2018 Week 43: (October 21-October 27)

We have an action packed week in the sky coming up!  With a great forecast it may be worth it to get out under the stars.  Just don't let the Full Moon light pollution get you down!

Date	Event
October 21	Orionid Meteors Peak
October 23	Uranus at Opposition
October 24	Full Moon
October 26	Venus at Inferior Conjunction
October 27	Aldebaran 1.6°S of Moon

The Orionid Meteor Shower will peak Sunday evening/Monday Morning.  This can usually produce up to 10 meteors per hour from suburban skies.  It may be a few less than this due to the light pollution of a large waxing gibbous Moon nearby.

Uranus will be at opposition and at its biggest and brightest all year.  It still resides in the constellation of Pisces which I hope to log at some point this year.  I'll probably check it out closer to the New Moon.

The astronomers nightmare Full Moon occurs one day later brightening up the sky to the point of being unable to see much else.  In news this week China is determined to create spacecraft to simulate this light.  They are completely unaware of the damage this artificial light will have on local ecosystems and astronomical observations.  Wishing them no luck on this absurd venture.

Full Moon

Venus will be at inferior conjunction and will be basically sitting in front of Sun.  Advanced telescope users may be able to see the slim crescent during the day of conjunction.  Great caution must be taken to avoid the Sun.  Several of us made this observation in March of 2017.  Hours before conjunction we were able to see just a bare sliver of our neighbouring planet.

To end the week, the eye of Taurus the bull will be in conjunction with a waning gibbous Moon.  Look at the region of space when the Moon has further progressed in its cycle and you will see the Hyades and Pleiades Clusters in all their glory.

If you would like to check out a live rocket launch, NASA will be sending a satellite to study the Earth's ionosphere.  Details are found below and all launches can be viewed at the following link.

https://spaceflightnow.com/

Date	Event
October 14	Pegasus XL - ICON (02:00)

The chart below highlights the public events happening this week!  Don't miss coming to the University of Calgary on Tuesday to learn more about Cassini!

Date	Event
October 23	Cassini to Saturn: The Journey and the Legacy (19:30-22:30) (U of C, ST 148)

There will be a great event held at the University of Calgary this week.  Carolyn Porco, leader of Cassini's Imaging Team is coming to give a wonderful lecture about this amazing mission.  The synopsis is provided below followed by a link to attend.

Twenty-eight years ago, the United States and Europe joined hands and set off together on a spectacular adventure.

It was a mission named Cassini that called for a long journey across the solar system and entry into orbit around the planet Saturn, followed by an in-depth, comprehensive look at everything in the Saturn system.

Cassini spent 13 years in residence at Saturn. In that time, it revealed a planetary system rich in scientific wonder and splendor beyond compare. Processes at work in the early solar system have been found within Saturn’s rings. The planet itself has been a lavish source of meteorological detail, permitting comparison with the Earth’s atmosphere. And environments found on and within its moons give hope of learning the mechanisms by which life has arisen on our own planet and perhaps elsewhere in the cosmos.

Cassini

In this public lecture, Carolyn Porco, the leader of Cassini’s imaging team and former imaging team member on the Voyager mission to the outer solar system, will guide us through the enchanting realm of Saturn and the mission’s most profound scientific findings, and conclude with the legacy that Cassini and six decades of planetary exploration have left behind.

Dr. Carolyn Porco, planetary scientist and leader of the NASA Cassini Imaging Team will be presenting a free-to-the-public talk on the science of Saturn, its rings and satellites, with particular focus on the moon, Enceladus.

Enceladus

In addition to her work with the Cassini mission, Dr. Porco was also involved in the 1980 Voyager mission to the outer solar system, and is an imaging scientist on the New Horizons mission that did a flyby of Pluto and is now on its way to a second target in the Kuiper Belt. Porco has co-authored over 110 scientific papers and was selected by the London Sunday Times as one of 18 scientific leaders of the 21st century, and by Industrial Week as one of "50 Stars to Watch". In 2012, she was chosen as one of Time's Top 25 Most Influential People in Space.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cassini-to-saturn-the-journey-and-the-legacy-tickets-50549070631

Don't miss this free event!  Also don't miss the mild weather as you walk out under the stars this week!