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Look Up!

Planetary Treats
Jupiter Has Rings?!
Dust Devils Draw on Martian Dunes!
Saturn’s Monstrous Ring!
Venus ~ The Beauty and the Beast
Where's the Messenger?
Celestial Delights
A Spooky Nebula
Pumpkin Moon? Hunter’s Moon? All Souls Day!
Watery Constellations ~ A Celestial Sea
A Square Replaces a Triangle
Plus ...
Sky Lights
Printable Date Table
Moon Dances 10/17-11/16
Moon Dances 11/16-12/16
The Night Sky ~ Home Page
Scorpio Navigation Page

Planetary Treats

Jupiter Has Rings?!

Image: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Above: A schematic diagram of Jupiter's inner satellites and rings. [more]

The following is culled from NASA's article Dark Rings. The full story is revealing!

In 1974 NASA's Pioneer 11 spacecraft flew right through Jupiter's rings without anyone knowing the rings were there. Five years passed before the cameras onboard Voyager 1 caught first sight of them March 5, 1979. The spacecraft from inside the planet's shadow was able to view the faintly sunlit rings--but just barely. Then on November 5, 2002, for the first time since Pioneer 11’s plunge, the Galileo spacecraft flew through the rings again. And this time scientists were ready.

They learned Jupiter's rings are made of fine dust grains similar to those in cigarette smoke. They are dark, barely reflecting 5% of the sunlight that hits them and they are spread so thin that the rings are almost transparent, making them hard to study. The dust comes from the small rocky moons orbiting Jupiter. These moons are constantly pelted by meteoroids, which burrow into the ground and explode. Jupiter's rings are the debris from those impacts.

Jupiter also has a humongous outer ring about 700,000 miles in diameter and it orbits Jupiter backwards! No one knows for sure, but this ring might be made of captured interplanetary and interstellar dust. In April 1998 Dr. Joshua Colwell said when speaking of this ring, "I suspect we may wind up seeing something similar at Saturn."

Hmmm … In October 2009 such a ring was detected around Saturn! See Saturn’s Monstrous Ring! below.

Jupiter pierces the twilight with it brilliance. This King of the Planets rules the night sky and is easily seen along the southern horizon, high in the south as evening begins. The planet sets in the southwest at 1:30am daylight time in the beginning of Scorpio and 10:45pm standard time at its end. The King is setting earlier as the weeks unfold. Enjoy his illuminating reign while it lasts!

Jupiter is located in the dim constellation Capricornus and at magnitude -2.4 far outshines any stars in its vicinity. Telescopic Neptune lies to the left of Jupiter at the northeast corner of Capricornus above its Delta star, Deneb Algedi. Helpful Image Jupiter lies between Gamma and Theta during November. Did you notice the open smiling shape of Capricornus? Look again! Jupiter in its forward, easterly motion is moving toward Neptune for a December solstice conjunction.

Mark Your Calendar!

The Moon in the vicinity of Jupiter is truly a planetary treat. Check it out Friday-Wednesday, October 23-28. The First Quarter Moon October 25 lies to the right of Jupiter. 10/25 Map/Text The following night October 26 the Moon lies closer to the planet. 10/26 Map Jupiter, moving away from the Earth, is dimming and will appear smaller, as the months unfold. Click Moon Dances for an additional map and meditative reflections.

Telescopic Jupiter

A small telescope shows Jupiter's bright equatorial zone and its two dark equatorial belts above and below it. The planet's tumultuous clouds provide colorful and energetic performances for small scope observers.

Earth's atmosphere tends to be turbulent right after sunset, which limits the detail you can see through a telescope. And Jupiter's lower altitude in late evening also adversely affects the view. Still, you should find many moments when our atmosphere settles down and the jovian disk comes into sharp focus. Astronomy Magazine 11/09

In 2009 the Earth, orbitally positioned above Jupiter's equator, is moving through the plane of Jupiter's satellites, allowing the planet's moons to line up in their special 6-year geometry.

