BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The full moon closest to the September equinox,
occurring on Oct. 2 this year, is traditionally called the Harvest Moon. It
rises in the east soon after sunset and seems to hang above the horizon as
it follows a shallow angle up into the sky, enabling farmers to continue
working in the fields to bring in the harvest. For a few days the moon will
rise only about 20-30 minutes later each night, instead of its usual 50
minutes later, so it will provide bright light for those working outdoors
after sunset.
Like other full moons, the Harvest Moon will appear yellow when it rises,
but its color will change to the usual white as it climbs above the dust and
other particles in Earth's atmosphere near the horizon.
Planets
Mars will be the only planet visible after sunset at the start of October,
an orange object appearing in the south and setting in the west around
midnight local time. Earth is continuing to move away from Mars, causing it
to grow smaller and fainter as the month advances.
Taking over the night sky in the place of Mars will be Saturn, which will
rise about two hours after the end of evening twilight at the beginning of
the month, but right after darkness falls by month's end. Saturn will glow
bright yellow in the constellation Taurus the Bull, outshining the bright
orange star Aldebaran nearby on its right (south). By midnight Saturn will
be easy to spot in the southeast, and a telescope will display its famous
rings. The best telescope view will be when Saturn is high in the
south-southwest before the start of morning twilight.
Jupiter will follow Saturn, rising two hours later in the constellation
Gemini the Twins. The bright stars Castor and Pollux will be on Jupiter's
left (north), with Castor above Pollux Already a brilliant white, Jupiter
will grow even brighter and larger during October. It will be high in the
south by the start of dawn.
Venus will continue to be a "morning star," rising just before the start of
twilight during October and outshining even Jupiter.
Venus will have a remarkable rendezvous with Mercury beginning Oct. 27. For
11 days, the two planets will be extremely close together very low in the
east-southeast about 45 minutes before sunrise. A clear view of the eastern
horizon will be necessary to see this rare event, and binoculars may help in
spotting much fainter Mercury slightly to the left (east) of Venus in the
brightening sky. This will be an excellent opportunity to see Mercury, which
can be difficult to find on its own. Brilliant Venus will mark the little
planet's location unmistakably.
Meteor shower
Viewing conditions will be favorable for the Orionid meteor shower when it
peaks on the night of Oct. 21-22. The moon will be near first quarter and
will set before 11 p.m. local time, leaving a dark sky for the hours after
midnight when most of the meteors will appear. The Orionids take their name
from the constellation Orion the Hunter, which is where they appear to
originate. Actually they are dust particles from Halley's Comet, left behind
in the comet's orbit as it passed by. Observers with a clear dark sky can
expect to see perhaps 10 meteors per hour after midnight, when Orion will be
fairly high above the east-southeastern horizon.
Moon phases
The moon will be full (the Harvest Moon) on Oct. 2, at third quarter on Oct.
10, new on Oct. 16 and at first quarter on Oct. 24.
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Star Trak is written monthly by Hal Kibbey of the Indiana University
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Oct 02 2001 - 14:46:38 MST