Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday October 24th through Sunday October 30th.
The new moon for the month of October is on Wednesday evening, so we will have a waning crescent moon for the first couple of days of the week and a waxing crescent for the remainder.
Mercury and Venus are still low in the west and visible shortly after sunset. A very thin one-day-old crescent moon will be visible below Mercury on Thursday the 27th.
Jupiter is at opposition on the night of Friday the 28th, so it will be rising at sunset and setting at sunrise that day. After opposition Jupiter will start rising a little before sunset, so it will be well placed for early evening observing.
Mars is rising a little after 2 a.m. and Saturn is rising at about 6:45 a.m. at midweek and is slowly starting to move away from the sun but will probably still be a challenge to see.
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. The football game for Saturday October 29th is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. so there will be no telescope viewing that night.
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.
