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Wednesday, October 3, 2018
March
Once again, the meteorite shower of the August Perseids succumbed locally to bad weather. A few days before and after the night of August 12-13, the skies above southern New England were obscured by persistent clouds. Being an amateur astronomer in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts is extremely frustrating. Over the years, I am convinced that a new year can not be worse than the year before. Unfortunately, as we move into the New Year, I end up eating my words. Some of my associates jokingly blame me and suggest that I move to California to potentially end their project!
Well, I'm not ready or willing to make this trip. Californians suffer other calamities more serious than clouds, preventing people from exploring the heavens. Despite the often mild weather that has inspired many of the astronomical events I have written on, I will continue to guide the observation of future events in the hope that we will enter a more benevolent period of clear skies.
That said, I want to inform you that there is still time to observe Mars. The dust raised in the atmosphere of this planet by the global dust storm is settling down now. Telescopes from local observatories provided a true picture of the southern polar ice cap of Mars, as well as surface markings. On July 31, Mars was at its closest point to the Earth (35.8 million miles) until 2035. The Earth quickly moved away from Mars and on October 1, our two worlds will be 55.6 million kilometers apart and will increase each day. The image of Mars through our telescopes has become smaller, so the sooner you can see our planetary neighbor, the more details you can see.
The beautiful Saturn will also be visible in October.
The October sky offers observers astronomers the opportunity to observe two meteor rains. The first of the month, a series of shooting stars called the Draconides, takes place the night of October 8 to 9. I have not written much about the Draconides, because the shower currently produces only ten yellowish meteors or less, slow motion, per hour.
This year, the Earth crosses the stream of debris more recently stripped of the short period comet 21P / Giacobini-Zinner, the source of the Draconids, shortly after the relatively close encounter of our comet (36 million miles) with our world. This circumstance could slightly enrich the flow of meteors and provide astronomers with far more shooting stars than normal. However, the forecasts I have seen do not suggest any increase in numbers. Whatever it is, I would strongly recommend trying the Draconides, just in case! Fortunately, the moon will be new at peak night, so that it will not interfere with the observation of as many meteors as possible, far from light pollution.
Best of all, this meteor display is favorably observed between sunset and midnight when the Draco constellation is highest in the northern sky. All you have to do is find Ursa Major (the Big Dipper's asterism). He will be sitting just above the northern horizon. Draco stretches between Ursa Major and Polaris, the polar star, which is the star of the end in Ursa Minor (Little Bear), the grip of the Little Dipper's asterism. As the meteors emanate from this region of the sky, sweep east and west to the zenith (directly above). These particles move quite slowly and reach our atmosphere at only 12.5 miles per second.
The second shooting parade of the month takes place on the night of October 20-21, when the Earth crosses the remnants of Halley's Comet. This is what is called the Orionid meteor shower, because the meteors seem to radiate from within the constellation of Orion the Hunter. This radiant point is not far from the red supergiant Betelgeuse star that represents Orion's right shoulder (his perspective). As a general rule, Orionids are best seen between midnight and dawn, but an evergreen Gibbous Moon (day 24) will not go to bed until around 3:38 local time. This scenario will leave you only about two hours of darkness until dawn. Just be sure to position yourself away from the sources of stray light to observe as many meteors as possible.
An observer can count around 20 yellow and green meteors per hour once the moon is out of the sky. Orionid meteors disintegrate into our atmosphere after crashing at about 41.6 miles per second. The Shooting Stars display is also known to produce fireballs that create persistent dust streaks when they are blazing in the sky.
Although having observed countless meteors during my 45 years as an amateur astronomer, I do not get tired of sitting under a starry sky waiting for "fiery rocks" to appear. 39, annihilate in our protective atmosphere. Just be sure to dodge yourself if you happen to observe a "stationary" meteor. What is it? Think about it. That means the meteor is heading straight for you!
Good luck to all October observers.
In conclusion, although you do not need a telescope to observe a meteor shower, the local observatories allow you to discover other wonders of our universe. Be sure to check their respective websites for viewing schedules and closures. The Seagrave Memorial Observatory at North Scituate is open every Saturday night. The Ladd Observatory in Providence is open every Tuesday evening. The Margaret M. Jacoby Observatory at Warwick's CCRI Knight Campus is open every Thursday night. And do not forget our distant associates (as per Rhode Islanders perception) at the Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown. They open every Friday evening clear.
Keep your eyes in the sky.
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