Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers' Report for Monday October 27th through Sunday, November 2nd.
The moon is new on Tuesday, which will give us a waxing crescent moon for the remainder of the week and ad a bit of interest to our Halloween skies, although it will be setting at about 8:30 that evening. Look for a bright Venus above the moon on the 31st and to the right of the crescent moon on November 1st.
Jupiter is getting lower each evening and is now setting at around 11:15 p.m.
Saturn is rising at about 4:15 a.m. at mid-week. Mercury is up shortly before the sun and is moving back towards conjunction with the sun late in November.
Last week’s Orionid meteor shower has been reported as pretty strong, even with interfering moonlight. Spaceweather.com has a gallery and information on meteor counts from all around the globe.
This weekend is the change off from Daylight Saving time and the return to Standard Time, so enjoy the extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning. The hour that is officially repeated is 1 to 2 a.m. Sunday.
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. Please check mackbrown-texasfootball for schedule information.
Beginning next week, all star parties will move to 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. until the end of the semester.
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.
