EYES TO THE SKY October 15 – 28, 2018

A waxing crescent moon appears to the upper left of planet Saturn in the south-southwest as darkness gathers tonight, the 15th. On the 16th, a half moon (first quarter) is suspended further left of Saturn, approaching red Mars, the most riveting point of light in the sky. By the 19th, a waxing gibbous (larger than half) moon arrives to the left of Mars. Pause to notice a bright, bluish-white star below the moon. It is Fomalhaut, a not too distant Sun, relatively speaking, that appears in our evening sky around the autumn equinox. Follow it as it travels low to the southern horizon into January. Fomalhaut marks the mouth of the Southern Fish: it stands out as the constellation’s sole prominent star.

The Orionid meteor shower, predicted to peak before dawn on Sunday the 21st, is active through November 7. At peak, at a dark location under a moonless sky, a maximum of 15 – 20 shooting stars per hour is predicted. A large gibbous moon sets in the west-southwest at 3:51am on the 21st, leaving close to 2 hours of optimum darkness to meteor watch. The Orionids radiate from a point near Orion’s upraised Club, although meteors may be spotted anywhere in the sky.

The Full Hunter’s Moon rises at 6:31 on the 24th and sets at 8:02 on the 25th.