Tour of the Sky: October 2006

The harvest moon hangs round and high
It dodges clouds high in the sky,
The stars wink down their love and mirth
The Autumn season is giving birth.
Oh, it must be October
The leaves of red bright gold and brown,
To Mother Earth come tumbling down,
The breezy nights the ghostly sights,
The eerie spooky far off sounds
Are signs that it's October.
The pumpkins yellow, big and round
Are carried by costumed clumsy clowns
It's Halloween - let's celebrate.

- Pearl N. Sorrels, It Must be October

Observations are for 9pm for the mid northern/southern latitudes (around 35 deg N/S).

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere October sky.

Key Dates for October

Days and Times in UT (help with time)

Astronomical

October
	Comet Swan (C/2006 M4) starts the month in Coma Berenices and ends the month in Hercules
5	-Moon near Uranus possible occultation for S.America and S. Africa check out the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) to see if you can view the occultation in your area
6	-Moon at perigee (14:00 UT) at 357,410 km
7	-Full Moon (3:15 UT)closest to equinox so the Harvest Moon.
9	-Waning Gibbous moon near the Pleiades. Grazing or occultations are possible so check the (IOTA) to see if you can view the occultation in your area!
9	-Draconids Meteor Shower Peak moon may interfere with late viewing after midnight
10	-Asteroid 2006 SG7 near Earth Flyby
13	-Dwarf planet Eris (fka Zena or UB313) closest approach to Earth 95.9 AU
14	-Last Quarter Moon 00:26 UT
15	-Moon near the Beehive cluster -M44
17	-Mercury at greatest elongation (4 UT) 25 deg east of the sun in the evening sky
19	-Moon at apogee (the furtherest point from Earth 406,500 km)
21	-Orionid meteor shower -peak 14:05 UT
22	-New Moon 5:14 UT
24	-Waxing crescent moon 10 degrees SE of Jupiter and Mercury 3.5ish degrees S of Jupiter
27	-Venus at superior conjunction (not visible) moves to the evening sky
28	-Mercury stationary moving to retrograde
29	-Neptune stationary moving to prograde
30	-First Quarter Moon 11:04 UT

Historical

...Did you know?
October
4	-1957 Sputnik 1 becomes the first man made object to orbit the earth
5	-Birth of Robert Goddard, 1882 father of modern rocketry
7	-Birth of Neils Bohr, 1885 pioneer of atomic physics
8	-Birth of Ejnar Hertzsprung, 1873 who suggested the relationship between star color and luminosity
10	-160th Anniversary (1846), William Lassell's Discovery of Neptune Moon Triton
12	-Astronomical Society of France's 115th Birthday (1891)
	-1892 E.E. Barnard was the first to discover a comet using astrophotography
24	-155th Anniversary (1851), William Lassell's Discovery of Uranus Moons Umbriel and Ariel
25	-335th Anniversary (1671), Giovanni Cassini's Discovery of Saturn Moon Iapetus
28	-35th Anniversary (1971), Great Britian's First Space Launch (Prospero)
30	-25th Anniversary (1981), Venera 13 Launch (USSR Venus Lander/Flyby Mission)

Events

Oct 14th -Sally Ride Science Festival, California State University Los Angeles
Oct 15th -European Southern Observatory (ESO) Headquarters Open House Day, Garching, Germany
Oct 18-21 - Eldorado Star Party, near Eldorado, Texas
Oct 18-22 - 24th Annual Deep South Regional Star Gaze, near Norwood, Louisiana
Oct 18-22 - 17th Annual Mason Dixon Star Party, near Wellsville, Pennsylvania
Oct 19-22 - Nightfall Star Party, Borrego Springs, California
Oct 28 - Sally Ride Science Festival, Houston, Texas at RICE UNIVERSITY!
Oct 28 - Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour tonight if you are changing to standard time (ahhh, and extra hour of sleep)

Earth's major motions for 2006

Perihelion		Jan 4
Equinox		Mar 20 18:26(UT)
Solstice		June 21 12:26(UT)
Aphelion		July 3
Equinox		Sept 23 04:03(UT)
Solstice		Dec 22 00:22(UT)

Planet Positions for 2006

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Venus

Sgr

Sgr

Cap

Aqr

Psc

Ari

Tau

Cnc

Leo

Vir

Lib

Sgr

Mars

Ari

Tau

Tau

Gem

Gem

Cnc

Leo

Leo

Vir

Vir

Lib

Sco

Jupiter

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Lib

Sco

Saturn

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Cnc

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Comets for October

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

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Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Near the Circle"
Mark Heimonen - "Celebration"
I Awake - "New Time Nomads"