autumn, soon to disappear from northern skies. The moon appears to the left of Saturn on the 6th.
On Friday and Saturday, the 7th and 8th, follow a robust crescent from mid-afternoon in the southeast until it completes its arc before midnight in the southwest. On these two weekend evenings, russet planet Mars appears below Luna as the sky darkens and the moon brightens. The moon and Mars mark the constellation Sagittarius the Archer. Mars drifts further east each successive night, journeying through Sagittarius all month.
Sagittarius is a readily distinguishable constellation. In relatively dark skies its stars can be seen sketching the outline of a centaur (part man, part horse) aiming a bow and arrow. It might be easiest to begin by looking to the south for a teapot pattern: handle on the left, spout on the right and lid in the center, complete with a knob on top. This is known as The Teapot asterism. An asterism is an easy to discern star pattern that is usually part of an official constellation. On Thursday, the 6th, Mars enhances the effect of the star, Kaus Borealis, that represents the knob at the top of The Teapot’s cover. In light polluted environments, binoculars may help tease out Sagittarius’ brightest stars.
All five planets that are visible without optical aid are in view at some time during the first 2 weeks of October. Now that we’re attuned to Venus, Saturn and Mars in the evening sky, let’s find Mercury and Jupiter in morning twilight. Mercury is about to leave the morning sky as Jupiter is entering. Arrive at a view to the eastern horizon 45 minutes before sunrise to scan for Mercury and, after the 8th, Jupiter. The two will appear in a scintillating conjunction very low to the horizon on the 11th. Binoculars recommended.
The Full Hunter’s Moon occurs at 12:23am on the 16th. A nearly full moon rises at 6:18pm on the 15th and 6:58pm on the 16th. The Hunter’s moon sets at 7:25am on the 16th.
OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE:
October 8, 2016 International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN)