October 2023 – What’s Up!

Week of 30th October

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 18:37 UT at the start of the week and at 18:28 UT by the end of the week.
  • Jupiter (mag -2.9) reaches opposition on Friday, when it will be opposite the Sun as seen from Earth and at its closest point to Earth at only 3.98 AU away. It will appear largest (about 50 arcseconds in apparent diameter) and brightest in our sky, best placed for observation. On Monday there is a transit of Io, starting at 20:37 UT.
  • Saturn (+0.7) remains well placed for observation, culminating at around 19:40 UT through the week.
  • The Taurid meteor shower peaks on Saturday night. It is a modest shower, with only around 5 meteors per hour, but it can produce impressive fireballs. The shower has a northern and southern component, created by two streams of comet debris deposited by Asteroid 2004 TG10 and Comet 2P/Enke.
  • The Moon is Last Quarter on Sunday.
  • The Sun currently has 5 active regions and the sunspot number is 70.
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.
    (For full details about ISS passes click this link: heavens-above-iss-passes to visit the heavens-above website. If you are not in Marlborough, please ensure that you set your location for the most accurate ISS timings).

Week of 23rd October

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 19:49 BST at the start of the week and at 18:39 GMT by the end of the week.
  • British Summer Time ends on Sunday and we will return to GMT; don’t forget to put your clocks back one hour!
  • Venus (mag -4.4) reaches Greatest Western Elongation on Tuesday, when it will be best placed for observation in the morning sky before sunrise.
  • There is a partial lunar eclipse on Saturday. From Marlborough, only 12% of the Moon’s surface will be covered by the Earth’s umbra. The eclipse starts at 20:36 BST, maximum eclipse is at 21:15 BST and the eclipse ends at 21:53 BST.
  • Saturn (+0.7) and Jupiter (-2.9) remain dominant in our evening sky.
  • The Moon is Full on Saturday.
  • The Sun currently has 5 active regions and the sunspot number is 65.
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.
    (For full details about ISS passes click this link: heavens-above-iss-passes to visit the heavens-above website. If you are not in Marlborough, please ensure that you set your location for the most accurate ISS timings).

Week of 16th October

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 20:03 BST at the start of the week and at 19:51 BST by the end of the week.
  • Saturn (mag +0.7) and Jupiter (-2.9) remain dominant in our evening sky, while Venus (-4.4) dominates our morning sky, reaching its highest altitude of about 35° at sunrise.
  • The Orionid meteor shower peaks on Saturday night. This is a relatively quiet shower with an expected ZHR of about 10 meteors. The shower’s progenitor is comet 1P/Halley.
  • The Moon is First Quarter on Sunday.
  • The Sun currently has 7 active regions and the sunspot number is 100.
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.
    (For full details about ISS passes click this link: heavens-above-iss-passes to visit the heavens-above website. If you are not in Marlborough, please ensure that you set your location for the most accurate ISS timings).

Week of 9th October

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 20:18 BST at the start of the week and at 20:05 BST by the end of the week.
  • The planets remain dominant in our sky with Saturn (mag +0.6) culminating at about 22:00 BST, Jupiter (-2.9) culminating at 02:30 BST and Venus (-4.5) rising at 03:11 BST.
  • This week’s New Moon gives dark skies, perfect for galaxy hunting. Use a telescope to track down four galaxies in our Local Group around Andromeda; starting with M31, the Andromeda Galaxy and its two satellite galaxies M32 and M110, all at about 2.5 million light years from Earth. Then slew south a few degrees to M33, the Triangulum Galaxy, about 2.8 million light years away.
  • On Saturday there is an annular solar eclipse, caused when the Moon is around apogee, its furthest orbital point from Earth, so it will not completely cover the Sun, leaving a ring of sunlight around the eclipsed portion of the Sun. Unfortunately for us in Marlborough, it will only be visible from the Americas. The eclipse will travel along its path of totality from 16:05 to 21:55 BST. Look online for live streams.
  • The Moon is New on Saturday.
  • The Sun currently has 9 active regions and the sunspot number is 145.
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.
    (For full details about ISS passes click this link: heavens-above-iss-passes to visit the heavens-above website. If you are not in Marlborough, please ensure that you set your location for the most accurate ISS timings).

Week of 2nd October

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 20:34 BST at the start of the week and at 20:20 BST by the end of the week.
  • Saturn (mag +0.6) remains well placed in our evening sky, culminating at about 22:30 BST.
  • Jupiter (-2.8) is slowly becoming more prominent in our evening sky, reaching an altitude of 22° above the eastern horizon by 22:00 BST. Watch a shadow transit of Ganymede on Thursday, starting at 22:25 BST. This is followed by a transit of Io, starting at 02:56 BST on Friday morning.
  • M31, The Andromeda Galaxy, is well placed for observation at this time of year, high in the southeast. Use averted vision from a dark site to spot the most distant object visible with the naked eye at 2.5 million light years away from Earth. A telescope will reveal the bright core and possibly even dust lane details of the spiral arms.
  • The Moon is Last Quarter on Friday
  • The Sun currently has 7 active regions and the sunspot number is 106.
  • There are multiple visible evening ISS passes this week.
    (For full details about ISS passes click this link: heavens-above-iss-passes to visit the heavens-above website. If you are not in Marlborough, please ensure that you set your location for the most accurate ISS timings).

 

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