Between April and December of 2009, observers around the world can see Jupiter's moons passing one in front of another as they circle the giant planet. As part of the International Year of Astronomy, professional astronomers are organizing a worldwide observing campaign to record as many of these events as possible. Click here for details. spaceweather.com 5/10/09

Jupiter's 2009 Satellite Phenomena ~ Complete List

Jupiter’s Moons
Sky & Telescope’s JavaScript utility helps
locate Jupiter’s four brightest satellites anytime
between January 1900–December 2100.
It also lists the satellite phenomena for the chosen day.

BTW: The four largest and brightest moons of Jupiter can be seen in a dark country sky with binoculars. They were first discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Click Galilean Moons to see what they look like and to learn more.

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Dust Devils Draw on Martian Dunes!

Image: HiRISE / MRO / LPL (U. Arizona) / NASA

The HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the above high-resolution picture of the surface of Mars. This image shows sand dunes in a crater bed located at the planet’s mid-north latitude. The swirling tattoo-like markings were drawn by Martian dust devils, whirlwinds dancing across the desert dunes.

If the ground gets heated, rising air can punch through cooler air above it. This starts up a convection cell, with warm air rising and cool air sinking. If there is a horizontal wind the cell can start spinning, creating a vortex … When a dust devil moves over the Martian surface, it can pick up the very light [red surface] dust particles, but not the heavier [darker] sand grains [made of basalt]. So those blue-grey swirls are tracks where the dust devil has vacuumed up the dust, revealing the darker sand underneath. If you look carefully in the tracks, you can see the sand dune ripples are undisturbed. Only the dust is gone. Discover Blogs / Bad Astronomy

In general dust devils last only a few minutes. People in dry desert areas of planet Earth have seen these mini-whirlwinds and have found them to be wonderfully mesmerizing. However, those on Mars can be quite devilish towering miles high and whipping red-brown sand and dust around at 70 miles per hour! Size Comparison Even more devilish, this moving sand and dust may become electrically charged creating miniature crackling and flashing lightning bolts!!! Sometimes Martian dust devils are “heaven sent” unexpectedly cleaning the solar panels of the Mars Exploration Rovers!

Take a closer look at the image. There’s a sloping dune peak cutting across the image from top left to lower right. The linear dark streaks found here are probably caused by sand sliding down the dune face. BTW: The shape of the dunes change depending on the wind patterns within in the crater.

Mars is a world. It’s not just a dot in the sky, it’s not just a set in a movie, it’s not just pictures from a space probe. It’s a planet, a vast complex system of interacting environments which produces climates, landscapes, vistas, weather. And man oh man, does it produce beauty, awe, and wonder. Wow. Discover Blogs / Bad Astronomy

Dust Devil at Soccer Game

More Martian Dunes

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: Home ~ HiRISE: Home

Mars is approaching Earth and is noticeably growing in size and brightness. Check it out. The planet rises in the east at 12:15am daylight time in the beginning of Scorpio and around 10:15pm standard time at its end. By dawn Mars can be seen overhead. The Gemini Twins Castor and Pollux, lie west of (above) Mars. Mid-Nov. 1am Map Shining at magnitude 0.2 Mars is brighter than the Twin stars.

Mark Your Calendar!

The Red Planet lies in the dim constellation of Cancer. Mars enters the Beehive star cluster at the heart of Cancer October 31and exits it November 3. Get out those binoculars to see the bees! 2am Star Map ~ 10/28-31 Beehive-Mars Map ~ 11/1-4 Beehive-Mars Map 

November 8 the waning Gibbous Moon lies in a diagonal alignment with the Gemini Twin stars west of (above) Mars; Saturn and Venus lie southeast of (below) Mars. 11/8 5:30am Sky Chart  November 9 the Last Quarter Moon lies near the planet. 11/9 2am Map ~ 11/9 5:30am Sky Chart. Click Moon Dances for an additional map and meditative reflections.

Telescoping Mars!

