Saturday:
Halloween is this week so make sure you load up on peanut clusters, almond
clusters, and open star clusters. That last one will be easy (and cheap…
actually free) because two of the most prominent open star clusters in the sky
are easily visible in the autumn sky. The sideways V-shaped Hyades Cluster is
two fists above due east at 10:00 p.m. Containing over 300 stars; the Hyades
cluster is about 150 light years away and 625 million years old. The Pleiades
Cluster, a little more than three fists above due east, is larger at over 1000
stars and younger. Compared to our 5 billion year old Sun, the 100 million year
age of the Pleiades is infant-like.
Sunday: At 6:30
p.m., Jupiter is about a fist above the southwestern horizon and Saturn is about
two fists above the south-southwestern horizon.
Monday: What time
is tea time? Certainly not during an autumn evening. The constellation
Sagittarius the archer, with its signature teapot shape, is sinking into the
south-southwest horizon by 7 p.m. The handle is on top and the spout is
touching the horizon ready to pour that last cup of tea. Saturn is riding the
teapot, about one and a half fists above the south-southwest horizon.
Tuesday: Mars is
one fist above the east-southeastern horizon at 7:00 a.m.
Wednesday: Venus is
just above the west-southwestern horizon at 6:15 p.m. For an added challenge,
try to spot Mercury right below it.
Thursday:
Halloween. The pumpkins. The candy. The children going door-to-door dressed up
as their favorite Saturnian astronomers: Carolyn Porco and Christiaan Huygens.
At least they should because Halloween is, in part, an astronomical holiday.
Halloween is a “cross-quarter date”, a day approximately midway between an
equinox and a solstice. Historically, the Celts of the British Isles used
cross-quarter dates as the beginnings of seasons. For the Celts, winter began
with Halloween. So when all those little Saturn fans come to your door tonight
night, honor the Celts and give them a wintry treat. If they ask you for a
trick, point out Mars, two and a half fists above the south-southwest horizon
at 7:00 p.m.
Friday: Happy
Celtic New Year! Many historians think that November 1, known for the festival
of Samhain, was the ancient Celtic New Year’s Day. Samhain, Old Irish for “summer’s
end”, was a harvest festival that may have contributed to some of the customs
of our current “holiday” of Halloween.
The CWU Physics
Department and the College of the Sciences is hosting its monthly First
Saturday planetarium show tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m. Former CWU professor and
current Walla Walla Community College professor Tony Smith will give a show
called Stories in the Sky. The show is free and open to all ages. There will be
a show at noon on the first Saturday of every month hosted by different CWU
astronomers and astronomy educators. The CWU Lydig Planetarium is room 101 in
Science Phase II, just off the corner of 11th and Wildcat Way, H-11 on the
campus map found at https://www.cwu.edu/facility/campus-map.
The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
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