What's Happening in Space: October 2023

2^nd October (and 29^th October) – close approach / conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter

During the morning of 2^nd October, the waning gibbous moon will be in conjunction (sharing the same right ascension – coordinate) with Jupiter. At the time of conjunction (roughly 4:20am), the pair will be high in the southern sky – visible to the naked eye and through a pair of binoculars, but too far separated to be seen within the field of view of a telescope. If you aren’t an early riser, the pair will be visible in close approach from when they rise the previous evening around 7:45pm until sunrise on 2^nd October when Jupiter becomes drowned out by daylight. They will be in conjunction again at the end of the month on 29^th October but will have just set below the horizon at the point of conjunction. You can catch the pair in close approach in the earlier hours before sunrise on 29^th October looking towards the west. Find out more about conjunctions and other astronomical phenomena in our blog written by David Southworth in our Education Team: Astronomical phenomena (spacecentre.co.uk).

8^th/9^th October – peak of the Draconid meteor shower

A relatively weak meteor shower with ~ 10 meteors per hour at its peak, produced by dust left behind by Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. Active between 6-10^th October, the shower peaks on the evening of 8^th October into the early morning of 9^th October. And with the Moon in its waning crescent phase there will be little moonlight interference (only in the predawn hours). It’s still worth viewing from as dark a location as possible. The radiant will appear high in the north-west falling closer to the northern horizon as the night unfolds. Find an open location with clear views facing north and look away from the radiant in the constellation of Draco to scan the entire starry canvas above as meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. A blog about the Draconid meteor shower 2023 (written by Mike Darch in our Space Comms Team) will soon be up on our website: https://www.spacecentre.co.uk/news/space-now-blog/.

10^th October – close approach / conjunction of the Moon and Venus

During the mid-morning of 10^th October, the extremely thin crescent moon will be in conjunction (sharing the same right ascension – coordinate) with Venus, but Venus won’t be visible in the bright daylight. Instead look for the pair a little earlier, in the hours just before sunrise – they’ll be in close approach of one and other and will be very close to the eastern horizon, so try to find a clear observing location without tall buildings/trees that may usually block your view. They’ll be visible to the naked eye but too far separated to be seen within the field of view of binoculars or a telescope. Check out the astronomical phenomena blog above to find out more about conjunctions and other astronomical phenomena.

14^th October – new moon (6:55pm)

The new moon on 14^th will occur in the constellation of Virgo. We have a blog on ‘phases of the moon’ written by Mike Darch in our Space Comms team: What are the Phases of the Moon? (spacecentre.co.uk).

21^st/22^nd October – peak of the Orionid meteor shower

An average meteor shower with ~ 20 meteors per hour at its peak, produced by dust left behind by Halley’s Comet. The shower peaks on the evening of 21^st October into the early morning of 22^nd October, and the first quarter moon will set in the west before midnight so there will be minimal moonlight interference. The meteor shower is worth viewing from as dark a location as possible. The radiant will appear low in the east rising higher into the south-east as the night unfolds. Find an open location with clear views facing east and look away from the radiant in the constellation of Orion to scan the entire starry canvas above, as meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. A blog about the Orionid meteor shower 2023 will soon be up on our website: https://www.spacecentre.co.uk/news/space-now-blog/

23^rd October – Venus at greatest western elongation

Venus will be at its furthest separation from the Sun on 23^rd October when it reaches greatest western elongation, making it a great time to try and spot the brightest planet in the Solar System. Look to the east during the few hours before sunrise – it will be close to the horizon, so a clear view without tall buildings and trees would be helpful. Check out the astronomical phenomena blog above to find out more about greatest elongations.

28^th October – full moon (9:24pm) / partial lunar eclipse

Known as the Hunter’s moon (according to the old Farmers’ Almanac), this full moon marks the best time of the year to hunt, as animals would be plump from abundant food throughout the summer. Check out the “Full Moon: Full Facts” blog written by Mike Darch in our Space Comms team: Full Moons and Full Facts (spacecentre.co.uk). (Bonus: You might also be able to spot Jupiter which will be close by, just to the east of the full moon).

There will also be a partial lunar eclipse visible from Leicester which reaches maximum at 9:14pm. Unfortunately, the Earth's shadow will cover only a very small part of the Moon so you’re unlikely to see any visible change. Find out more about lunar eclipses in our blog written by Daniel Milankovic – one of our Duty Manager’s: https://www.spacecentre.co.uk/news/space-now-blog/what-is-a-lunar-eclipse/

29^th October – daylight savings ends (revert from BST to GMT/UTC)

To make better use of the daylight available in the UK between March and October, an hour of daylight is borrowed from the morning and added to the end of the day, so during those months we follow BST – British Summer Time. As we head into winter we revert to GMT / UTC (Greenwich Mean Time / Coordinated Universal Time) to allow the sunrise to arrive earlier and again make better used of the shorter daylight hours. At 2:00am on Sunday 29^th October the clocks will go back to 1:00am – yay, to an extra hour of sleep!