With an 8-inch scope or larger expect to see more and more details of Mars, especially by the end of November. Observe Mars the same time every night and it's distinctive features will appear to move backwards. This is due to the extra 37 minutes it takes Mars to rotate compared to Earth. If you want to observe the same feature in the same location the following evening, look about a half hour later. Mars is in its waxing gibbous phase now. Mars Oct. 20, 2009 ~ Four Faces of Mars

The most prominent feature will be the white north polar cap. Mars reached its spring equinox October 26. As the Sun climbs higher in the northern hemisphere sky, the polar cap begins to shrink noticeably. Earthbound observers will have a nice view because this cap now tilts toward us. Astronomy Magazine 11/09

The combined orbital motions of Mars and the Earth are bringing the two planets closer together and views of our Red Planet are getting better and better. Look Up! Mars reaches opposition and is at its best in January 2010.

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Saturn’s Monstrous Ring!

Image: Artist concept of the new Saturnian Ring.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt (SSC)
Inset Credit: (Saturn, Phoebe, and Iapetus) NASA / JPL / SSI.
Image: Courtesy Anne Verbiscer of U.Va for Universe Today

How big is it? It would take a billion Earths to fill the space occupied by this monstrous ring. The bulk of its material starts about 3.7 million miles (6 mil km) away from the planet and extends outward roughly another 7.4 million miles (12 mil km).

Observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope have revealed the largest-known planetary ring in the Solar System. The newly discovered ring is associated with Saturn’s distant moon Phoebe, which orbits the giant planet at a radius of about 13 million kilometers, or about 200 times the radius of Saturn. Until now, the largest-known planetary rings were Jupiter’s gossamer rings and Saturn’s E ring - sheets of dust that extend to about 5-10 times the radius of their respective planets. Reporting the discovery in this week’s Nature [Oct. 22, 2009], UVa’s Anne Verbiscer, Mike Skrutskie and their colleague Douglas Hamilton at the University of Maryland, College Park, also present numerical simulations that show how repeated impacts on Phoebe can keep the ring supplied with dust.

This faint but enormous ring may also explain a longstanding mystery: the two-tone coloration of another Saturnian moon, Iapetus. This moon’s leading hemisphere is significantly darker than its trailing hemisphere, leading to suggestions that the front face might be coated with dust spiralling in from Saturn’s darker outer moons, including Phoebe. Verbiscer and colleagues calculate that, over the history of the Solar System, material from the ring could have supplied Iapetus’s front face with a blanket of dark dust meters thick. University of Virginia

Iapetus: the mysterious black-and-white moon
Astronomy.com video (3:16) based on the Cassini flyby

Hmmm … It is interesting and curious to note that Jupiter's faint rings are made of the dust of its rocky moons. In addition, based on computer simulations and data from NASA's Galileo spacecraft, Jupiter also has a humongous outer ring! In 1998 it was predicted that we'd probably see a similar ring at Saturn! Review Jupiter Has Rings?! above.

NASA Discovers Giant Ring Around Saturn
Associated Press' YouTube Video (1:12)
A favorite by viewers

Spitzer Sees Giant Ring Around Saturn
Anne Verbiscer talks with Universe Today.
Great background information ... Easy read

Saturn rises in the east around 4:45am daylight time in the beginning of Scorpio and by 2:15am standard time at its end. It is ascending further above morning Venus and is nearly 1/2 way to overhead by sunrise.

Saturn lies in the constellation Virgo the Virgin above (west of) Spica, Virgo's brightest star. At magnitude 1.1 the planet and star are equally bright. If you have the chance to observe both celestial bodies in a dark sky, compare the color of yellowish Saturn and bluish Spica.

Mark Your Calendar!

November 12, Thursday morning, look east 3:00am - early dawn; a thin waning Moon lies to the right of Saturn 11/12 5:45am Map and with an unobstructed view one can see Venus hugging the horizon below. 11/12 5:45am Sky Chart Click Moon Dances for an additional map and meditative reflections.

Telescopic Saturn

Saturn's rings were closing toward their August 10, 2009 edge-on black view since 2003. We can now see them opening again, revealing for the first time since 1995 their northern face. Saturn's ring tilt is 3.1º November 1, 4.3º November 31 and 5º by the year's end. Ring Tilt at 30 Oppositions of Saturn Any telescope will give a splendid view of this Lord of the Rings!

