10:00 pm CDT on October 1 N 9:00 pm CDT on October 15 7:00 pm CST on November 1

To use this chart: hold the chart in DIPPER BIG

front of you and turn it so the direction Capella you are facing is at the bottom of the

2020

chart. Polaris

Cluster DIPPER

Bright Double LITTLE

Medium Bright Stars M-45

P

E

CASSIOPEIA S

Faint Stars RSEU

3 M-1

CEPHEUS

Scan dark skies S

E

DRACO

CTOBER BOREALIS

with binoculars: CORONA

L

M-13: Globular cluster HERCU ANDRO O a eg

M-31: The Andromeda V

1 M-3

b

M-45: open star cluster MEDA Dene I M-57: The Ring AR

E

Double Cluster in Perseus S E PEG

M-57

ASUS W P Albireo ISCE

S Triangle Summer

SERPENS CAUDA air Alt As autumn continues, sunrises occur ILA U later and sunsets occur earlier. Q The days are getting shorter! A CETUS AQUARI U JUPITER S SATURN Full Moon From Nashville: Oct. 1, 31 Sunrise Sunset Oct 1 6:42 AM 6:31 PM Fomalhaut Oct 15 6:54 AM 6:12 PM Nov 1 6:10 AM CST 4:51 PM CST CAPRICORNUS Last Quarter S Oct. 9 U ARI

SAGITT New Moon S Oct. 16 Download monthly star charts and learn First Quarter more about our shows at adventuresci.org Oct. 23 unaided eye, but to find it it requires crisp, dark skies October 2020 and a little patience. Binoculars or a small telescope can improve the view, but don’t expect to see more than a After Sunset Saturn is just to the left of Jupiter. At best, binoculars will show faint, fuzzy, oval blob. If you don’t feel impressed, just Saturn as appearing slightly oval in shape. A small telescope reveals remind yourself you’re looking at the collected light of For much of the year, we use the stars of the Big Dipper the reason: those beautiful rings. possibly one trillion stars, all at a distance of 2 million to help us find Polaris, the North Star. However, the Big Both Jupiter and Saturn are near the Sagittarius the light years away. Now that’s impressive! Dipper is harder to find in the autumn. It appears very Archer, which looks a lot more like a teapot to modern eyes. low to the northern horizon after sunset. Some of its stars even set below the horizon from our latitude. Look for the Moon forming a triangle with Jupiter and Saturn on Early Morning October 22nd. The Moon will be near Mars on both the 2nd and Another group of stars can help us find our way. Look for Throughout the year, the rise and set 29th. just a little bit earlier every day. You won’t see much a group of five stars known as Cassiopeia the Queen. difference from night to night, but you will over the When the Big Dipper is low to the horizon, Cassiopeia is As and the other planets orbit around the , the planets course of weeks or months. What we see in today’s pre- high in the north. The central peak of this constellation’s we see appear to move across the constellations over time. Some dawn sky is a preview of the early evening sky in later W-shape also points you in the direction of Polaris. planets, like Mercury, Venus, and Mars, move relatively quickly. months. Go out before dawn this month for a look ahead Meanwhile, Jupiter and Saturn, being further from the Sun, move Polaris is not a particularly bright star, but it does remain at the autumn . far more slowly. These two planets will now be in our early evening fixed in the sky throughout the night and throughout the sky through the rest of the year, and we have a great opportunity year. When you face the North Star, you’re facing due In the hours before dawn, Mars is beginning to set in the to track their motions. They will appear to grow closer to each west. Winter constellations , north. Polaris is at the end of the handle of the Little the Hunter other over the next several months, and by mid-December, they and are high in the Dipper. This group of stars is officially known as Ursa the Bull, Canis Major the Big Dog will appear extemely close together, from our vantage here on south. The Big Dipper is now rising in the northeast, Minor the Little Bear. Earth. Their closest approach will be on December 21, and you’ll easier to find than it was in the evening. Meanwhile, Look straight up after sunset for the three bright stars be able to go out in the early evening to catch this incredible sight. Cassiopeia is high in the northwest. that make up the . Each of these stars is part of its own separate constellation. Look to the east for brilliant “morning star” Venus. Its From Dark Skies bright clouds reflect sunlight to our eyes making it stand In the east is planet Mars, looking very bright as it nears Bright outdoor lighting can make it hard to see all but the brightest out even as the sky begins to brighten. Venus will appear opposition near the middle of this month. A planet is at stars. On a clear night, find a dark spot far away from city lights, extremely close to the bright star Regulus in Leo the opposition when it’s opposite the Sun in our sky. That also give your eyes time to adjust to the dark, and look for even more Lion on the mornings of October 2nd and 3rd. Look for a means that the planet is making its closest approach to celestial sights. You can begin by looking for the fainter stars of this thin crescent Moon near Venus on the morning of October Earth. Mars will look as bright as Jupiter, and a little bit season’s constellations. Pegasus the Flying Horse, Andromeda 14. bigger than usual in telescopes. It’s also the reason we’ve the Princess, and the three constellations of the Summer Triangle Desktop planetarium software like the free, open-source seen spacecraft from three different countires all lift off all become easier to explore. to Mars this summer - the trip is relatively short right Stellarium (stellarium.org) can show you more precisely now! Officially the date of opposition is October 13, but Look closely for the star that marks the head of Cygnus the Swan, where night sky objects will be on any date and time, anytime this month will be great for taking a close look a fairly boring-looking white colored star called Albireo. A small and help you plan your observing. at Mars. The next time Mars will be this close to Earth telescope reveals that there are really two stars there, appearing will be in 2035. very close to each other. Not only that, but the two stars are Watch the Clock different colors, one blue and one yellow! In the southwest are two bright planets, Jupiter and At 2:00 am on Sunday morning, November 1, most of Saturn. If you have binoculars, you may see Jupiter’s The Ring Nebula, or M-57, is a faint, round patch of light in Lyra the United States will be asleep as we “fall back” from four largest moons. Watch them over several nights to the Harp. Invisible to the unaided eye, M-57 is called a planetary Daylight Saving to Standard Time. Don’t forget to set watch them orbit around their parent planet. If you have nebula. This somewhat misleading name refers to the fact that your clocks back by one hour before bedtime! trouble steadying your binoculars on Jupiter, try leaning in a telescope, planetary nebulae can look round, like a planet. them up against the side of a building or another steady A is an expanding shell of glowing gas expelled from a star near the end of its life. Our own Sun may form a similar surface. A small telescope not only shows the moons of This Month in the Sudekum Planetarium Jupiter, but also its cloud bands. Jupiter has stripes! nebula when it runs out of fuel billions of years in the future. Early autumn evenings are great for spotting the Milky Way coursing from Sagittarius through the Summer Triangle and on towards Cassiopeia in the northeast. This hazy band of light is the bulk of our disc-shaped galaxy, as we see it from within. Near Andromeda, look for M-31, the . This massive spiral galaxy is the most distant object visible to the