We also celebrate the sesquicentennial blog entry today reaching a wonderful 150 since the beginning of 2017! The table below highlights what's up in the sky this week.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| October 3 | Venus at perihelion |
| October 3 | Neptune 0.7°N of Moon |
| October 5 | Venus 0.2°N of Mars |
| October 5 | Full Moon |
| October 7 | Mars at aphelion |
This week Venus will be at perihelion and Mars will be at aphelion. I'm sure some astrologers are getting rich this week. As described in the Solar Eclipse FAQ #1 perihelion occurs when a body in an elliptical orbit is at its closest to the Sun. Aphelion, on the other hand, is when a body in an elliptical orbit is at its furthest from the Sun. This does not really mean much for visual observers it's more of an interesting fact.
However, in between these two events our neighbouring planets will be in conjunction. Mars and Venus will be within 0.2° of each other in the sky. Sigma Leonis comes along for the ride too and will be within 0.3° of Venus that same morning. They will sit tighter together than the Leo triplet 7° away. Look in the East before sunrise and throw some binoculars over your eyes to catch the conjunction. The map below gives you a rough idea of where these planets can be found.
 |
| Venus/Mars Conjunction |
https://www.space.com/38272-october-full-moon.html
A Harvest Moon is the closest Full Moon to the Autumnal Equinox. It is so named because it allowed farmers extra light to harvest their crops before artificial lighting.
We are expecting a winter storm this evening but the signs of it are not yet showing. After the expected storm the weather picks up and is seasonal for the rest of the week. This should be perfect time for some astronomy! Look up and catch some familiar sights in the sky this week!
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