Tour of the Sky: October 2006
3 Oct 2006, 13:54 UTC
The harvest moon hangs round and highIt dodges clouds
high in the sky,The stars wink down their love and mirthThe Autumn
season is giving birth.Oh, it must be OctoberThe leaves of red bright
gold and brown,To Mother Earth come tumbling down,The breezy nights the
ghostly sights,The eerie spooky far off soundsAre signs that it's
October.The pumpkins yellow, big and roundAre carried by costumed clumsy
clownsIt's Halloween - let's celebrate.
- Pearl N. Sorrels, It Must be October
Observations are for 9pm for the mid northern/southern latitudes
(around 35 deg N/S).
Great site for sunrise and sunset
times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards
Download this month's sky map!
Northern hemisphere sky
mapSouthern hemisphere sky
map
Also visit
James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere October
sky.
Key Dates for October
Days and Times in UT (help with
time)
Astronomical
October
Comet Swan (C/2006 M4) starts the month in Coma Berenices and ends the month
in Hercules
5
-Moon near Uranus possible occultation for S.America and S. Africa check out
the International
Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) to see if you can view the occultation
in your area
6
-Moon at perigee (14:00
UT) at 357,410 km
7
-Full Moon (3:15 UT)closest to equinox so the Harvest Moon.
9
-Waning Gibbous moon near the Pleiades. Grazing or occultations are possible
so check the (IOTA) to see if
you can view the occultation in your area!
9
-Draconids
Meteor Shower Peak moon may interfere with late viewing after midnight
10
-Asteroid 2006
SG7 near Earth Flyby
13
-Dwarf planet Eris (fka Zena or UB313) closest approach to Earth 95.9
AU
14
-Last Quarter Moon 00:26 UT
15
-Moon near the Beehive cluster -M44
17
-Mercury at greatest elongation (4 UT) 25 deg east of the sun in the evening
sky
19
-Moon at apogee (the furtherest point from Earth 406,500 km)
21
-Orionid
meteor shower -peak 14:05 UT
22
-New Moon 5:14 UT
24
-Waxing crescent moon 10 degrees SE of Jupiter and Mercury 3.5ish degrees S
of Jupiter
27
-Venus at superior conjunction (not visible) moves to the evening
sky
28
-Mercury stationary moving to retrograde
29
-Neptune stationary moving to prograde
30
-First Quarter Moon 11:04 UT
Historical
...Did you know?
October
4
-1957 Sputnik 1 becomes the first man made object to orbit the
earth
5
-Birth of Robert Goddard, 1882 father of modern rocketry
7
-Birth of Neils Bohr, 1885 pioneer of atomic physics
8
-Birth of Ejnar Hertzsprung, 1873 who suggested the relationship between
star color and luminosity
10
-160th Anniversary (1846), William Lassell's Discovery of Neptune Moon
Triton
12
-Astronomical Society of France's 115th Birthday (1891)
-1892 E.E. Barnard was the first to discover a comet using
astrophotography
24
-155th Anniversary (1851), William Lassell's Discovery of Uranus Moons
Umbriel and Ariel
25
-335th Anniversary (1671), Giovanni Cassini's Discovery of Saturn Moon
Iapetus
28
-35th Anniversary (1971), Great Britian's First Space Launch
(Prospero)
30
-25th Anniversary (1981), Venera 13 Launch (USSR Venus Lander/Flyby
Mission)
EventsOct 14th -Sally Ride
Science Festival, California State University Los AngelesOct 15th -European Southern
Observatory (ESO) Headquarters Open House Day, Garching, GermanyOct
18-21 - Eldorado Star
Party, near Eldorado, TexasOct 18-22 - 24th Annual Deep South Regional
Star Gaze, near Norwood, LouisianaOct 18-22 - 17th Annual Mason Dixon Star
Party, near Wellsville, Pennsylvania Oct 19-22 - Nightfall Star Party,
Borrego Springs, CaliforniaOct 28 - Sally Ride
Science Festival, Houston, Texas at RICE
UNIVERSITY!Oct 28 - Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour
tonight if you are changing to standard time (ahhh, and extra hour of sleep)
Earth's major motions for 2006
Perihelion
Jan 4
Equinox
Mar 20 18:26(UT)
Solstice
June 21 12:26(UT)
Aphelion
July 3
Equinox
Sept 23 04:03(UT)
Solstice
Dec 22 00:22(UT)
Planet Positions for 2006
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Venus
Sgr
Sgr
Cap
Aqr
Psc
Ari
Tau
Cnc
Leo
Vir
Lib
Sgr
Mars
Ari
Tau
Tau
Gem
Gem
Cnc
Leo
Leo
Vir
Vir
Lib
Sco
Jupiter
Lib
Lib
Lib
Lib
Lib
Lib
Lib
Lib
Lib
Lib
Lib
Sco
Saturn
Cnc
Cnc
Cnc
Cnc
Cnc
Cnc
Cnc
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Comets for October
Gary Kronk's comet and
meteor pagesSkyhound
Comet pages
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Music Scottish Guitar
Quartet -"Near the Circle"Mark
Heimonen - "Celebration"I
Awake - "New Time Nomads"
