Eyes on the Sky Update: October 2024
Wednesday, Oct. 2 – New Moon at 2:49 p.m., Annular (Ring) Eclipse of the Sun visible from the southwest Pacific Ocean, passes through Easter Island.
Wednesday, Oct. 2 – Micro New Moon at 4 p.m., most distant new moon of the year at 252,597 miles.
Saturday, Oct. 5 – Thin, waxing crescent moon very low in the southwest and to the lower left of Venus, start looking before 7 p.m., might need binoculars because of twilight sky.
Thursday, Oct. 10 – First Quarter Moon occurs at 2:55 p.m. on the eastern side of Sagittarius and to the left of the Sagittarius “teapot” star pattern.
Sunday, Oct. 13 – Start watching this month for Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas in the west-southwest early evening sky, use binoculars. Please see the September HVCC Eyes on the Sky video for a sky map of the comet’s location.
Monday, Oct. 14 – Waxing Gibbous Moon appears just east of Saturn. The pair is in the southeast at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 16 – The Moon at its closest for the month at 221,937 miles.
Thursday, Oct. 17 – Super Hunter’s Full Moon and closest full moon of the year. This is the third supermoon in as many months and the last for the year.
Sunday, Oct. 20 – Monday, October 21 – Waning Gibbous Moon appears above Jupiter. Look low in northeast after 9 p.m., high in east by midnight, very high in south by 5 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 20 – Monday, Oct. 21 – Peak of Orionid meteor shower, best viewed from late Sunday evening until dawn under dark skies, but the light of the waning gibbous moon will interfere. The Orionids usually provide an enhancement of 20 meteors per hour over the background rate. This meteor shower is created by particles left behind in the orbit of Comet Halley. It’s named after the constellation of Orion because the meteors appear to radiate from this region of the sky.
Monday, Oct. 23 – Waning Gibbous Moon above Mars in southeast at 6 a.m.
Thursday, Oct. 24 – Last Quarter Moon occurs at 4:03 a.m. against the faint stars of Cancer and is positioned to the lower left of Mars.
Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Thin, waning lunar crescent in eastern sky after 5 a.m.
Editor’s Note: Richard Monda, is an assistant professor of Astornomy and Physics in the Biology, Chemistry and Physics Department and the creator of HVCC Eyes on the Sky, a YouTube video series.