Monthly Night Sky Report: October 2016

September has come and almost gone, and with it, the warmer Summer nights which are ideal for stargazing comfort.  To stargaze now will require at least a light jacket.  However, with the cooler temperatures comes longer nights and our winter constellations such as Orion the Hunter, the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, and an awesome binocular target, the Pleiades.  Currently, these will be visible in the early morning hours, but as winter gets closer, these objects will rise earlier and earlier.

To start the October nights off, look west after sunset to see brilliant Venus.  During October, Venus will be the "evening star" instead of the "morning star".  Towards the end of October, Venus will be found near Antares in the constellation Scorpius.  Remember the past few months how Mars and Saturn were in Scorpius and close to Antares, making up the triangle I photographed last month?  Now it's Venus' turn to enjoy the company of Antares! Leading up to this pairing, Venus will travel through two other constellations, Libra and Ophiuchus.

You may have noticed Saturn moving away from Mars during September.  This will continue during the month of October.  Towards the end of the month, Saturn and Venus will create a nice pair during the early evening.  Saturn has also lost much of its appeal this month as it has fallen low on the horizon where the atmosphere interferes with the views through a telescope or binoculars.

Mars will be found in our southwestern sky and passing through the constellation Sagittarius.  Mars will also be low on the horizon and will not give up much detail through a telescope due to atmospheric interference.  It should be easy to spot with the naked eye due to its bright red color.  Mars will be visible all month in the early evening hours.

Pluto will also be found in Sagittarius this month.  However, as mentioned before, you will need a telescope to see it.  If you do have a telescope, you will likely have to view over several nights to see it move against the background stars.

Neptune will also be visible during the month.  It will be found in our southern sky in the constellation Aquarius.  You will need binoculars or a higher powered instrument to see Neptune.  It will appear as a blueish-gray "star".

Uranus will be visible with the naked eye if you can get to a dark sky site.  It will be found in the constellation Pisces in the east after sunset during the month. It will appear a blue-green color when viewed through a telescope or binoculars.

To finish our planet sightings off for the month, Mercury and Jupiter will be found in the morning sky, just before sunrise.  Jupiter won't be visible until the 10th but Mercury will be visible nearly all month.  Just look east!

There will also be a couple of meteor showers this month.  But like the meteor showers of September, they won't be as impressive as the Perseids of August.  The first shower, called the Southern Taurid shower will peak on the night of the 10th.  The moon will only be at first quarter so its light shouldn't wash out too many of these "shooting stars".  You might be able to see up to 5 meteors per hour during this night.  Just find Taurus the Bull (in the East around 10 pm) and watch that area of the sky!  The next meteor shower won't peak until the 21st.  This is the Orionid meteor shower.  These meteors will appear to originate from the constellation of Orion the Hunter.  The moon will be close to a last quarter on that night.  You could see up to 15 meteors per hour on the peak night.

Here are the highlights for October:

October 10: Southern Taurid meteor shower peaks.
October 15: Uranus is at opposition.
October 16: Full Moon
October 21: Orionid meteor shower peaks.
October 30: New Moon

I wasn't able to take any night sky pictures during the early part of September to share with you.  I was able to get out and at least look at the sky though.  I was impressed by how much the triangle formed by Saturn, Mars, and Antares changed.  The view of the full moon during the middle of the month was spectacular.  I also enjoyed looking at Orion in the early morning hours, joined by Sirius.  And, as always, watching the ISS fly across the sky is satisfying to me.  Hopefully I will be able to get some pictures to share with you in the next Monthly Sky Report!