By Heather Durham | September 30, 2022
Greetings, my friends and skywatchers!
Autumn has begun. October of this year will bring 7; yes, 7 meteor showers! And, as I’m sure you are aware, the first part of the DART mission was a resounding success. Hurricane Ian is in progress as of this writing and therefore, I am unsure as to the effect it will have on the Artemis mission. More about DART and Artemis in future editions. Now let’s review what we have in the skies this month. …
October 2. The new Moon will be at first quarter.
October 5. The Moon and Saturn will rise to the right and appear to orbit close to each other.
October 6. The October Camelopardalid meteor shower will be active this evening. Even though the Moon is just a few days away from being full, there still could be some good viewing.
October 8. Mercury will be at half phase and will orbit to its greatest elongation west. Both the Moon and Jupiter will rise to the right and appear close to one another.
October 9. The Draconid meteor shower will display today from the Constellation Draco. Mercury will have traveled to its highest altitude in the morning sky. The full Hunters Moon will appear this evening.
October 10. The Southern Taurid meteor shower will be on display this evening coming from the Constellation Cetus.
October 11. Today, will bring the δ-Aurigid meteor shower from the Constellation Auriga.
October 14. The Moon and Mars will closely approach one another.
October 15. The Moon and Mars will appear to rise towards the right in the sky.
October 17. The Moon will be in its final quarter today.
October 18. The ε-Geminid meteor shower will be on display tonight, coming from the Constellation Gemini.
October 21. The Orionid meteor shower will display tonight coming from the Constellation Orion.
October 24. The Leonis Minorid meteor shower will display tonight from the Constellation Leo Minor.
October 30. Mars enters retrograde motion which means that it will appear to orbit westward.
References:
Ford, D.F. (n.d.). 2022. Retrieved from in-the-sky.org.
NASA. (2022, September 20). DART. Retrieved from www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart/dart-news
Now Next. (2022, January 17). Don’t Miss! October 2022 Astronomy Events. Retrieved from youtu.be/SGRlm-8b0zo
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