(Above: The morning sky shown at 6:30 am on Octowhen Mars will sit within 0.5 degrees of distant Jupiter. The steep Ecliptic makes Mercury a much easier target for this apparition. The best time to look for it will be later in the week, when Mercury will be peaking in brightness. Meanwhile, Mercury rises much later than the other three planets, about 6 am. This close conjunction will be so tight (less than a Moon diameter), that Mars and Jupiter (and Jupiter’s four Galilean satellites) will all fit within your binoculars’ field of view and your telescope’s low magnification eyepiece field of view! Don’t forget to check out Venus’ half-illuminated disk at the same time! So Mars will spend this week dropping towards Jupiter, and making a very close pass of Jupiter on the mornings of Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18. While Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are all travelling prograde (eastward) along the Ecliptic, Mars and Venus are moving much faster.
The real planetary treats this week are in the eastern sky before sunrise! Extremely bright Venus rises first around 3:30 am, followed by dim, little red Mars around 4:10 am, and bright white Jupiter a few minutes later. Shown here is the SW sky at 7:30 pm on Friday. (Above: The crescent Moon sits near Saturn on Thursday and Friday this week. On the coming weekend, the Moon will be approaching First Quarter and will be well positioned in the southern evening sky for after-dinner exploring with your telescope. At 7:30 pm both evenings, Saturn will be about 8° above the southwestern horizon, and setting an hour later. The Moon will sit less than a fist’s width (8°) to the planet’s lower right on Thursday, and about four finger widths (4°) to Saturn’s left on Friday. On Thursday, October 15th and the following evening, the still very slim Moon will hop over the yellowish planet Saturn. Your best bets to spot the Moon’s “Cheshire Cat’s Smile” will come on Tuesday and Wednesday after dusk (look low in the west). The Moon is New tomorrow (Monday), making it invisible until it emerges from the Sun’s glare as a delicate young crescent on Tuesday. Presentations include The Sky This Month, and talks about powering your astronomy equipment and building your own large telescope.
Admission is free, and the public is welcome. Check the RASC Toronto Centre website or their Facebook page for the Go or No-Go notification.Īt 7:30 pm this Wednesday evening, October 14th, there’s an RASC Toronto Centre Recreational Astronomy Night Meeting in Meeting Room 224 of the Northern District Library, 40 Orchard View Boulevard, Toronto, ON M4R 1B9.
Cassiopeia brightest star free#
The event (details here) is free to the public, but parking and admission fees to the Science Centre exhibits will still apply. They’ll have an array of special equipment designed to view the Sun safely. On Saturday, October 17th from 10 am to noon, you can join me for Solar Observing at the Ontario Science Centre! If it’s sunny, members of the RASC Toronto Centre will be setting up outside on the Teluscape in front of the main doors. The David Dunlap Observatory, visit (Above: The ET/Owl/Dragonfly Cluster in Cassiopeia. You are a camp, or a teacher interested in a guided field trip to All the times mentioned are Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Astronomy “Skylights” for the week (from October 11th) by Chris
0 kommentar(er)
