October 2008
Of the five planets visible to the unaided eye, three are lurking in the shadowy realms of twilight this month. Venus is just climbing into visibility as the “evening star” in the southwest shortly after sunset, while Mars disappears below it. Mercury puts in a meager performance in the morning twilight. Saturn is pulling out of the dawn glow, but is pretty low in the east at first light. Only Jupiter sallies boldly forth, shining in the south at nightfall. Taurus, the bull, is starting to charge into evening skies, while the aquatic constellations that form the celestial sea drift across the south and east.
2 Venus, the “evening star,” stands well to the right of the Moon shortly after sunset, quite low in the southwest.
4 The Moon cozies up to Antares, the brightest star of Scorpius, in early evening. Antares is to the right of the Moon.
6 Jupiter, which looks like a brilliant star, is just above or to the upper left of the Moon at nightfall.
17 The Moon ekes past the dipper-shaped Pleiades star cluster, briefly covering some of its stars as seen from some parts of North America. They rise in mid-evening on the 16th, with the Pleiades to the left of the Moon, and are closest in the wee hours of the morning.
22 Mercury stands farthest from the Sun for its current morning appearance. It looks like a moderately bright star quite low in the east about 45 minutes before sunrise.
23 Regulus, in Leo, the lion, is a little to the lower left of the Moon in the dawn sky. The planet Saturn is below them.
24/25 The planet Saturn is to the lower left of the Moon on the 24th, and closer to its upper left on the 25th.
26/27 Mercury and the Moon make a good binocular pair low in the east at first light. Mercury is to the lower left of the Moon on the 26th, and to the left or upper left on the 27th.
31 The star Antares stands just to the right of the Moon, very low in the southwest shortly after sunset. Brilliant Venus is above them.
Choose another month
* Lunar phase times are listed for the U.S. Central Time Zone.
|
Contact StarDate | About StarDate | Friends of McDonald | Sign up for Sky Tips