Saturn's brightest and largest moon, Titan, can also be seen through any telescope. Look for Titan near Saturn November 7, 15, and 23. You are sure to see Saturn's 4 other brightest moons: Dione, Rhea, Tethys, Enceladus with a 6-inch scope.

Seeking Saturn’s Moons
Sky & Telescope’s JavaScript utility helps
locate Saturn’s 5 brightest satellites anytime
between January 1900-December 2100.

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Venus ~The Beauty and the Beast

Image: NASA

This image of Venus was photographed in natural color by the Mariner 10 spacecraft during its February 5, 1974 flyby. Note: Venus is completely enshrouded in layers of bright white sulfuric clouds. These clouds reflect over 75% of the sunlight striking it. This in addition to Venus' close proximity to Earth make it our brightest planet.

The Beauty

Venus is gorgeous in the evening or morning sky. She blazes brighter than all the stars and planets. Only the Sun and Moon are brighter. Paired with the Moon she takes our breath away. Her brilliance can be seen in the day sky. At night her dazzling glow is cast upon water and creates shadows on Earth.

Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love and is esoterically known to bring the Love Principle to Earth. This planet harmonizes humanity with the gifts of understanding, love-wisdom, unity, creativity and beauty. The emanations of Venus help one begin to understand the causes and conditions of harmony and conflict. They thereby lovingly and wisely promote diplomacy and establish right human relations between all people and between nations. The qualities of Venus, when incorporated into the life give birth to the sons and daughters of God, the self-consecrated human beings who manifest their Divinity on Earth.

The Beast

Some consider Venus the Earth's evil twin! Alike in size and density these "twin" planets also have very similar orbits close to the Sun. However, Venus the beast has a very hostile environment. The atmosphere of Venus is 96.5% carbon dioxide with a runaway greenhouse effect that raises temperatures hot enough to melt lead! The air pressure, 90 times that of Earth, is crushing; and her thick clouds rain down sulfuric acid!!! The last spacecraft to land there, Russia's Venera 14 in 1982, survived only 57 minutes. Venus, beyond any doubt, is a hellish place to be.

Venus Express ~ ESA’s Orbiter
Successful Launch ~ November 9, 2005
Orbital Arrival ~ April 11, 2006
Mission Extension ~ To Early May 2009
Currently Funded through Dec. 31, 2012
Objectives ~ Images ~ Status Reports 

Venus at magnitude -3.9 is dazzling in the predawn sky. The planet can be seen rising in the east around 5:45am daylight time in the beginning of Scorpio and by 6:00am standard time at its end.

Mark Your Calendar!

November 3, Tuesday morning, Venus pairs up with Spica below Saturn and shines 100x brighter than the star or Saturn. 11/3 6:30am Map Afterwards Venus descends below Spica.

November 15, Sunday morning, Venus and a slim Crescent Moon pair up low on the eastern horizon; look after 5:45am. Map Click Moon Dances for an additional map and meditative reflections.

Venus is sinking into the Sun's embrace. By the end of November the planet will be difficult to see in the bright twilight.

Mercury the messenger of the gods is hidden in the solar glare for most of Scorpio. It is in superior conjunction November 5. Begin looking for the planet to reappear very low on the southwestern horizon, just after sunset, in mid-November. 11/15 4:45pm Sunset Star Chart

The Planets
Is it a planet? ... What planet? When you look up at the night sky, how do you know you are looking at a planet? Learn what a plutoid is. Click here.

 

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Celestial Delights

APOD: A Spooky Nebula - October 31, 2006

Image: Adam Block / NOAO / AURA / NSF

The dark nebula SH2-136 appears to be celebrating Halloween all of the time. The complex process of star formation creates dust clouds of many shapes and sizes -- it is human perception that might identify a ghoulish creature, on the right of the above image, chasing humans. Full Description ... Current Astronomy Picture of the Day

 

Halloween and the Pleiades
The Seven Sisters reign over the hallowed Days of the Dead..

Pumpkin Moon? Hunter’s Moon? All Soul's Day!
Full Moon Monday, November 2
A Random Act of Kindness ...

