The big news this month is something you can appreciate during daylight hours – a partial eclipse of the Sun which takes place on Saturday, October 14th. The eclipse starts at 11:44 am.
See here for more details on timing and what you can expect to see in Virginia:
Eclipse Timing
A nice place to view the eclipse and learn some history at the same time is Sky Meadows State Park which will be holding one their Fall Farm Days:
Sky Meadows State Park
Remember to view the eclipse safely with specialized glasses or indirectly. There are ISO certified glasses available on Amazon, but be sure to check they are indeed certified:
Eclipse Safety
Here are Jeff’s calculations for this month
Jeff’s Corner
NOVAC Observing Report
Jupiter Eclipse Events on Friday and Saturday Nights
Oct 1 2:24 AM Europa Eclipse Start (S -49 J 160 63)
Oct 8 5:00 AM Europa Eclipse Start (S -26 J 249 52)
Oct 13 9:03 PM Io Eclipse Start (S -30 J 95 17)
Oct 20 10:58 PM Io Eclipse Start (S -52 J 121 45)
Oct 28 12:52 AM Io Eclipse Start (S -64 J 174 64)
The Sun
Oct 8 will rise at 7:11 AM, will set at 6:40 PM
The Moon
Oct 6 Last Quarter
Oct 14 New Moon
Oct 21 First Quarter
Oct 28 Full Moon
Events
Oct 14 Annular solar eclipse (begins 12:00 noon, maximum 1:19 PM,
ends 2:39 PM)
Oct 20 Mercury is in superior conjunction (Mercury behind the Sun)
Oct 21 The Orionid meteor shower peaks (active Oct 2 to Nov 7)
Oct 23 Venus is at greatest western elongation (Venus about 43 degrees above
the horizon at sunrise from Oct 15 to Oct 26)
Oct 28 Partial lunar eclipse (maximum at 6:09 PM)
The Planets
Oct 8
rises transits sets
Mercury 6:26 AM 12:27 PM 6:27 PM
Venus 3:30 AM 10:05 AM 4:39 PM
Mars 8:14 AM 1:43 PM 7:12 PM
Jupiter 7:54 PM 2:48 AM 9:39 AM
Saturn 4:53 PM 10:14 PM 3:38 AM
mag diam notes for Oct 8
---- ----- ----------------
Mercury -1.2 5.1"
Venus -4.5 28.7"
Mars 1.6 3.7" WSW, 6*
Jupiter -2.9 48.4"
Saturn 0.6 18.3" SE, 18*
(* degrees elevation at sunset taking into account atmospheric refraction)
(mag = apparent magnitude, diam = apparent equatorial angular diameter)
