STAR TRAK for October
Jupiter. Photo courtesy of NASA
As the short nights of summer give way to the longer nights of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, Jupiter will come into view above the southeastern horizon as the sun sets. The huge planet will be much brighter than any other object in the sky this month, reaching opposition on the night of Oct. 28-29. Since it will be opposite the sun in our sky, it will be visible all night, reaching its highest point in the south around midnight.
Opposition also marks a planet's closest approach to Earth, so Jupiter will be a magnificent sight in any telescope. For the best views, wait until mid-evening when it will be above the atmospheric turbulence close to the horizon. In addition to the planet's many surface features, at least four of its moons will be visible. Galileo first observed these moons in 1610 and immediately realized their importance: they showed that Earth is not the center of all celestial motions, as nearly everyone before then had believed.
Venus will be visible very low in the southwest shortly after sunset. For viewers at mid-northern latitudes, it will set just a half hour after the sun at the beginning of the month and about an hour after sunset by month's end.
Mercury will appear below Venus in the last week of October, so low in bright twilight that binoculars will be needed to see it.
Mars passed through the Beehive star cluster of the constellation Cancer the Crab on the morning of Oct. 1, providing a fine sight in binoculars and telescopes as well as a great opportunity for photographs. The red-orange planet rose around 2 a.m. local time and was high in the southeast by dawn. It will spend the rest of the month moving toward the bright white star Regulus in the constellation Leo the Lion.
Saturn will pass through conjunction with the sun on Oct. 13, emerging into the morning sky during the second half of the month. On Oct. 31, about a half hour before sunrise, the yellow planet will be almost 10 degrees high in the east-southeast with the bright white star Spica nearby to its right.
Meteor shower
The Orionid meteor shower will peak before the first light of dawn on Oct. 22. Try watching around 2 a.m. local daylight saving time, shortly before the third-quarter moon rises. The Orionids appear to originate from the constellation Orion the Hunter. Orion will rise before midnight in the east southeast, and the number of meteors will increase as it gets higher above the horizon. The shower will be active for most of October, with the number of meteors gradually increasing from the start and declining after the peak. The Orionid meteors are dust particles from Halley's Comet, left behind in the comet's orbit.
Moon phases
The moon will be at first quarter on Oct. 3, full on Oct. 11, at third quarter on Oct. 19 and new on Oct. 26.
This year astronomers have designated Oct. 8 as Observe the Moon Night. Groups around the world have planned events for this night. For details, visit http://www.observe … nnight.org/.
Provided by
Indiana University
-
From lemons to lemonade: Reaction uses carbon dioxide to make carbon-based semiconductor,
32 comments
-
Thioridazine kills cancer stem cells in human while avoiding toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments,
3 comments
-
SpaceX private rocket blasts off for space station (Update),
42 comments
-
Climate scientists say they have solved riddle of rising sea,
31 comments
-
SpaceX capsule has 'new car' smell, astronauts say (Update),
3 comments
-
Distance of planets from stars and revolution
1 hour ago
-
revamping general concept and cosmological principle
May 25, 2012
-
Transiting Exoplanet Light Curve
May 25, 2012
-
Math behind Theoretical Physics
May 24, 2012
-
Do we know whats at the center of galaxies yet?
May 23, 2012
-
Structure of the Milky Way?
May 20, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - General Astronomy
More news stories
Yale study concludes public apathy over climate change unrelated to science literacy
Are members of the public divided about climate change because they don't understand the science behind it? If Americans knew more basic science and were more proficient in technical reasoning, would public consensus match ...
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
8
|
10 million years needed to recover from mass extinction
It took some 10 million years for Earth to recover from the greatest mass extinction of all time, latest research has revealed.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
1
|
Sophisticated simulations predict future warming
The chances of our planet being hit by a global warming of 3 degrees Celsius by 2050 is as likely as it being hit by an increase of 1.4 degrees, new research shows. Presented in the journal Nature Geoscience, the British study ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 22, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (9) |
51
Aliens don't want to eat us, says former SETI director
Alien life probably isn’t interested in having us for dinner, enslaving us or laying eggs in our bellies, according to a recent statement by former SETI director Jill Tarter.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 25, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (14) |
39
Kyoto Protocol architect 'frustrated' by climate dialogue
UN climate talks are going nowhere, as politicians dither or bicker while the pace of warming dangerously speeds up, one of the architects of the Kyoto Protocol told AFP.
May 23, 2012 |
3.7 / 5 (7) |
39
'Unzipped' carbon nanotubes could help energize fuel cells, batteries
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes riddled with defects and impurities on the outside could replace some of the expensive platinum catalysts used in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, according to scientists at ...
