Dark Sky News

October

Click here for the SAS Picture of the Month (October)!

Oct. 1 at 7:28pm and traveling right across the sky (overhead) from NW to SE! It’s only visible for about 7 minutes, so don’t miss it! It should be the brightest object in the sky (next to the Moon)!

Camelopardalis is a large constellation that represents a giraffe and sits between Ursa Major and Cassiopeia. Meteors are expected a peak rate of only 5 per hour, from a comet called 209P/LINEAR, discovered in 2004 with a period of 5.1 years.

Unfortunately might be hampered by the full moon! Generally unreliable, but in 2011, astronomers reported over 600 meteors per hour during the peak!

Gravitational perturbations from Jupiter have caused this meteor shower to split into two: one group (the Southern Taurids) peaking on Oct.10 and the other (the Northern Taurids) on Nov. 11! You can expect a maximum of about 5 meteors per hour.

Only two per hour expected, but hey…

Starting at 12:18 pm in Boston, maximum 17.4% coverage at 13:25:50, ending at 14:33:22. MUST USE A SOLAR FILTER – DO NOT LOOK WITH YOUR NAKED EYES!!!! You can see an animation here.

Event begins with Jupiter just passing the meridian! You’ll need a small telescope for this, but it’s worth it!

01:40 EST, Io’s shadow begins to cross Jupiter.
01:54 EST, Ganymede’s shadow begins to cross Jupiter.
02:04 EST, Io begins transit of Jupiter.
03:44 EST, Ganymede’s shadow leaves Jupiter’s disk.
03:46 EST, Ganymede begins transit of Jupiter.
03:50 EST, Io’s shadow leaves Jupiter’s disk.
04:12 EST, Io ends transit of Jupiter.
04:50 EST, Ganymede ends transit of Jupiter.

See a graphical visualization here.

There may be up to 21 meteors per hour during the shower’s peak (likely in the early morning hours of the 21st). Just look towards the Orion constellation in the eastern sky.

Look for the red star Regulus in the early morning of the 24th… only 2 meteors estimated per hour, but if you’re up, take a glance!

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