Skywatch: Search for Planets and Fireballs This Week | WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio

If you feel a little more rested at the beginning of the week, you are probably not alone. Daylight saving time ends at 2 am on Sunday, which means we fall back at 1 am and sleep an hour more. It also means that our sun goes down an hour earlier, so you have much more time to scan the night sky and contemplate the wonders of the universe. The sunset will now go to bed around 17:25. give or take a few minutes all week.

Mercury will be a little easier to spot this week. The planet reaches what is called its "greatest oriental elongation" Tuesday at 10 o'clock. It means that it is at its furthest point from the sun … or at least it appears in this way on Earth.

The planet goes down just after 6pm so if you want to see it, you will need to look a little after sunset, on the low horizon in the southwestern sky. If you have a good view of the horizon, look for Jupiter just below and to the right. Saturn will join the pair well above and to the left of them as one of the brightest objects in the sky. Friday night, Mercury will be almost right over Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpio.

The moon will darken this week in a new moon Wednesday at 11:02. A darker sky will be good news if you want to try to catch some meteors.

The North Taurid meteor shower rises early next week, but this weekend will be a good weekend if you want to see some of them. The shower is active from mid-October to early December. With a new moon and therefore a dark sky, you can capture some if you are far enough away from the city. This is not a particularly active meteorite rain, but what makes it special is that it is active for several hours, as the meteors are slow and the meteors that form tend to be what it is. Are called "fireballs". These exceptionally bright meteors The shower is most active around midnight when Taurus, the constellation that gave it its name, is at its highest point in the southeast sky.