texas

skywatchers report


Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday October 8th through Sunday October 14th.

The moon was at third quarter early in the morning hours of Monday the 8th and will reach new on Monday the 15th, so we will have a waning crescent moon for all of this week.

Saturn is just two weeks away from conjunction with the sun and is setting just 40 minutes after the sun this week. Mercury is in the west-southwest and is scooting south along the horizon this week. Mercury sets just a little before 8 p.m. at midweek so it might be hard to pick out from the evening twilight.

Jupiter rises at 10:10 p.m. at midweek and is visible for the remainder of the night. Look for the V-shaped Hyades open star cluster and the bright orange star Aldebaran to the right of Jupiter.

Venus is up at 4:30 a.m. and is high in the east as morning twilight begins. Look for a very thin crescent moon a few degrees to the right of Venus on Friday morning.

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. To get to the telescope, take the elevator to the 5th floor and exit to the left. Follow the 5th floor hallway to the end and take the staircase through the double doors on the left. Once you reach the 6th floor, go to your right and follow the signs up to the telescope. Please note that there will be no Painter Telescope viewing on Saturday evenings when the UT football team has a night home game. To check the football schedule, logon to mackbrown-texasfootball.com.

All events are free and open to all ages and no reservations are required. Note that viewing times and availability change throughout the year. Observing events are weather permitting. Please call 232-4265 for weather cancellation information, which is updated 30 to 60 minutes before the scheduled viewing start time when a viewing is cancelled.

Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.