Astronomy - USA (2019-10)

CEN

CRV

BOÖ

VIR

CMi

LMi

CVn

PsA

CMa

LAC

GRU

PER AND

AUR

ORI TAU

CET

SCL

PHE

FOR

COL CAE

ERI

LY N

GEM

CNC

MON

PUP

PYX

VEL

ANT

CRT HYA

SEX

LEO

COM

PEG

PSC

LEP

Objects visible before dawn

Celestial equator

Sun

Dawn Midnight

Pat

h (^) o
f (^) th
e (^) M
oon
Pat
h^ o
f^ the
Sun
(ecl
iptic)
Moon phases
Neptune
Ma
rs
Asteroid Metis reaches
opposition October 25
Uranus reaches its
peak in late October
Asteroid Amphitrite reaches
opposition October 13
Lutetia
Vesta
Comet Africano
28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
Mercury Mars
Venus
Ceres
Ceres
Venus
Mars
Earth
Saturn
Neptune
Pluto
Jupiter
Jupiter
Mercury
Greatest eastern elongation
is October 19/20
Uranus
Opposition is
October 27/28
40 ASTRONOMY • OCTOBER 2019
THE PLANETS
IN THEIR ORBITS
Arrows show the inner
planets’ monthly motions
and dots depict the
outer planets’ positions
at midmonth from high
above their orbits.
To locate the Moon in the sky, draw a line from the phase shown for the day straight up to the curved blue line.
Date
Magnitude
Angular size
Illumination
Distance (AU) from Earth
Distance (AU) from Sun
Right ascension (2000.0)
Declination (2000.0)
PLANETS
Oct. 15
–0.1
6.1"
71%
1.097
0.448
14h47.2m
–18°46'
Oct. 31
–3.8
10.6"
94%
1.569
0.727
15h40.4m
–19°50'
MERCURY VENUS
PATHS OF THE PLANETS
THE PLANETS IN THE SKY
These illustrations show the size, phase,
and orientation of each planet and the two
brightest dwarf panets at 0h UT for the dates
in the data table at bottom. South is at the top
to match the view through a telescope.