Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers' Report for Monday October 18th through Sunday the 24th.
The full moon for the month of October is on the night of Friday the 22nd, so we will have a waxing gibbous moon for most of this week. This full moon is known as the Hunter's Moon and the Dying Grass Moon.
Venus is now almost completely lost in the Sun's glare as it heads toward conjunction next week. Mars is setting at 8:15 p.m. and is low in the west-southwest in the evening twilight.
Jupiter is visible high in the east-southeast as the sky darkens after sunset. Look for Jupiter below the moon on the night of the 19th and Jupiter will be to the right of the moon on the 20th.
Saturn has re-emerged into the morning skies and is rising about an hour before the sun.
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 complete 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.
