SkyEye

Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events.

October 2013

The Calendar

All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT).
Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for 45° N and 30° S.
Like total solar eclipses, lunar occultation events can be seen only from limited regions on Earth (and sometimes not at all if the occultation takes place during daylight hours). However, the Moon will appear close in the sky to its 'target' for some hours either side of the actual occultation, regardless of where you are.

Date		Event
1	Tue
2	Wed
3	Thu	Uranus at opposition
4	Fri
5	Sat	New Moon
6	Sun
7	Mon
8	Tue	The waxing crescent Moon will prove no obstacle to observing the Draconids (theoretical peak activity: about 17:30 UT).
9	Wed	Mercury at greatest elongation east
10	Thu	Moon at perigee
11	Fri	First Quarter Moon
12	Sat	Jupiter at west quadrature
13	Sun
14	Mon
15	Tue
16	Wed	Comet C/2012 S1 ISON passes near the first-magnitude star Regulus.
17	Thu
18	Fri	The Full Moon undergoes a penumbral eclipse.
19	Sat
20	Sun
21	Mon	This year's Orionids occur three days after Full Moon, making observations virtually impossible in the light-polluted sky.
22	Tue
23	Wed
24	Thu
25	Fri	Moon at apogee
26	Sat	Last Quarter Moon
27	Sun
28	Mon
29	Tue
30	Wed
31	Thu

Coming up next month...

The last eclipse of the year, a rare hybrid solar eclipse, occurs on the third day of the month. And two naked eye comets make an appearance.

The Solar System

The word planet is derived from the Greek word for 'wanderer'. Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars. Dwarf planets and small solar-system bodies including comets, are not so constrained, often moving far above or below the ecliptic.

Sun: Virgo » Libra
Comet C/2012 S1 ISON: Leo
Mercury: Virgo » Libra
The smallest planet in the solar system continues to wow observers from southern latitudes by continuing to climb high above the western horizon after sunset. But don't leave it too long to look for this elusive planet. Greatest elongation east occurs on 9 October and then Mercury rapidly descends into the evening twilight. For northern hemisphere observers the closest planet to the Sun never manages to climb very high above the horizon.
Venus: Libra » Scorpius » Ophiuchus » Scorpius » Ophiuchus
High in the western sky for southern hemisphere observers, the evening star continues to climb above the horizon this month. However, the viewing situation in the northern hemisphere will improve slightly before the end of the year.
Mars: Leo
Look for the red planet rising in the early morning hours. It may be found close by the first-magnitude star Regulus mid-month.
Jupiter: Gemini
West quadrature on 12 October means this month is an excellent time to observe Jupiter telescopically. The shadows of the moons on the planet and vice versa are particularly pronounced at quadrature, giving the system a real three-dimensional appearance.
Saturn: Libra
This distant planet is all but lost in the evening twilight as it approaches solar conjunction next month.
Uranus: Pisces
At opposition on the third day of the month, this green-coloured ice giant is up all night.
Neptune: Aquarius
A small telescope is necessary to view the most distant planet in the solar system which sets after midnight.

The Celestial Sphere

Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.

Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.

Local Time	Northern Hemisphere	Southern Hemisphere
1730 hours (1830 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
1930 hours (2030 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
2130 hours (2230 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
2330 hours (0030 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
0130 hours (0230 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
0330 hours (0430 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
0530 hours (0630 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S

For More Information...

Consult our online glossary for non-technical explanations of many of the astronomical terms used in these pages.
Blue moons, eclipses, the dates of Easter and much more can be found at the Interactive Astronomy Pages.
For more information about the objects and events described in SkyEye, visit these astronomy-related sites.

Credits

Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop.

The SkyEye banner features an enhanced photograph of the Moon taken on 7 December 1992 by the Galileo spacecraft on its journey to Jupiter. The bright rayed crater at the bottom is Tycho. The dark areas are lava basins and include Mare Tranquillitatis, the Apollo 11 landing site and where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings to walk on the Moon. This image is courtesy of NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.