The starry sky in October 2024

Astronomy Day on October 19, comet in the evening sky, ringed planet Saturn.

Astronomy Day was held for the first time on 23.08.2003 to mark the particularly close opposition of Mars. Until the beginning of the corona epidemic in 2020, it took place in March/April. From 2022, it was moved to the fall due to the better visibility of the planets.

As a special feature this year, a bright comet is expected in the evening sky. If it continues to develop in this way, it will also be visible to the naked eye. However, predicting the brightness of comets is difficult, which is why David H. Levy, a well-known amateur astronomer, coined the phrase "Comets are like cats: they have tails and do precisely what they want". Due to the loose composition of comets - they are also known as dirty snowballs - they often break up when they come too close to the sun. This was the case with comet ISON C/2012 S1. Here is a time-lapse image of the comet before and after its closest approach to the sun. The individual fragments of the comet after its closest approach are clearly visible.

The ringed planet Saturn is also easy to observe in the evening sky. The special feature is the small ring aperture of just four degrees. In March 2025, we will look at the edge of the rings for a few weeks. They will then be invisible.

Starting this month, we will open our observatory on Friday evenings from 8 p.m., provided the night sky is clear. On Friday 18.10. and Saturday 19.10., the day of astronomy, we will open from 8 pm, also assuming clear skies. Furthermore, two lectures will be offered on Wednesday, October 16 and 23 in the Audimax of Zweibrücken University of Applied Sciences. For more details see point Events.

Sun and moon

On the last Sunday of the month, which this year is October 29, the clocks are set back by one hour at 3 a.m. to 2 a.m., the regular Central European Time.

The full moon will affect the observation of fainter objects around the days of October 17.

Planets

The innermost planet Mercury is close to the sun, so we will not be able to observe it this month.

Venus as an evening star is not yet particularly conspicuous. After sunset, it can be observed low in the southwest. On the evening of October 5, the narrow waxing crescent moon passes about three degrees south of it. However, a clear view of the horizon is essential.

Mars shifts its rises to the time before midnight. However, it is still quite inconspicuous.

Saturn was in opposition to the Sun at the beginning of the previous month and still offers a good observation opportunity in the first half of the night. After dark, it can be found high in the east at the beginning of the month and towards the south towards the end of the month. As already mentioned, the ring aperture is only 4 degrees, a far cry from the maximum of 27 degrees.

Uranus and Neptuneboth exclusively objects for telescopes, can be observed throughout the night. However, one should not expect too much when looking through a telescope, both have an apparent diameter of only a few arc seconds.

Starry sky

The summer starry sky has almost completely receded. High in the east, the autumn quadrilateral, the winged horse Pegasus, can already be seen. Its origins as a hybrid creature are probably oriental. It was frequently depicted in Cretan and Asia Minor art and even on the reverse of Roman coins up until the third century AD. A little further to the east is an object that is already impressive in binoculars, our neighboring galaxy, the Andromeda Nebula with the designation M32.

The following graphic shows the view of the sky on October 15 at 11 pm.