Image: John Stetson helped students
C. LaCroix and C. Miller snap this picture.

Image Description

Full Moon Exact: Monday, 11/2, at 11:14am PST (19:14 UT)

Pumpkin Moon? Hunter’s Moon?

You just may see a pumpkin colored Full Moon rising in the east or setting in the west. ‘Tis the season for a heavenly jack-o’-lantern to be smiling down upon you!

Traditionally the Full Moon following the Harvest Moon is called the Hunter’s Full Moon. The origin of the name actually relates to the harvest.

... 1 month after the harvest hunters used to ride out under the light of this full moon to hunt the small animals that came out to forage what was left of the harvest. Star Gazer

Since I’m not a hunter and love pumpkins and animals, I prefer calling this Moon the Pumpkin Moon. Hmmm ... Let's surprise our little animal friends by doing something nice for them during the Full Moon! A random act of kindness lifts all of our spirits.

In 2009 this Full Moon falls on All Souls Day. Learn about the Days of the Dead, All-Hallowsmas, in Halloween and the Pleiades. Take some time to celebrate the life of the spirit in and out of form.

Click Moon Dances for a Full Moon star map and meditative reflections.

Strengthen the light grid of planet Earth by participating in the Scorpio Divine Identification Global Meditation.

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The Watery Constellations ~ A Celestial Sea

Image: SPACE.com graphic/Made with Starry Night Software

*Printable Image*

The above map shows the Celestial Sea constellations as seen from mid-northern latitudes around 10:00pm Daylight Time in October and 9:00pm Standard time in November. Eridanus is mostly below the horizon. The constellations move up in the sky during the night, so most of Eridanus becomes visible low on the horizon by midnight.

Celestial Sea sailing requires both skill and experience, also the darker the sky the better for navigating among these faint constellations.

During the mid-to-late evening hours ... there are very few bright stars in the region that is spread across the southern skies.

This whole area can be called the "Watery" part of the sky. It isn't really watery, of course. It is watery in the sense that it is vague and dim, like a dark pool. These watery constellations — Capricornus, the Sea-Goat; Aquarius, the Water Bearer; Pisces, the Fishes; Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish; Cetus, the Whale [aka the Monster]; and finally Eridanus, the River -- may have commemorated a great flood of long ago. Full Article: Watery Part of the Sky by Joe Rao

In 2009 telescopic Uranus is located in Pisces. Telescopic Neptune and brilliant Jupiter are in Capricornus. Stay tuned for a Moon Dance link with a star map and meditative reflections.

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Autumn's Square of Pegasus Replaces Summer's Great Triangle

Image: Starry Night Software / Adobe Photoshop

*Printable Image*

The stars overhead change as the seasons change on Earth. The stars highest above the horizon in mid-evening are considered to be the stars of the season. In the beginning of November go outside 8:00pm-9:00pm. The three brilliant stars of the Summer Triangle are beginning to slowly descend toward the horizon. Almost overhead are the four much dimmer stars, which make up the Great Square of Pegasus the winged horse, the Autumn Square.

 

The Autumn Dipper? A Flying Horse? Time Traveling?
Navigate with Pegasus and Cassiopeia. Locate Andromeda.

... suddenly we are drawn into new realms and
we become the night sky travelers!

Jupiter is the King, ruling the night sky with a brilliance that pierces the twilight. This planetary point of bright light is easily seen along the southern horizon, high in the south as evening begins. The planet sets in the southwest at 1:30am daylight time in the beginning of Scorpio and 10:45pm standard time at its end. Jupiter is located in the dim constellation Capricornus and at magnitude -2.4 far outshines any stars in its vicinity. Telescopic Neptune lies near and to the left of Jupiter at the northeast corner of Capricornus. Jupiter in its forward motion is moving toward Neptune for a December solstice conjunction. 10/25 the First Quarter Moon lies to the right of Jupiter. 10/25 Map/Text The following night the Moon lies closer to the planet. 10/26 Map The Moon in the vicinity of Jupiter is a planetary treat. Check it out 10/23-28. Jupiter, moving away from the Earth, is dimming and will appear smaller, as the months unfold.

