The Sky This Week 2003 October 10 – 17
The Moon spends the week drifting through the rising stars of the winter sky, waning to Last Quarter which occurs on the 18th at 8:31 am Eastern Daylight Time. Luna may be found a few degrees away from the bright star Aldebaran on the mornings of the 14th and 15th. She stands just a few degrees north of Saturn high overhead just before dawn on the 17th.
The change of seasons is now fast upon us as the leaves on several of the Observatory’s maple trees are beginning to turn gold and red with the chill of night. One of the best sky legends comes to us from Native Americans, and involves a familiar constellation and the current time of year. If you go outside shortly after sunset and look to the north, you may see the stars of the Big Dipper low in the northwest in the deepening twilight. As the night progresses, the Dipper, which is part of the larger constellation known as the Great Bear, dips just below the horizon, only to rise, Phoenix-like, in the wee hours in the northeast. An Iroquois story recounts the annual hunt of the Great Bear by three hunters, who catch the bear and kill it as the weather turns cold. The blood from the bear’s wounds turn the trees a flaming red color, and the cycle repeats year after year.
Besides the changing leaves, the sky is filled with another ruddy glow in the south during the evening hours. The planet Mars is still a fine sight for the urban skywatcher as the week passes by. Even though he has faded by one full magnitude since his record close approach at the end of August, he still shines at a respectable -1.8, comparable in brightness to Jupiter. On the evening of the 10th the red planet lies half an Astronomical Unit from the Earth, a distance of some 46.5 million miles. That’s about 12 million miles more distant than he was just a few weeks ago! Nevertheless, the view of his distant ruddy face is still worth the effort of setting up the telescope. Summer has come to Mars’ southern hemisphere, and I’ve been having a great time watching the south polar cap shrinking from night to night.
The morning hours now feature Saturn high overhead in the first stages of twilight. The ringed planet gets a visit from the Moon by the week’s end, and if you want to set up the scope before breakfast this should also be a good excuse to look. Saturn’s rings will remain tipped to nearly their maximum extent for the rest of the year and into next, so you’ll always have a near picture-perfect view.
Jupiter is slowly climbing into the pre-dawn sky, and at 6:00 am he’s easy to spot in the east. He’s equal to Mars in brightness, but his hue is decidedly white compared to the delicate rose tint of Mars. Old Jove is still too low for a good view in the telescope, but you’ll have plenty of time to wait for him to ease into the evening sky.
