2018 Week 44: (October 28-November 3)

This week is Halloween when lots of people will be outside in the dark!  This is a perfect time to take in the sky candy!  On Halloween we will have a Super Last Quarter Moon; that's right I'm going there.  Check out the highlights in the chart below.

Date	Event
October 29	Mercury 3°S of Jupiter
October 31	Moon 1°S of Beehive (M44)
October 31	Last Quarter

The evening of the 29th we will see Mercury sitting just 3° under Jupiter.  If you hold your index finger and middle finger together at arms length that will be how close they are.  Can you see them in the evening twilight?  Try looking in the southwest sky shortly after sunset.

If you like to stay up really late try finding the Beehive Cluster near the Moon on the night before Halloween.

With all the excitement around this time of year don't miss out on a Super Last Quarter Moon!  No it's not anything special.  I just know that most people like to make a big deal out of perigean Full Moons so why leave Last Quarter out?  Here is the deal:  The Moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical path.  There are times in the 28 day cycle when the Moon is closer to the Earth (perigee) and times when the Moon is further from the Earth (apogee).  When the perigee coincides with a Full Moon everyone goes crazy about what has colloquially been termed a 'Super Moon'.  The Full Moon is imperceptibly larger than when it is not at perigee.  On October 31, 2018 the Last Quarter phase occurs 3 hours and 20 minutes before perigee.  Hence, a Super Last Quarter.  A picture of Last Quarter is shown below.  I am very proud of it because I took it at 04:58.  I am never up at that time.

Last Quarter

To learn more about the Moon's phases follow the link below where you can see all my phase pictures at odd times throughout the evening.

https://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/05/explore-universe-lunar-phases.html

There is one rocket launch happening that has a scheduled time.  A Japanese H-2A will be taking a greenhouse gas observing satellite for the Japanese Ministry of Environment.  Also on board will be a UAE imaging satellite.  The date and time can be found below.

Date	Event
October 29	H-2A - GOSAT & KhalifaSat (22:08)

There are no public events happening in Calgary this week.  Stay tuned to this space as we will be planning a community stargazing night soon!