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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through October 17th, 2019. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.

If you have an unobstructed view of the western horizon, try looking for the planet Venus. Even though Venus is the brightest planet–third in brightness of sky objects after the sun and moon–its position near the horizon after sunset will make finding it a bit of a sport until December, when it moves high in the sky. Use binoculars to scan the sky near the horizon and to the left of the sunset point starting a few minutes after sunset, and before the planet sets at about 7:05 p.m. Venus, now on the far side of the sun, appears almost star-like and silvery-white.

Jupiter is the second-brightest planet, and is the brilliant object gleaming in the southwest sky during evening twilight. Saturn is the bright object to the left of Jupiter, close to the southern meridian during twilight. Binoculars may let you see Jupiter’s four largest moons crowded around the planet, while a larger telescope will let you see the beautiful system of rings encircling Saturn.

Over the next few weeks, Saturn and Jupiter will become too low in the sky to observe during the evening this year, so keep that in mind if you want to see them through Griffith Observatory’s public telescopes.

A majority of the night time hours are currently illuminated by the moon, which is full on the 13th when it is visible all night. The 16th is the first night that has a period that is truly dark, between the end of twilight, at 7:41 p.m., and moonrise, at 8:21 p.m. By the 17th, the waning moon rises at 9:01 p.m.

The night of the 10th is the peak of the Southern Taurid meteor shower that runs from September 10 to November 20th. It is associated with comet 2P/Enke, the comet with the shortest known orbital period around the sun of 3.3 years. In spite of the bright moonlight present this year, Southern Taurids are notable for being slow moving and bright, so be aware that they might be visible any time during the night. The point in the sky from where they seem to stream (the shower radiant) is a broad region around the tail of the constellation Cetus the Whale (to the east of Taurus the Bull) and is high in the southern sky at 1:00 a.m. More of a trickle than a shower, the Southern Taurids usually produce about 5 meteors per hour.

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 from Tuesday through Sunday, before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next free 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 2nd between 2:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Follow The Sky Report, All Space Considered, and Griffith Observatory on Twitter for updates on astronomy and space-related events.

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