A NIBBLE OUT OF THE MOON
Watch as the Moon’s southern edge is covered by Earth’s dark shadow
A WANDER THROUGH THE ‘W’
Take a tour of binocular and deep-sky targets in Cassiopeia
JUPITER MOON BINGO
Follow the moons and their shadow crossings
About the writers
Astronomy expert Pete Lawrence is a skilled astro imager and a presenter on The Sky at Night monthly on BBC Four
Steve Tonkin is a binocular observer. Find his tour of the best sights for both eyes on page 54
Also on view this month…
✦ Jupiter near opposition
✦ Favourable Orionids
✦ Binocular comet 103P/Hartley
✦ Tycho: get to know the lunar crater
Red light friendly
To preserve your night vision, this Sky Guide can be read using a red light under dark skies
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OCTOBER HIGHLIGHTS
Your guide to the night sky this month
1 Sunday ▶ Rising in the east-northeast around 20:00 BST (19:00 UT), the waning gibbous Moon and mag. –2.7 Jupiter appear 4° apart. At 02:30 BST (01:30 UT) on 2 October, they will be 2.6° apart.
3 Tuesday ▶ As dawn approaches, an 82%-lit waning gibbous Moon lies 1.7° south of the Pleiades.
Europa’s shadow starts to transit Jupiter at 02:31 BST (01:31 UT).
5 Thursday Ganymede’s shadow transits Jupiter near the planet’s southern pole. The event starts at 22:46 BST (21:46 UT) and concludes at 00:52 BST on 6 October (23:52 UT on 5 October).
6 Friday ▶ Libration and phase are good for the south polar region of the Moon tonight.
Ganymede transits Jupiter 01:57–03:22 BST (00:57–02:22 UT). Io and its shadow are also in transit towards the end of this event.
7 Saturday The clair-obscur effect known as the Cutlass is visible this morning, formed by the Straight Wall, Rupes Recta, and the curving Stag Mountains.
8 Sunday The Draconid meteor shower reaches its peak tonight and into tomorrow morning. Best chances are when the radiant is higher, as the sky darkens this evening around 20:30 BST (19:30 UT).
9 Monday ▶ As the Moon slips out of the way, the night sky is left nice and dark for trying our Deep-Sky Tour on page 56. This month we’re looking at objects in the western half of Cassiopeia.
10 Tuesday This morning’s 18%-lit Moon sits 7.4° north of mag.
–4.4 Venus. Mag. +1.3 Regulus appears 2.3° north of Venus.
The Southern Taurid meteor shower reaches its peak.
11 Wednesday As the bright Moon moves out of the way, this is a good time to look for binocular comet 103P/ Hartley 2, currently moving through Gemini and expected to be around mag. +8.3. See page 53 for details.
13 Friday
