Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday October 9 through Sunday October 15.
The new moon for the month of October is on Saturday the 14th, so we’ll have a waning crescent moon in the pre-dawn skies for the work week and begin the waxing crescent phase on Sunday.
Mars is setting just 30 minutes after the sun and is mostly lost in the sun’s glare.
Saturn is high in the southeast at nightfall and is setting at 3:55 a.m. at midweek. Jupiter rises at 8:15 p.m. and is now just a few weeks away from opposition.
In the morning skies, Venus is rising at 4:00 a.m., about three and half hours before the sun. Mercury is rising just 25 minutes before the sun as it moves towards conjunction next week.
With this new moon the US and most of South America will see a solar eclipse, and, if you’re in just the right place at the right time, you will see what is known as an annular eclipse. In an annular eclipse, the moon’s angular size in the sky isn’t quite large enough to completely block the sun, so you are left with a ring of the sun’s disk around the moon. This happens because the moon’s orbit around the Earth is an ellipse, so at times it is farther away from the Earth and appears too small to create a total eclipse, which is the case here.
For this eclipse, UT will be hosting a public eclipse celebration on the Main Mall south of the UT Tower on Saturday that everyone is invited to attend. Join UT Astronomy and the College of Natural Sciences for interactive demos, telescopes with solar-safe filters, liquid nitrogen ice cream, and more. Free eclipse viewers will also be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with maximum eclipse of 88.6% just before noon. More information is available at outreach.as.utexas.edu/eclipse
Public viewing at the 16-inch reflector on top of the Physics, Math, and Astronomy building is on Wednesday nights currently from 8 to 10 p.m. PMA is located on the southeast corner of Dean Keeton and Speedway. Take the elevator to the 17th floor and follow the signs to the telescope.
Public viewing at the 9-inch refractor at Painter Hall is on Friday and Saturday nights, currently from 8 to 10 p.m. Painter Hall is located on 24th street about halfway between Speedway and Guadalupe and is northeast of the UT Tower. Take the elevator to the 5th floor then take the stairs up to the 6th floor and follow the signs up to the telescope.
All events are free and open to all ages and no reservations are required. Note that viewing times and availability change throughout the year so please check the schedule before planning a visit. Observing events are weather permitting. Please call 512-232-4265 for weather cancellation information, which is updated 30 to 45 minutes before the scheduled viewing start time.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.
