{"id":3058,"date":"2024-10-04T04:58:35","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T04:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/?p=3058"},"modified":"2024-10-04T04:58:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T04:58:35","slug":"griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-october-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/2024\/10\/04\/griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-october-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffith Observatory Sky Report through October, 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/strong><\/a>LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/OCT_2024_Sky_Report.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between October 1 and October 31, 2024. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California.<\/p>\n

Mercury<\/strong> is close to the sun until the 20th<\/sup>, when it appears in the evening sky. The sun sets at 6:12 p.m., PDT, and Mercury sets in the west at 6:46 p.m., PDT. \u00a0On the 31st<\/sup>, the sun sets at 6:01 p.m., PDT, and Mercury sets in the west-southwest at 6:50 p.m., PDT. Mercury is 87-percent illuminated and only 5.2 arcseconds wide, and so a magnification of 150x is needed to see its disk. Do not observe any planet when it comes close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.<\/p>\n

Venus<\/strong> sets in the west-southwest at 8:02 p.m., PDT, on the 1st<\/sup>, and the sun sets at 6:36 p.m., PDT. On the 31st<\/sup>, Venus sets in the southwest at 8:05 p.m., PDT. Venus is 81-percent illuminated and 13 arcseconds wide. A small telescope will show the disk with a magnification of 100x. On the 5th<\/sup>, Venus is three degrees north of the Moon.\u00a0 On the 25th<\/sup>, Venus is three degrees north of the star Antares.<\/p>\n

Mars<\/strong> rises in the east-northeast at 12:07 a.m., PDT, on the 1st<\/sup>. On the 31st<\/sup>, Mars rises at 11:09 p.m., PDT. The planet crosses from Gemini the Twins into Cancer the Crab on the 30th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Mars is 88-percent illuminated and 8.2 arcseconds wide and is too small to reveal details on its disk. Mars next reaches opposition and closest approach to earth on January 16, 2025.<\/p>\n

Jupiter<\/strong> rises in the east-northeast in Taurus the Bull at 10:22 p.m., PDT, on the 1st<\/sup>. On the 31st<\/sup>, the planet rises at 8:21 p.m., PDT. Jupiter is 44 arcseconds wide. A telescope capable of magnification 50x will show the Red Spot, and the four bright Galilean moons can be seen moving back and forth, across and behind Jupiter.<\/p>\n

Saturn<\/strong> rises in the east in Aquarius the Water Bearer at 5:34 p.m., PDT, on the 1st<\/sup>. On the 31st<\/sup>, Saturn rises at 3:32 p.m., PDT. The rings and Saturn\u2019s largest moon, Titan, can be seen with a telescope capable of magnification 50x.<\/p>\n

Uranus<\/strong> rises east-northeast in Taurus the Bull at 8:49 p.m., PDT, on the 1st<\/sup>. On the 31st<\/sup>, Uranus rises at 6:48 p.m., PDT. On the 15th<\/sup>, Uranus is at Right Ascension 3h<\/sup> 37m<\/sup> 06s<\/sup> and declination +19\u00b0 06\u02b9 57\u02ba. A magnification of 150x or more is needed to see the planet\u2019s 3.8-arcsecond disk.<\/p>\n

Neptune<\/strong> rises in the east in Pisces the Fishes at 6:07 p.m., PDT, on the 1st<\/sup>. On the 31st<\/sup>, Neptune rises at 4:07 p.m., PDT. On the 15th<\/sup>, Neptune is at Right Ascension 23h<\/sup> 54m<\/sup> 19s<\/sup> and declination -2\u00b0 03\u02b9 38\u02ba. A magnification of 150x or more is needed to see the planet\u2019s 2.4-arcsecond disk.<\/p>\n

New moon is on the 2nd<\/sup>, first quarter on the 10th<\/sup>, full moon on the 17th<\/sup>, and last quarter on the 24th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL EVENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Comet C\/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)<\/strong> is visible in the evening sky after the 13th<\/sup>. Although listed as visible to the unaided eye, binoculars will probably be needed to see it. On the 11th<\/sup>, the comet is very low in the west and sets half an hour after the sun sets. On the 21st<\/sup>, the comet sets in the west, three hours after the sun sets. On the 31st<\/sup> the comet will set around 9:20 p.m., PDT, three hours and 20 minutes after the sun sets.<\/p>\n

The comet\u2019s coordinates on those dates are:<\/p>\n

Date\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right Ascension\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Declination<\/p>\n

Oct 11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 13h<\/sup> 31m<\/sup> 54s<\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -02\u00b0 11\u02b9 55\u02ba<\/p>\n

Oct 21\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 16h<\/sup> 38m<\/sup> 35s<\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +02\u00b0 31\u02b9 20\u02ba<\/p>\n

Oct 31\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 17h<\/sup> 56m<\/sup> 08s<\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +03\u00b0 41\u02b9 02\u02ba<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The Orionid meteor shower<\/strong> is active from September 26th<\/sup> to November 22nd<\/sup>. The Orionids are a medium-strength shower that produces 10 to 20 shower members at maximum. The radiant is in the constellation of Orion the Hunter. The peak is on the night of October 20 to the 21st<\/sup>. The waning gibbous moon will be 83-percent illuminated and will interfere with observations.<\/p>\n

Follow All Space Considered and Griffith Observatory on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, and Twitter<\/a> for updates on astronomy and space-related events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/OCT_2024_Sky_Report.mp3 This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between October 1 and October 31, 2024. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California. Mercury is close to the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-skyreport"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3060,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058\/revisions\/3060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}