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Michigan Celestial Highlights, October 2016
By Robert Victor
New Moon occurred on Fri. Sept. 30 at 8:11 p.m. EDT, invisible as it passed close to
the Sun. Each day it is getting bigger, setting later, and is easier to see. Here’s some
highlights of what you can see for the moon followed by some tips on viewing the
planets throughout October.
On Tuesday the 4th, look for Venus about 12 degrees lower right of the Moon.
On Wed. Oct. 5, look for Saturn 5 or 6 degrees to the left of the Moon. and on
Thursday evening within 8 degrees to the Moon’s lower right. Note the reddish star
Antares twinkling just over 6 degrees below Saturn.
On Friday Oct. 7, look for Mars 8 degrees lower left of the Moon. On Sat. Oct. 8,
Mars will appear 8 degrees to the lower right of the Moon. On both those nights,
MSU Observatory will be hosting Public Observing Nights. The Observatory is
located in the far south campus, at the corner of Forest and College Roads, and just
west of the Agriculture Expo Pavilion. In addition to the 24-inch telescope in the dome,
you can look through several portable telescopes set up in the parking lot just west of
the entrance to the Observatory. The Moon, nearly half full and ideal for viewing
with telescopes and binoculars, will be spectacular! Be sure to arrive right at the
start of the session for a view of Saturn – the ringed planet sets in the first hour.
Deep-sky objects for close-up views will include double and multiple stars such as
Albireo and Epsilon Lyrae, star clusters such as M13, M11, M15, and the Pleiades, and
the Andromeda Galaxy.
JOIN US FOR INTERNATIONAL OBSERVE THE MOON NIGHT, SATURDAY, OCT. 8
Saturday, October 8, is International Observe the Moon Night 2016, so on that
night, MSU Observatory will be hosting observing outside, and activities inside,
rain or shine!
You can start your evening earlier at the Abrams Planetarium and see their current
feature show, Back to the Moon for Good, at 8pm. More information on the show and
ticket prices can be found at
www.abramsplanetarium.org/Programs/Public.html
The Moon on Oct. 8 will feature a trio of craters, Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and
Arzachel, well placed near the Moon’s terminator, the landscape where the Sun is
just rising, causing lunar surface features to cast long shadows, giving us
spectacular views! Ptolemaeus is a “walled plain” nearly 100 miles in diameter
with a smooth floor originating from a lava flow. Alphonsus, about 75 miles
across, contains on its floor a prominent central mountain, craters, and hills. The
obviously deep crater Arzachel, 60 miles across, has walls nearly 4 miles high
and a central mountain over 1.6 miles high.
Here’s how the planets are arranged on the night after Observing the Moon Night:
Besides these three planets, other prominent objects at dusk include golden
Arcturus sinking in the west, and blue-white Vega northwest of overhead, with Deneb
and Altair, completing the Summer Triangle.
The Full Moon of Sat. Oct. 15 rises just north of due east a few minutes after sunset
that evening. The waning Moon rises later each night, shifting farther north along the
horizon nightly through Oct. 20. Here are moonrise times for the Lansing area:
Sat. Oct. 15
Sun. Oct. 16
Mon. Oct. 17
Tue. Oct. 18
Wed. Oct. 19
Thu. Oct. 20
Fri. Oct. 21
6:59 p.m.
7:38 p.m.
8:20 p.m.
9:07 p.m.
9:59 p.m
10:55 p.m.
11:55 p.m.
6° N of east (Full, Hunter’s Moon)
13° N of east
18° N of east
22° N of east
25° N of east
26° N of east (northernmost moonrise)
25° N of east
In the Lansing area at 10:00 p.m. EDT on the evening of Tues. Oct 18, binoculars
will show a bright star, Aldebaran, just 2 degrees to the lower left of the Moon,
low in ENE. Four fainter stars of the nearby Hyades star cluster disappear behind the
Moon’s bright edge and reappear at the dark edge between 10:05 p.m. and 11:46 p.m.