T cells 'hunt' parasites like animal predators seek prey, study shows
By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement ...
Computer model used to pinpoint prime materials for efficient carbon capture
When power plants begin capturing their carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases – and to most in the electric power industry, it's a question of when, not if – it will be an expensive undertaking.
Change in developmental timing was crucial in the evolutionary shift from dinosaurs to birds: study
At first glance, it's hard to see how a common house sparrow and a Tyrannosaurus Rex might have anything in common. After all, one is a bird that weighs less than an ounce, and the other is a dinosaur that ...
Same gene that stunts infants' growth also makes them grow too big: research
UCLA geneticists have identified the mutation responsible for IMAGe* syndrome, a rare disorder that stunts infants' growth. The twist? The mutation occurs on the same gene that causes Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, which makes ...
Scientists develop ultra-sensitive test that detects diseases in their earliest stages
Scientists have developed an ultra-sensitive test that should enable them to detect signs of a disease in its earliest stages, in research published today in the journal Nature Materials.
Oct 04, 2011
Rank: 1.4 / 5 (9)
a.) Is composed of different elements than the Sun [1,2], and
b.) Contains a much higher proportion of elements and isotopes made by rapid neutron capture [3,4], the r-process.
1. "Isotope ratios: The key to elemental abundances and nuclear reactions in the Sun"
www.omatumr.com/a...book.pdf
2. "Abundances of Hydrogen and Helium Isotopes in Jupiter"
www.omatumr.com/a...ietz.pdf
3. "Isotopic ratios in Jupiter confirm intra-solar diffusion"
www.lpi.usra.edu/...5011.pdf
4. "Excess Xe-136 in Jupiter"
www.omatumr.com/D...Data.htm
With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
Former NASA Principal
Investigator for Apollo
http://myprofile....anuelo09
Oct 04, 2011
Rank: 4.4 / 5 (7)
a.) Is composed of different elements than the Sun [1,2]..."
Oliver, what *elements* are found on Jupiter that are absent in the Sun?
Oct 04, 2011
Rank: 4.3 / 5 (6)
Oct 07, 2011
Rank: 1.5 / 5 (8)
In fact I recognized the danger of receiving manipulated data.
That is why in 1998 I obtained the original 1995 isotope data directly from the NASA Administrator himself [1], after being falsely told that the Galileo probe confirmed the Bilderberg model of the Sun as a steady H-fusion reactor [2].
It is not. That fact is being released in Phase 2 of the Plan.
Keep trying. Do not know forget Phase 3.
1. "Isotopic ratios in Jupiter confirm intra-solar diffusion",
Meteorites Planets Sci 33-A97, 5011 (1998)
www.lpi.usra.edu/...5011.pdf
2. The Bilderberg solar model, Solar Physics 3, 5-25 (1968)
http://adsabs.har....3....5G
3. Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6; Qur'an 17.85
Don't forget: Good comrades share information.
Oct 07, 2011
Rank: 3.9 / 5 (7)
Oct 07, 2011
Rank: 4.2 / 5 (5)
Oct 08, 2011
Rank: 1.6 / 5 (7)
www.youtube.com/w...IFmZpFco
The data has been posted on my web page for years. Links to the data were published in some of our papers and presentations at science conferences within a few months.
Is there an excuse for hiding experimental data that falsified ridiculous claims that
a.) Earth's heat source is a steady H-fusion reactor, and
b.) Man-made CO2-induced global warming?
Confidence in world leaders and in government science suffered.
The data belongs to the PUBLIC!
You, me, and everyone else.
Oct 08, 2011
Rank: 4.3 / 5 (6)
Oct 08, 2011
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
I have read them and he knows it. Clearly he has ample time considering the number of posts he makes has been increasing.
Where is evidence for Iron in the those solar flare images you like to use? They only have TRACES of iron.
Where is the evidence that neutrons repel each other in a way that is different from the Pauli Exclusion Principle?
Where is someone that supports your idea that the Sun is a pulsar? And how did that a pulsar form IF there is such a thing as neutron repulsion?
Since you are now claiming that neutron repulsion can blow galaxies apart how did they form in the first place since with neutron repulsion of that magnitude even stars WITH neutron stars in them could not form nor could they retain planets.
The papers do NOT cover these.
Ethelred
Oct 09, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Of course, the experimental measurements are never manipulated in these people's minds. Only the data that disagrees with them. Typical and oh so shallow.
Do you happen to live down the street or next door to neal adams?