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Representative image of meteor shower
(Fred Bruenjes / NASA)
October marks the recession of the monsoon, making it one of the best months for sky watchers to witness phenomenal celestial events, without the constant interference of clouds. The month also features unique and spectacular sky events, from full moon to planets, providing a glimpse of Earthlings. And the best thing is that almost all of these events are visible to the naked eye.
For all night sky lovers and astronomers, here are some dates to mark on your October calendar:
October 6
It’s the new moon night! At approximately 4:35 p.m., the new moon occurs. Mars will be very close to the Moon; however, thanks to the bright sun, visibility would deteriorate.
October 8
The planet’s natural satellite, the Moon, would be at the perigee position, that is, the closest approach to Earth in this turn. Today it is approximately 3,63,386 km from Earth.
October 9
The planet Mercury is likely to occupy the position of greatest eastern stretch. From September 14, it started to approach the Sun and tonight the planet will be exactly between the Sun and the Earth. This position is known as the lower conjunction. The planet will not be visible from Earth.
October 10
Crescent Moon with Venus near Antares. The beautiful Sagittarius and the Milky Way belt shine nearby.
(Dr Abhay Deshpande / Stellarium)
Venus will be seen just 3 degrees south of the Moon and sky lovers will enjoy the crescent phase of the Moon with the brilliant Venus.
October 11
Saturn will complete its retrograde motion tonight.
October 13
It is the first night shift of the Moon. Two days after that will mark the ‘Vijayadashami‘or’ Dussehara ‘festival.
October 14
The planet Saturn is positioned just 4 degrees near the Moon. The next day, Jupiter can be seen at a very close distance from the Moon.
October 16
This month is a great time to watch Sagittarius and Scorpio. Tonight, individuals can see Venus just 1 degree from Antares, the bright red star of Scorpio. If the sky is dark, sky lovers can easily see the famous scorpion in the sky.
October 18
Now is the time for Jupiter to stop its retrograde and get into direct motion.
October 19
Mercury is now emerging from the glow of the sun and can be seen in the morning sky just before sunrise. Tonight, it is closest to the Sun in this round, as is a small bright spot. It is not easy to find it! Try this game in the morning sky. In addition, tonight is the fourteenth day of the Gibbous Moon and it is the day of the Id-e-Milad Festival.
20 october
The full moon marks the Kojagiri Pournima, a tradition of staying awake late at night to bask in the pleasant moonlight. It also marks the countdown to the Diwali festival which will take place in two weeks.
21st of October
The not-so-famous Orionid meteor shower marks the peak that day. Unfortunately, no more than 20 meteors per hour can be spotted in the night sky.
24 october
The Moon will be at its apogee or at the greatest distance from Earth tonight, 405,615 km away from us.
25 october
Mercury is at its greatest aspect in the morning sky. This means that the planet should rise well before the Sun and will be seen the maximum time before the start of the day. So if you want to see it, get up early!
October 30
On this date, Venus attends the greatest eastern lengthening in the setting sky. It also means that it will set a maximum late after sunset. It is expected to reach high in the sky and can be seen until 9:30 p.m.
Nicolai Copernicus used this property of Mercury and Venus to measure the distance of these planets from the Sun. These two planets are closer to the Sun than to the Earth and are called inner planets. The Sun-Earth-Venus (or Mercury) angle is called the angle of elongation. When the planet is between the Sun and the Earth or exactly beyond the Sun, the angle is zero degrees. When the line joining the Sun-Planet makes a right angle with the Planet-Earth, then this Sun-Earth-Planet angle is maximum. See the following figure.
By calculating the sine function of the angle, it will give the distance from the planet to the Sun. The angle is called the maximum elongation angle. For Venus, it is almost 48 degrees and for Mercury, it is almost 25 degrees. Therefore, the distance from Venus will be a sine (48) which is 0.72 astronomical unit – one astronomical unit (au) is the average distance between the Sun and the Earth. Copernicus concluded that Mercury is 0.39 times the Sun-Earth distance while Venus is 0.72 times the Sun-Earth distance.
Modern measurements place these distances very close to the distances predicted by Copernicus. It is considered to be the triumph of the Copernican theory which removed the Earth from the center of the universe and brought the Sun to the center.
Planet Watch
Monthly sky chart
(Map using Stellarium)
Mercury: Mercury is not seen at the beginning of the month and it is at a lower conjunction on October 9. It will climb steadily high in the morning sky and is expected to reach its maximum elongation on October 25.
Venus: Venus can be seen brilliantly in the evening sky just after sunset throughout the month. On October 30, it attends maximum elongation and will be seen going to bed very late after sunset.
March: Mars is behind the Sun, therefore the planet would not be exposed this month.
Jupiter and Saturn: These two giant planets will display a light show all night long in the sky. The demotion ends for both this month and they will continue the direct movement for next year.
This article was produced in collaboration with Khagol Mandal, a nonprofit collective of astronomy enthusiasts that organizes various sky-watching programs, conferences and study tours. Dr Abhay Deshpande is a senior scientist (physicist) working for SAMEER, MeitY R&D laboratory, Indian government. He is also the honorary secretary of Khagol Mandal.
This article is a guest column reflecting the views of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of The Weather Channel.
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