178At the beginning of October,
the planet Mars joins our
evening sky. It’s relatively close
to us in space. If you can see the
planetary disc of Jupiter with
binoculars or a small telescope,
you might try to see the disc
of Mars, which will be about
half the size of Jupiter and a bit
larger than the ball of Saturn.
Again, the month begins
with a full moon in the east,
but it will progress through its
crescent phase until it is “new”
on the 16th. It then “invades”
the evening sky as a thin
crescent and is full again for
the night of Halloween, rising
at about 6:30 p.m.
The Milky Way is no longer
the main fixture of a dark night
sky. In the late evening, it is
being replaced by the bright,
glittering stars of the winter
sky in the east.
Do you like to get your
bearings with respect to the
planets in our solar system
and have a fondness for Pluto?
Large telescopes will show the
dwarf planet Pluto between
Saturn and Jupiter. But it’s
too faint for most amateur
telescopes—four million times
fainter than Jupiter!
Day of MonthDay of WeekBegin Civil Twilight (h:m)Sunrise Time (h:m)Az. (Deg.)Transit Time (h:m)Az. (Deg.)Sunset Time (h:m)Az. (Deg.)
1 Thu 6:32 7:02 94 12:52 41S 18:42 266
2 Fri 6:33 7:03 95 12:52 41S 18:40 265
3 Sat 6:35 7:04 95 12:52 40S 18:38 265
4 Sun 6:36 7:05 96 12:51 40S 18:36 264
5 Mon 6:37 7:07 96 12:51 40S 18:35 263
6 Tue 6:38 7:08 97 12:51 39S 18:33 263
7 Wed 6:40 7:09 97 12:50 39S 18:31 262
8 Thu 6:41 7:10 98 12:50 38S 18:29 262
9 Fri 6:42 7:12 98 12:50 38S 18:27 261
10 Sat 6:43 7:13 99 12:50 38S 18:25 261
11 Sun 6:45 7:14 100 12:49 37S 18:24 260
12 Mon 6:46 7:16 100 12:49 37S 18:22 260
13 Tue 6:47 7:17 101 12:49 36S 18:20 259
14 Wed 6:49 7:18 101 12:49 36S 18:18 259
15 Thu 6:50 7:20 102 12:48 36S 18:16 258
16 Fri 6:51 7:21 102 12:48 35S 18:15 258
17 Sat 6:52 7:22 103 12:48 35S 18:13 257
18 Sun 6:54 7:24 103 12:48 35S 18:11 256
19 Mon 6:55 7:25 104 12:48 34S 18:10 256
20 Tue 6:56 7:26 104 12:47 34S 18:08 255
21 Wed 6:58 7:28 105 12:47 34S 18:06 255
22 Thu 6:59 7:29105 12:47 33S18:05 254
23 Fri 7:007:30 106 12:47 33S 18:03 254
24 Sat 7:017:32 106 12:47 33S 18:01 253
25 Sun 7:037:33 107 12:47 32S 18:00 253
26 Mon 7:047:35 107 12:47 32S 17:58 252
27 Tue 7:057:36 108 12:47 32S 17:57 252
28 Wed 7:07 7:37 108 12:47 31S 17:55 251
29 Thu 7:087:39 109 12:46 31S 17:54 251
30 Fri 7:097:40 109 12:46 31S 17:52 251
31 Sat 7:11 7:41 110 12:46 30S 17:51 250OCTOBER