Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday October 7th through Sunday October 13th.
The full moon for the month of October is on Sunday night so we'll have a waxing gibbous moon all week. This full moon is known as the Hunter's Moon and the Dying Grass Moon. This month's full moon is also the smallest in angular size of the year, occurring just a couple of days after apogee, the Moon's farthest point in its elliptical orbit around the Earth.
Venus continues to slowly move away from the sun but is still hard to spot in the evening twilight. Mercury has moved a little further away from the sun and is setting about an hour after the sun this week.
Jupiter is up in the southwest as the sky darkens and is setting at 10:35 p.m. this week. Saturn is high in the south at sunset and is setting as 12:25 a.m. this week.
Mars is in the morning skies and is rising at 6:30 a.m., about an hour before the sun. Mars is currently at magnitude +1.8 in brightness and is 3.6 arcseconds in angular size. The next close approach of Mars to the Earth is on October 6, 2020, so you will see Mars grow over the next year to magnitude -2.6 in brightness and 22.6 arcseconds in size.
In space anniversaries this week, Sunday the 13th marks 25 years since the end of the Magellan mission to map Venus with radar. The mission was launched on board the space shuttle Atlantis in May 1989 and entered orbit around Venus in August 1990 where it mapped the planet for four years before the mission ended in a controlled descent into Venus' atmosphere.
Public viewing at the 16-inch reflector on top of Robert Lee Moore Hall is on Wednesday nights currently from 8 to 10 p.m. RLM 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 from currently 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. Please note that there will be no Painter Telescope viewing on Saturday evenings when the UT football team has a night home game. Logon to TexasSports.com to check the football schedule.
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.
