April 24, 2024

October new moon 2021: See Jupiter, Saturn and a minor meteor shower in the moonless sky

The stars of both Draco and Camelopardalis, the giraffe, are hard and fairly faint to see from city locations, but they are circumpolar, which indicates they never ever set in mid-northern latitudes. The world is brilliant enough that its typically one of the extremely first “stars” to appear in the night before the sky is entirely dark, however it may still be a difficulty to spot as it will just be about 15 degrees above the horizon at sunset. Venus will be shining at magnitude -4.1, which makes it about 11 times as brilliant as the brightest star we can see: Sirius, the “Dog Star” in Canis Major (which increases at about 1:34 a.m. on Oct. 7). Closer to the southern horizon one can see Fomalhaut, the brightest star in Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish. Looking southeast after sunset, one will see the constellation of Eridanus, the river, and the star Achernar which marks its southern end– the other end of the constellation is near the constellation Orion, the hunter, which will rise just prior to midnight.

Venus will be shining at magnitude -4.1, which makes it about 11 times as bright as the brightest star we can see: Sirius, the “Dog Star” in Canis Major (which rises at about 1:34 a.m. on Oct. 7). Closer to the southern horizon one can see Fomalhaut, the brightest star in Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish. Looking southeast after sundown, one will see the constellation of Eridanus, the river, and the star Achernar which marks its southern end– the other end of the constellation is near the constellation Orion, the hunter, which will rise simply prior to midnight.