Mars still rules evening sky in October

Moon Myths & Fables

This year, the full moon nearest the fall equinox fell on Sept. 10, making it the Harvest Moon. The full moon of October becomes the Hunter’s Moon or Blood Moon, the names given the full moon following the Harvest Moon. The names are from the fact it was easier to pursue game over the harvested fields and from the blood associated with the hunt. Other names given for October’s full moon are the Travel Moon and Dying Grass Moon. The Cherokee called it the Moon of Falling Leaves while the Narraganset used October’s full moon to honor the animals that must be killed to feed and clothe the tribe.

Focus on the Planets

Mercury begins the month low on the eastern horizon about an hour before dawn. Look for the innermost planet during the first week of October as it will disappear in the morning twilight by midmonth.

Venus may be found low in the southwest towards the end of the month where it sets only about an hour after the Sun. In spite of its brief appearance, Venus will be easy to spot because of its brightness.

Mars stills rules the evening sky where, even though its long-awaited approach to Earth is in the past, it is more prominent than it will be again until 2018. Continue to look for Mars well up on the southeast horizon about one hour after sunset.

Jupiter rises in the east shortly after midnight and remains in view until sunrise. This month Jupiter will regain its normal role as second brightest planet after Venus.

Saturn rises in the east around midnight as October opens and is well up on the horizon when Jupiter makes its appearance. Saturn is accompanied by Castor and Pollux, the two bright stars of Gemini, but easily outshines either one.

Uranus lies to the immediate northwest of Mars and both maybe seen in the same field of view with a powerful set of binoculars. A telescopic view will contrast the pale bluish-green color of Uranus with the red-orange of Mars.

Neptune lies well to the west of Mars and Uranus among the stars of Capricorn. A finder chart for both Uranus and Neptune appeared in the April issue of Sky & Telescope.

Pluto is low in the southwest at dusk but is essentially lost to view in October.

Our Celestial Neighborhood

According to James Oberg, writing in the October issue of Astronomy magazine, the race to once again explore the moon’s surface is heating up. However it will be either China or India, and not America, who performs the feat. China is developing a manned low-Earth orbiter along with a companion unmanned lunar probe. India is looking to launch a lunar probe from the Earth’s surface to go directly into orbit about the moon. Both countries are proposing to reach the moon within five years and are spending millions of dollars in an effort to be seen as the dominant space power in Asia. The effort is not entirely for its scientific value. Prestige and billions of dollars are expected to flow to the winning nation’s aerospace business.

October Events

1 Sunrise, 6:33 a.m.; sunset, 6:17 p.m. Moon in first quarter, 3:11 p.m. Look to the east about 30 minutes before sunrise where Mercury, Jupiter, and the bright star Regulus form an ascending line from the horizon.

5 Mars is to the immediate left of the moon an hour after sunset. The prominent lone star well below is Fomalhaut.

10 Full moon, 3:27 a.m. See Moon Myths and Fables at the beginning of the column for the names associated with the full moon of October.

13 If you are out and about during the late evening, look for the gibbous moon with the Pleiades star cluster above, and orange Aldebaran below, it.

14 Moon at apogee, or furthest distance from the Earth, tonight.

17 The moon shines in the eastern predawn sky. The star to its lower right is Saturn.

18 Moon in last quarter, 8:32 a.m.

21 The Orionid meteor shower peaks around this date. Look for very fast, bright meteors that leave a persistent trail. Density may be up to 25 meteors per hour. The thin crescent moon is in the east an hour before dawn where the bright star below it is Jupiter. Regulus is to the moon’s upper right.

23 The sun enters the astrological sign of Scorpio but, astronomically, is still in Virgo, which it entered on Sept 17.

25 New moon, 8:50 a.m.

26 This is the last Sunday in October, so be sure to set your clocks back one hour as we return to Standard Time. The moon is at perigee, or closest approach to the Earth. If you look to the southwest about half an hour after sunset, you will see the crescent moon with brilliant Venus to its immediate right. Check the moon again 24 hours later to see red-orange Antares directly to its left.

31 Halloween, a cross-quarter day marking the midpoint between the fall equinox and winter solstice. The sun enters Libra on the ecliptic. Sunrise, 6:12 a.m.; sunset, 4:26 p.m.

Clair Wood taught physics and chemistry for more than a decade at Eastern Maine Technical College in Bangor.