2017 Week 42: (October 15-21)

Last week was not a very exciting week for astronomy, especially with the snowfall.  However, this upcoming week has some promise.  The table below shows the many sights in the sky that we can check out.

Date	Event
October 15	Regulus 0.2°S of Moon
October 17	Zodiacal Light visible before morning twilight
October 17	Mars 1.8°S of Moon
October 18	Venus 2.0°S of Moon
October 19	Uranus at Opposition
October 19	New Moon
October 21	Orionid Meteors Peak

The waning crescent Moon is cruising back toward the Sun and will meet a few Solar System objects along the way.  On Sunday, the Moon will nearly cover Leo's bright star Regulus.  This should be visible in the early morning twilight sky.  Look for the Moon and you will see Regulus hanging out just to the South.  Two mornings later you may see the Moon spending some time with Mars.  Mars may be difficult to see without binoculars as it is on the opposite side of its solar orbit than us.  This same morning the Moon will be about 5° from Venus.  Unfortunately the close 2.0° Venusian conjunction happens on the other side of Earth to us Calgarians.

Thursday is a big day.  Uranus will be at opposition the same day as the New Moon.  The Moon will not be polluting the sky with light and, from dark skies, you may have a chance to see Uranus with your naked eye.  In the southeast sky you should be able to see the bright stars of Aries in a line.  They will curve down and point to Omicron Piscium.  Uranus will be in the same binocular field as this star.  The map below shows this region of the sky.

Uranus Skymap

The next few weeks the Zodiacal Light will be visible in the morning prior to sunrise.  It is best to have clear, dark skies to observe this phenomenon.  For more information about the Zodiacal Light click on the link below.

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/02/what-is-zodiacal-light.html

At the end of the week the Orionid Meteor Shower will peak.  Since it occurs near the New Moon you can witness them without much natural light pollution.  Later in the week I will devote an entire blog post to these meteors.  The Earth will travel through a region of space inhabited by the dust and ice from the famous Halley's Comet.  The hourly rate is about 20-25 and with dark skies you may be able to catch one every few minutes.