2018 Week 41: (October 7-October 13)

Saturn and Mars are still prominent in the sky this week and are worth checking out before they get hidden in near the Sun.  At the Ralph Klein Park Public Star Night last Saturday these two planets put on a great show.  Mars was still quite large and bright while trusty Saturn showcased its beautiful rings.  Other things happening this week are shown in the chart below.

Date	Event
October 8	Draconid Meteors Peak
October 8	New Moon
October 11	Jupiter 4°S of Moon
October 13	Zodiacal Light Visible

The Draconid Meteor Shower will peak on Monday, October 8.  If the sky is clear and you can catch a good view of Draco you may just get lucky and see some meteors.  Early reports from the UK indicate that this year is stronger than previous.  More information on how to find them can be found at the link below.

https://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-draconid-meteor-shower.html

The radiant map for the Draconids is provided.

Draconid Radiant

Jupiter can still be seen in the dusk sky just after the Sun sets.  It will certainly have bad seeing due to the amount of atmosphere its light must pass through.  If you can catch it on the 11th you will see it in conjunction with the Moon.  This will be a great binocular sight for those out on an evening stroll.

Further East of Jupiter you will catch Saturn and Mars.

Saturn

If you can get out to a dark sight during the next few weeks try to catch the Zodiacal Light.  I have not seen it yet but hope to very soon.  More information about this phenomenon can be found on a previous blog posting below.

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

There will be one notable rocket launch this week on October 11.  A Soyuz spacecraft will be taking a crew to the International Space Station.  Information and live updated can be found at the link below.

https://spaceflightnow.com/

Date	Event
October 11	Soyuz - ISS 56S (02:20)

The Rothney Astrophysical Observatory will be hosting another Open House and it is the annual Science-Fiction night!  There will be a lecture on exploring the ocean moons of the outer solar system and many telescopes setup to observe the sky.  More information can be found at the link below.

https://ucalgary.ca/rao/event/2018-10-13/sci-fi-night-observatory-2018

A link to the Facebook Event page can be found below.

https://www.facebook.com/events/251115278882962/

Date	Event
October 13	Sci-Fi Night at the Observatory (20:00-23:00)

Stay tuned for an upcoming community star night in McKenzie Lake that we hope to book within the next 4 weeks!