Some daily events in the changing sky for October 10 – 18.
Friday, October 10
Saturday, October 11
Sunday, October 12
Monday, October 13
Tuesday, October 14
Wednesday, October 15
Thursday, October 16
Friday, October 17
Saturday, October 18
Want to become a better amateur astronomer? Learn your way around the constellations. They're the key to locating everything fainter and deeper to hunt with binoculars or a telescope. For an easy-to-use constellation guide covering the whole evening sky, use the big monthly foldout map in each issue of Sky & Telescope, the essential magazine of astronomy. Or download our free Getting Started in Astronomy booklet (which only has bimonthly maps).
Once you get a telescope, to put it to good use you'll need a detailed, large-scale sky atlas (set of maps; the standards are Sky Atlas 2000.0 or the smaller Pocket Sky Atlas) and good deep-sky guidebooks (such as Sky Atlas 2000.0 Companion by Strong and Sinnott, the even more detailed Night Sky Observer's Guide by Kepple and Sanner, or the classic Burnham's Celestial Handbook). Read how to use them effectively.
Can a computerized telescope take their place? As Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer say in their Backyard Astronomer's Guide, "A full appreciation of the universe cannot come without developing the skills to find things in the sky and understanding how the sky works. This knowledge comes only by spending time under the stars with star maps in hand and a curious mind." Without these, they wisely say, "the sky never becomes a friendly place."
More beginners' tips: "How to Start Right in Astronomy".
This Week's Planet Roundup
Mercury emerges into view low in the dawn this week, getting higher and brighter day by day. Look for it above the eastern horizon, far below Saturn, about 45 to 30 minutes before sunrise. (You can always find your local sunrise time, and much else, once you put your location into our online almanac. If you're on daylight saving time like most of North America, make sure the Daylight Saving Time box is checked.)
Venus (magnitude –3.8) is gradually becoming more prominent after sunset. Look for it above the west-southwest horizon in twilight, about 40 to 60 minutes after sundown.
Mars is lost in the sunset.
Jupiter (magnitude –2.2, in Sagittarius) shines highest in the south-southwest in twilight, and lower in the southwest later — so get your scope on it early! Once night arrives, you'll see that Jupiter is above the Sagittarius Teapot and below the smaller, dimmer Teaspoon.
Saturn glows in the east at dawn. Don't confuse it with Regulus higher up. A telescope will show that Saturn's rings have turned nearly edge on; they're currently tilted 3° to our line of sight and closing. They'll reach a minimum of 0.8° at the end of the year, then start opening again.
Uranus and Neptune (magnitudes 5.7 and 7.9, respectively, in Aquarius and Capricornus) are in the southeast and south during evening. Use our article and finder charts or the chart in the September Sky & Telescope, page 63.
Pluto (magnitude 14.0, in the northwestern corner of Sagittarius) is sinking in the southwest after dark.
All descriptions that relate to your horizon or zenith — including the words up, down, right, and left — are written for the world's mid-northern latitudes. Descriptions that also depend on longitude (mainly Moon positions) are for North America. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) equals Universal Time (known as UT, UTC, or GMT) minus 4 hours.
To be sure to get the current Sky at a Glance, bookmark this URL:
http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance?1=1
If pictures fail to load, refresh the page. If they still fail to load, change the 1 at the end of this URL to any other character and try again.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.