The night sky above Pen-y-Ghent, in the Yorkshire Dales
The glories of October’s night sky can at best be described as ‘Subtle’. The dull autumn constellations are already being challenged by the brilliant lights of winter. Spearheaded by the beautiful star cluster of the Pleiades.
Ursa Major, or the Plough, is to all intents and purposes at its lowest in the North. The ‘W’ of Cassiopeia is not far from the overhead point.
The summer triangle of Altair, Deneb and Vega remains high up. The barren square of Pegasus dominates the southern sky, with Andromeda attached it its side. The bright star Capella in the constellation of Auriga the Charioteer is becoming more noticeable in the east. It will be overhead in winter evenings.
Although the four stars that form the Square of Pegasus are not the brightest, once found they will be easily recognised again. If you use the two right hand stars of the square and draw a line to the south you will reach a bright star very low in the sky. This star is Fomalhaut, in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish.
Comet C/2023 A£ (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) may appear in the evening sky this month if it has survived its fiery passage around the Sun, and may; just possibly blaze in the sky. Look to the east where the stars of the Pleiades are partially occulted by the Moon a couple of days after the best supermoon of 2024.
The Planets
MERCURY
The innermost planet is very low in the dawn twilight, at magnitude –1.0 and rising just before 6am. It then moves down into the pre-dawn glow and disappears from sight.
VENUS
The evening star appears low in the south west after sunset, and will be visible for a few hours until it falls below the horizon just after 7pm. Despite its brilliance at magnitude –4.0. You will need binoculars to spot Venus in the bright evening twilight. On the 5th of October the thin crescent Moon will be just below it.
MARS
Rising above the horizon around 11pm, the red planet shines at magnitude +0.3 and can be found in the constellation of Gemini. The last quarter Moon passes close by on the 23rd of this month, and Mars is in a line with the twin stars Castor and Pollux right at the end of the month.
JUPITER
The gas giant is brilliant in the constellation of Taurus, between the horns of the bull. It rises above the horizon about 8.30pm, with a magnitude of –2.6. The Moon lies nearby on the 20th and 21st of the month.
SATURN
Falling below the horizon around 3.30am, the ring world shines in the constellation of Aquarius at magnitude +0.7 During the evening of the 14th October, watch the bright Moon pass right under Saturn; just 35 arcminutes (about one Moon’s width) away.
URANUS
Uranus is just visible to the naked eye, at magnitude +5.7 but much easily seen with binoculars or a low power telescope. Visible all night long from around 7pm.Located not far from the Pleiades star cluster in the constellation of Taurus.
NEPTUNE
You will need good binoculars or a telescope to track down Neptune. Shinning with a measly magnitude of +7.7 Neptune lies just to the left of the planet Saturn. Close to the constellation of Pisces, and will fall below the horizon around 5am.
PLUTO
This distant planet can be observed in a ten-inch or larger telescope. It can be found in the constellation of Sagittarius, at magnitude +14.5. Pluto falls below the horizon shortly after 11.12pm.
CERES
This dwarf planet is located between the constellations of Sagittarius and Capricornus. With a Magnitude +9.0, it sets just around 9.15.
Highlights for this month
5th October – The crescent Moon lies beneath Venus, low in the dusk
twilight. It will be best seen using binoculars.
7th October – The Moon will be near to the star Antares.
14th October – The almost full Moon glides right under the planet Saturn.
17th October – Tonight will be the largest and brightest supermoon this year, with the full Moon lying just 357,367 kilometres from the Earth.
19th October – between 7.30 and 10.30pm the Moon passes just below the centre of the Pleiades star cluster, occulting some of its stars.
20th October – The Moon lies just above the planet Jupiter.
21st October – Jupiter lies just to the right of the Moon.
22nd October – The almost half Moon will be near the stars Castor and Pollux.
27th October – The crescent Moon will be near the star Regulus.
27th October – At 2am British summer times ends and the clocks move backwards on hour to Greenwich Mean Time.
Meteor showers
There are two meteor showers this month
October 9th 2023, the Draconids. The radiant point for the Draconid meteor shower almost coincides with the head of the constellation Draco the Dragon in the northern sky. That’s why the Draconids are best viewed from the Northern Hemisphere.
The Draconid shower is a real oddity, in that the radiant point stands highest in the sky as darkness falls. That means that, unlike many meteor showers, more Draconids are likely to fly in the evening hours than in the morning hours after midnight.
The Orionid Meteor Shower peaks in the late night of 21st October and early morning of 22nd October. However they will be sadly washed out by a bright waxing Gibbons Moon.
On 30th and 31st look out for ‘Halloween fireballs’, brilliant meteors from Encke’s Comet called the Taurids. They reach their peak next month.
Phases of the Moon:-
New Moon 2nd October
First quarter 10th October
Full Moon 17th October
Last quarter 24th October