LISTEN to this week’s Sky Report

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, October 30, 2013. Here is what’s happening in the skies of Southern California:

The planet Venus is the brilliant “evening star”, shining in the southwest for two hours after sunset. A telescope is needed to see the phase of Venus, now about half illuminated.

Jupiter, the second brightest planet, is in Gemini the Twins, and is visible in the east-northeast after it rises at 11:20 p.m. At dawn, Jupiter is nearly overhead, 70 degrees high in the south. Binoculars will reveal up to four of Jupiter’s moons, and a telescope will show Jupiter’s cloud features. The moon passes 6 degrees south of Jupiter on the 25^th.

Orange Mars, in Leo the Lion and high in the east at dawn, contrasts strongly with blue-hued Regulus, Leo’s brightest star. An 8-inch or larger telescope and high magnification will show the northern polar cap of Mars. The moon passes close to Mars on the 29^th.

The waning moon changes from gibbous to last quarter on the 26^th, and is crescent after that. The time of moonrise changes from 9:51 p.m. on the 23rd to 3:15 a.m. on the 30^th.

Comet observers will want to check out comet Linear, C/2012 X1. On October 20, the distant comet, now farther from earth and sun than Mars, jumped in brightness by a factor of 250 times, from a challenging magnitude 14–as faint as Pluto–to magnitude 8, just visible in binoculars. Recalling the explosive outburst of comet Holmes in 2007, comet Linear appears round, bright and slowly expanding through small telescopes. The comet is located in Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair) only 8 degrees above the east-northeast horizon before dawn, and can be found this week at the positions linked here.

In other comet news, comet ISON, now in Leo the Lion, continues to slowly brighten as it approaches its November 28 close encounter with the sun. Although moonlight is currently a problem, the comet is visible through 5- inch telescopes. Astrophotographers equipped with telephoto lenses and sky tracking mounts will want to shoot ISON before dawn on the 25^th as it poses with the galaxies M95, M96 and M106 in Leo. Details can be found on our special comet ISON webpage.

The International Space Station, still intact in spite of its fictional fate in the movie Gravity, will pass directly over Los Angeles on Monday evening, October 28. Look for the ISS as it rises over the northwest horizon at 7:08 p.m., passes 260 miles overhead at 7:12 p.m., then vanishes into earth’s shadow while 21 degrees high in the southeast at 7:14 p.m. Powerful binoculars or a telescope can reveal details of the space station’s structure while it is high in the sky.

Free views of the sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night, are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes Tuesday-Sunday before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for our schedule. The next public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, November 9.

From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.