October Skies 2026, and Astrophiz podcast

   

Japanese horizon on the night of Sunday,  October 4 as seen from Adelaide at 20:47 ACDST, 90 minutes after sundown (click on to embiggen).  Saturn is the brightest object above the japanese horizon. Saturn is at opposition, when it’s largest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 4th and is seen the whole evening. However is finest for telescopic remark from round midnight on, and its rings are widening. The inset reveals the telescopic view of Saturn at the moment.     Elsewhere in Australia will see an identical view on the equal time (90 minutes after sundown).	North-Japanese horizon on the morning of Monday,  October 5 as seen from Adelaide at 5:21 ACDST (90 minutes earlier than dawn, click on to embiggen).  Saturn is low above the north-western horizon.  Mars kinds a triangle with with the brilliant stars Procyon and Pollux and the waning Moon. Jupiter is low on the horizon. The inset reveals the telescopic view of Mars and Jupiter at the moment.  Comparable views will likely be seen from the remainder of Australia at roughly the equal native time  (90 minutes earlier than dawn).
Western sky on the night of  Wednesday,  October 7 as seen from Adelaide at 20:19 ACST (60 minutes after sundown, click on to embiggen). The inset is the telescopic view of Venus. Venus is above the horizon when the sky is totally darkish. Mercury is near Venus on the sixth and seventh. Venus is a transparent skinny “Crescent Moon”  form and is growing in dimension.  The form is quickly seen in even small telescopes, and even 10×50 binoculars (though the brightness could make it exhausting to see attributable to inside lens reflections).   Comparable views will likely be seen from the remainder of Australia at roughly the equal native time  (60 minutes after sundown).	Western sky on the night of  Monday,  October 12 as seen from Adelaide at 20:14 ACST (60 minutes after sundown, click on to embiggen). The insets are the telescopic view of Venus and the binocular view of of the Venus-Moon pair. Venus is low above the horizon with  Mercury above it. Venus is a transparent skinny “Crescent Moon”  and near the skinny crescent Moon. The form is quickly seen in 10×50 binoculars. The crescent Venus and crescent moon will simply match into the sphere of View of 10×50 binoculars. It’s possible you’ll have to have binoculars mounted on a tripod to see them with out an excessive amount of handshake. Comparable views will likely be seen from the remainder of Australia at roughly the equal native time  (60 minutes after sundown).

Moon: 

October 2	Moon at perigee
October 3	Final Quarter Moon (perfect for star gazing)
October 11	New Moon (additionally perfect for star gazing whole photo voltaic eclipse northern hemisphere)
October 17	Moon at apogee
October 19	First Quarter Moon (Daylight Lunar X on the 18th)
October 26	Full Moon (Moon at perigee once more on October 29, troublesome occultation of Beta Tauri)

Lunar X and V as seen at sundown on the 18th (though true firt Quarter is on the nineteenth), they’ll nonetheless be seen deeper within the twilight	Nearer telescopic view of the Lunar X and V at sundown

 

Dates and time Lunar X and V are seen. Usually seen from about 4hours from the beginning time, occasions in color are daylight saving occasions.

Date	UT	AEST	ACST	AWST
Oct 18	05:37	16:37	16:07	13:37 (moon in daylight, X however nonetheless seen in twilight)

Occultation of Beta Tauri (Elnath), Thursday October 29/30. (waning)

The western sky at 23:37 ACST Tuesday, September 17, as seen from Adelaide. The Moon is about to occult the brilliant star Antares low on the horizon. The inset reveals the telescopic view on the time. (click on to embiggen).	The western sky at 00:0 AEST Wednesday, September 18, as seen from Canberra. The Moon is about to occult the brilliant star Antares low on the horizon. The inset reveals the telescopic view on the time. (click on to embiggen).	The western sky at 23:59 AEST Tuesday, September 17, as seen from Melbourne. The Moon is about to occult the brilliant star Antares low on the horizon. The inset reveals the telescopic view on the time. (click on to embiggen).

An occultation finest seen from the east coast round midnight. The Moon is waning and low above the horizon. The Moon rises with Elnath occulted in most areas.

Place	Disappears Darkish Limb	Reappears Vivid Limb
Adelaide ACDST	–	00:07 (thirtieth)
Brisbane  AEST	–	23:48
Canberra AEDST	23:54	00:53(30th)
Darwin ACST	–	–
Hobart AEFST	–	01:00 (thirtieth)
Melbourne AEDST	–	00:51 (thirtieth)
Perth AWST	–	–
Sydney AEDST	23:55	00:55 (thirtieth)

Stars:

The northern sky as seen at 23:00 ACDST from Adelaide on October 11 (New Moon). The Andromeda galaxy is indicated by the field. Comparable views will been seen elsewhere in Australia on the equal native time.

The Southern sky as seen at 23:00 ACDST from Adelaide on October 11 (New Moon).  The constellation of Octntis (Octant) is indicated, the cricle marks Sigma Octanits, the field Mel227 and the inset the binocular view of star delta Octanits and the good pair of Pi Octantis.  The small and enormous Magellanic clouds are additionally seen. Comparable views will been seen elsewhere in Australia on the equal native time.

Scorpius kinds a reversed query mark setting above the western horizon.

Sagitarius and with it the centre of the galaxy have departed the Zenith nevertheless it nonetheless stays a wonderful binocular looking floor. Within the lid of the “teapot of Sagittarius is the nice globular cluster M22, properly worthwhile in binoculars, and close by the triffid and lagoon nebula. 

Round midnight the well-known Andromeda galaxy is low to the north however ought to be simply seen in binoculars. On the similar time one in all our companion galaxies, the Lesser Magellanic cloud and the magnificent globular cluster 47 Tucana are fairly excessive nearly due south and a enjoyment of binoculars.

At round 10:00 pm native time the Southern Cross will nearly be on the 5’oclock place within the sky. A lot of the magnificent Southern clusters and nebula are sitting on the southern horizon, nonetheless.
Virtually due south of the small Magellanic cloud is the faint and undistinguished triangular constellation of Octantus, the Octant, the navigation instrument that first helped chart the southern skies for European explorers. 

Octanus comprises the “south pole star” sigma Octantis, a tough to see fifth Magnitude star near the south celestial pole. In binoculars, close to the broad base of the triangle is the faint open cluster Mel 227. Sweeping down in direction of the purpose of the triangle and near the brighter star delta octanits that kinds the purpose is the good pair of Pi Octantis.

Listed here are hyperlinks to printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACST, Western sky at 10 pm ACST. 

Meteors:  

Morning sky as seen from Adelaide dealing with north at 4:00 am ACDST on 22 October, the Orionid radiant is indicated with a starburst. Comparable views will likely be seen elsewhere in Australia at an equal native time. Click on to embiggen.

The Orionids are a usually worthwhile bathe, finest seen between 2-4 am, the radiant being slightly below Betelgeuse, the brilliant pink star in Orion. This 12 months the waning Moon will considerably intrude with viewing within the early night and the charges will likely be low, as soon as the moon units round 4 am the charges will likely be higher. One of the best viewing is the mornings of the twenty first to twenty third with the very best charges on the morning of the twenty second, when between 4-5 am below darkish skies it is best to see a few meteor each 4-5 minutes or so.

Labels: Astrophiz, Month-to-month sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 8:55 pm