Mars lies in the constellation of Cancer rising in the east at 12:15am daylight time in the beginning of Scorpio and around 10:15pm standard time at its end. By dawn Mars can be seen overhead. The Red Planet enters the Beehive star cluster at the heart of Cancer 10/31. Mark your calendar and get out those binoculars to see the bees! 2am Star Map ~ 10/28-31 Beehive-Mars Map ~ 11/1-4 Beehive-Mars Map The Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux, lie west of (above) Mars. Mid-Nov. 1am Map Shining at magnitude 0.2 Mars is brighter than the Twin stars. 11/8 the waning Gibbous Moon lies in a diagonal alignment with the Gemini Twin stars west of (above) Mars; Saturn and Venus lie southeast of (below) Mars. 11/8 5:30am Sky Chart 11/9 the Last Quarter Moon lies near the planet. 11/9 2am Map ~ 11/9 5:30am Sky Chart Mars is approaching Earth and is noticeably growing in size and brightness. Better views of our Red Planet occur at the end of the year. Mars reaches opposition and is at its best in January 2010.

Saturn is ascending further above morning Venus and is nearly 1/2 way to overhead by sunrise. The planet rises in the east around 4:45am daylight time in the beginning of Scorpio and by 2:15am standard time at its end. Saturn lies in the constellation Virgo the Virgin above (west of) Spica and at magnitude 1.1 shines as bright this star. Compare the color of Saturn and Spica in a dark sky. 11/12 look east 3:00am - early dawn; the waning Crescent Moon lies to the right of Saturn. 11/12 5:45am Map Saturn's rings are opening, revealing more and more of their northern face. Saturn's ring tilt is 3.1º 11/1, 4.3º 11/31 and 5º by the year's end.

Venus rises in the east around 5:45am daylight time in the beginning of Scorpio and by 6:00am standard time at its end. At magnitude -3.9 Venus dazzles, 100x brighter than Saturn.  11/3 Venus pairs up with Spica below Saturn. 11/3 6:30am Map Afterwards Venus sinks below Spica. 11/15 Venus and a slim Crescent Moon pair up low on the eastern horizon; look after 5:45am Map Venus is sinking into the Sun's embrace. By the end of November the planet will be difficult to see in the bright twilight.

Mercury is hidden in the solar glare for most of Scorpio. It is in superior conjunction 11/5. Begin looking for the planet to reappear very low on the southwestern horizon, just after sunset, in mid-November. 11/15 4:45pm Sunset Star Chart

Vega is the brightest star in the northwest, setting in the beginning of Scorpio at 2:00am daylight time and by its end at 11:30pm standard time. It is the western point of the Summer Triangle, which is slowly sinking on the western horizon giving way to the autumn stars overhead. Altair is the triangle's southern point and Deneb the eastern point.

Fomalhaut is the brightest star low on the southwestern horizon, setting in the beginning of Scorpio at 2:00am daylight time and by its end at 11:30pm standard time (same as Vega). It is the Southern Royal Star and the brightest star in the constellation Pisces Austrinus below Aquarius. Star Chart It is part of the celestial sea constellations.

Capella is the bright star in the northeast. Capella is the brightest star seen the most often.

The Great Square of Pegasus is a sure sign of autumn. Look for the four stars almost overhead as night begins. Stars of Autumn Also see Autumn Dipper? A Flying Horse?.

The Pleiades star cluster is another sign of autumn. Look east as the Sun sets for Taurus the Bull and its bright red Bull's eye, Aldebaran; then look a little west to find the mini dipper-shaped, sparkling Pleiades, the Bull's shoulder. Stars of Autumn

Printable Date Table

Lunar Cycle 10/17/09-11/16/09
(Can be used through 11/21)

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May your Night Sky traveling always be filled
with Celestial Delights and Treats!
Susan Sun

Getting Started in Astronomy
Includes a downloadable Moon map and bimonthly star charts.

At Skymaps.com download a current monthly guide, evening sky map & calendar.

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