(telescope needed). By 1:41 a.m. EDT, the sunlit edge of the Moon will cover firstmagnitude Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, the Bull. Aldebaran remains hidden by the Moon
until 2:27 a.m., when the star reappears at the Moon’s narrow dark edge. Even though
this is the brightest star the Moon can occult (cover), a telescope will still be required to
observe the star disappear and reappear, since the Moon is very bright, only three days
past Full.
Watch the planets move! In the evening sky in October 2016, Venus goes east 1.2°
per day against background stars, while Mars goes east about 0.7° daily. Follow their
progress easily from one night to next for several evenings around dates when planet
passes a star. Binoculars make it easier to see fainter stars in less than favorable
conditions, such as during twilight, or on bright moonlit nights, or under the light-polluted
skies of the Lansing area.
Track Venus for a few evenings around following dates when it passes close to a
background star: October 5, when Venus passes 0.8° lower left of 3rd-magnitude Alpha
in Libra, also known as Zubenelgenubi, the southern claw of an early, larger version of
the Scorpion; Oct. 20, when Venus passes within 1° above 2nd-mag. Delta Scorpii, the
middle of the three stars in the head of the Scorpion; Oct. 26, when Venus passes 3.1°
north (upper right) of first-magnitude Antares; and Oct. 29, when Venus passes 3.0°
south (lower left) of Saturn.
Watch Mars on Oct. 6, as it passes 0.2° below 3rd-mag. Lambda Sagittarii, marking top
of the Teapot. This star is also known as Kaus Borealis, northern star of the Archer’s
bow. On Oct. 15, Mars passes within 1.3° north (upper right) of 2nd-mag. Nunki, or
Sigma in Sagittarius, brightest star in handle of the Teapot.
Venus will close in on Mars until Feb. 1, 2017, but will fall just over 5° short of
overtaking it.
Saturn, the only other bright evening planet, moves only 2.7° east during Oct. 1-31,
averaging less than 0.1° per day. On Friday, Oct. 7, Saturn appears midway between
Venus & Mars, 25° from each. Throughout Oct., Saturn remains just over 6° from
Antares, but the first-magnitude star, lower and fainter than Saturn, becomes harder to
see as it sinks into twilight in the closing days of October.
Mornings: Just before the start of twilight Sept. 29-Oct. 12 and Oct. 29-Nov. 11, from a
very dark place, try for the zodiacal light, from sunlight reflected off comet and asteroid
dust in the plane of the solar system. Look for a huge pyramid of faint light extending
upward from the eastern horizon toward the star Regulus in Leo.
Low in the east during morning twilight in Oct., bright, emerging Jupiter replaces
Mercury. Using binoculars about 40 minutes before sunrise, see both planets for a few
days around Oct. 11. The best mornings are Oct. 10-12: The planets are 1.6 degrees
apart on Mon. Oct. 10, with Jupiter to the lower right of Mercury. They appear closest,
0.8 degrees apart, on Tues. Oct. 11, with Jupiter to the south (right) of Mercury.
They’re 1.8 degrees apart on Wed. Oct. 12, with Jupiter to the upper right.
On Friday, Oct. 21, in the predawn darkness hours, watch for the peak of the
Orionid meteor shower, consisting of particles from Halley’s Comet. The number of
meteors seen will be somewhat reduced by the light of the waning gibbous Moon, about
1.5 days before Last Quarter (half moon) phase.
On Fri. Oct. 28, a waning crescent Moon, two days before New, will appear 1.5°
lower left of Jupiter in morning twilight. On Sat. morning, Oct. 29, the last old
crescent will appear 13° lower left of Jupiter. Binoculars will help you pick out
emerging Spica, just 5° to the lower right of the delicate crescent. New Moon occurs on
Sunday, Oct. 30, at 1:38 p.m. EDT.
On Monday evening, Oct. 31, 30 minutes after sunset, the young crescent Moon
will be 4 degrees up in WSW, 25° lower right of Venus.