Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday October 21st through Sunday October 27th.
The moon is at third quarter on Monday the 21st and will be new late on Sunday the 27th for Austin, so we'll have a waning crescent moon in our morning skies all of this week.
Venus is low in the west-southwest and is setting about an hour after the sun. Since Venus is so bright, you should be able to start picking it out from the evening twilight now with a good view of the western horizon. Mercury is to the left of Venus and the two planets will move closer to one other over the course of the week.
Jupiter is low in the southwest and is setting at 9:50 p.m. this week. Saturn still high in the south this week and is setting at 11:30 p.m.
In the morning skies, Mars is rising at 6:15 a.m., over an hour before sunrise. A very thin crescent moon is above Mars on Saturday morning.
The Orionids meteor shower peaks on the night of Monday the 21st into the morning hours of Tuesday the 22nd, although this year will have interference from moonlight. While the shower usually produces around 20 meteors an hour at peak, some years have had between 50 and 70 meteors an hour. The Orionids appear to come from a point between the constellation Orion and Gemini and are created by the earth passing through debris left in our orbit by Halley's Comet.
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.
