October 2017

Sky Report - October 2017

By Dr. Bob Doyle, Emeritus Faculty
Dr. Doyle taught and was Planetarium Director at Frostburg State University for over 40 years

First Quarter of October (Oct 1-8)

Local sunrises are about 7:15 a.m. while sunsets are about 6:50 p.m. Sunlight each day lasts about 11 hrs. and 40 min. October opens with a gibbous moon (more than half full), which grows to full on Thursday, October 5. This full moon is the Harvest Moon that supplies extra evening moonlight for the following 4 nights. Colonial farmers could use this extra moonlight to work their fields after sunset. For in the nights after the Harvest Moon, the moon would rise only about a half hour later each evening, compared to the usual 50 minutes delay. This difference is due to the moon’s orbit making a low angle to the eastern horizon in early fall. In the current evening sky, only the planet Saturn can be seen, low in the Southwest at dusk. Bright planets shine more steadily than the night stars. The dawn sky features the brilliant planet Venus and the dimmer planet Mars low in the East. On the morning of October 5, Venus and Mars will nearly line up, separated by less than one moon width. There’s no danger of a collision as Mars is about 100 million miles further away. Look at this planetary pairing about 6 a.m. any clear dawn in early October. There will be 3 FSU planetarium shows in early October: October 4 at 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and October 7 at 6 p.m. These programs are free to the public and are held in room 186 of the Gira Center.

Second Quarter of October (Oct 9-16)

Local sunrises are about 7:23 a.m. with sunsets about 6:40 p.m. Sunlight each day lasts about 11 hrs. and 20 min. The moonrise is shifting from late in the evening to past midnight in mid October. At dawn on October 12, the moon appears half full (like a reversed ‘D’) in the southern dawn. The crescent moon will pass by Leo’s heart star Regulus at dawn on October 15. The evening sky features the Big Dipper low in the North. The Summer Triangle of three bright stars shines in the West. The Southern evening sky is rather dull with the faint star groups of Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces and the Southern Fish. There is only one bright star in the South, the star Fomalhaut in the mouth of the Southern Fish.

Third Quarter of October (Oct 17-24)

Local sunrises are about 7:30 a.m. with sunsets about 6:30 p.m. Sunlight each day lasts about 11 hrs. On October 17, the crescent moon appears near the brilliant planet Venus and the planet Mars low in the eastern dawn. On October 19, the moon shifts from the morning to the evening side of the sun. A few days later, you can see a crescent moon low in the western dusk. There will be a meteor shower whose meteors stream out of the star group Orion in the early morning sky. Orion has three stars in a row marking his belt. Best mornings for meteor watching will be October 20th and 21st. In the evening sky, the crescent moon will appear above the planet Saturn low in the southwestern dusk on October 24. There will be 2 FSU Planetarium shows on October 18 at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. The Planetarium is in room 186 of the Gira Center.

Last Quarter of October (Oct 25-31)

Local sunrises are about 7:40 a.m. with sunsets about 6:20 p.m. Sunlight each day lasts about 10 hrs. and 40 min. On October 27th, the evening moon appears half full (like a tilted ‘D’), offering good views of its craters and elevations through a telescope. At the end of October, the 7 Sisters star cluster, resembling a tangle of fireflies can be seen low in the Northeast as darkness falls. The first rising of this star formation at dusk marked the last day of the Celtic year. On this night, the Celts believed that those who had died that year who had been wronged would emerge from the graves to take revenge. Black cats would turn into black horses, to be ridden by witches across the countryside. The bright golden star Capella appears in the Northeast to the left of the 7 Sisters star cluster. Below the 7 Sisters star cluster is the bright orange star Aldebaran, marking the eye of Taurus, the Bull.

Contact Us

Dr. Jason Speights

Director of the MLC
Associate Professor of Physics

Email (preferred): jcspeights@frostburg.edu
Phone: 301.687.4339
Office: Gira CCIT 189

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Department of Chemistry and Physics
Frostburg State University
101 Braddock Road
Frostburg, MD 21532-2303

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