Episode 363 – Observer’s Calendar – The Actual Astronomy Podcast

Observer’s Calendar for October 2023

People might have missed this one as we’re recording on October 1st but tonight the Moon Meets Jupiter and is only a few degrees away.
October 2nd – Moon and Pleiades, the brightest star cluster in the Messier Catalogue meet up with the Moon just below and west of the Pleiades in the evening sky. Better farther west in North America you are .
October 6th – Last quarter Moon – Apennine Mountains partially circling Mare Imbrium, Crater Plato is the most prominent crater at the top of Mare Imbrium. Lots of Craters near the Terminator at centre, Herschel, Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus Arzachel, Straight wall and Mare Nubium as well.
Morning of October 10th before sunrise – Venus – The Moon And Regulus Alignment
October 12th – Zodiacal Light is visible in the morning sky for the next 2 weeks…or until the Moon enters the sky.

October 14th Annual Solar Eclipse & New Moon
We just get a good partial here but the “Ring of Fire” is visible along a track
Remember, Annular is not total so you always need to use your H-ALpha Scope or certified solar glasses or Solar Filter to view this.
I attended Alan Dyers Talk at SSSP and he ID’d a place in Texas where you can observe both this Annular Eclipse as well as the Total on April 8th 2024.
October 18th – Antares is Occluted by the Moon for most of the EU. So check your local.
October 19/20th – Double Shadow Transit on Jupiter for Io and Ganymede, 1am our time, that’s 3am EST.

Jupiter Shadow Transit – The Double Transit Lasts about an hour or so, on the meridian at 1:40am our time…that’s 3:40am EST. Worth getting up for. You might need to watch for a bit as targets on the limb are fainter than when at centre. Then, if you’re somewhere dark try for the Zodiacal light after the transits.
Sundry October 22nd – Get up after midnight and enjoy the Orionid Meteor shower’s Peak also First Quarter Moon in the evening sky in the evening.

October 23rd – Morning Sky – Venus at Greatest Elongation West, 46-degrees from Sun. I’m surprised how high Venus is already so this is an excellent time to be observing Venus!
Look for Schröter effect, Ashen Light and follow it into the daytime sky
For More on the Schroter Effect see:
https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1996JBAA..106…16M&db_key=AST&page_ind=0&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_VIEW&classic=YES
Ashen Light https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/027311779090174X?via%3Dihub
Evening of the 23rd, Saturn gets within 3-degrees of the Moon for some, but I think like Hawaii and Japan are favoured.
October 28th Full Moon and Partial Lunar Eclipse – Visible from UK, EU, Africa, India, Asia etc.
Also on 28th Jupiter 3 degrees south of the Moon and a couple nights later the Moon visits the Pleiades …but not visible for us in North America.

Episode 363 – Observer’s Calendar