Shooting Stars of October

We haven't had much luck with viewing the major meteor showers these days. The August Perseids were mostly obscured by high clouds. Some folks had a few holes through which to see a few of these shooting stars, but I only saw one!

The heat and humidity of summer is now past, and hopefully the cooler nights of October will provide us with some beautifully clear skies. Though the observing conditions are less than ideal for the two upcoming meteor showers this month, seeing more than one shooting star will be a bonus, at least for me!

During the first week of the month we have an opportunity to catch a few shooting stars as they blaze across the sky. I say blaze, but the Draconids are fairly slow moving meteors, hitting our atmosphere at only 12.5 miles per second. Usually the peak rate is less than 10 meteors per hour at best (you are just as likely to get as many sporadic or random meteors on any given night).

However, the comet (Giacobini-Zinner) which produced this stream of particles just passed through the inner solar system in July, contributing "fresh" material to the meteor stream. Regardless, most astronomers believe the Earth will miss this new concentration of particles this year. But who knows. It might be a good idea to put this shower on your observing schedule during the morning and evening of October 8. Scientists have been wrong before. Draconids radiate from the northern sky in the constellation Draco.

The waxing crescent Moon (first quarter on the 10th) sets before midnight, so it won't interfere too much with seeing as many meteors as possible.

During mid-month on the 17th, you may hear about a slight partial eclipse of the Moon. Unfortunately this event will not be visible from here because the Moon doesn't enter the Earth's dark umbral shadow until after moonset for us in New England. (Though the Moon will be well into the lighter penumbral shadow while setting, this phase will be undetectable to us.) The further west one travels the more of the eclipse becomes visible. Even then, at maximum only 7% of the lunar disk will fall within the Earth's dark shadow.

Three to four days later, a Waning Gibbous Moon will overshadow all but the brightest of the members of the Orionid meteor shower. This shower of shooting stars usually produces about 15-20 yellow and green meteors per hour during peak after midnight. Unfortunately the bright moonlight will reduce that number dramatically. These remnants of Halley's Comet intercept the Earth's orbit nearly head-on at 41.6 miles per second, so they are bright and are also noted for producing fireballs that create persistent dust trains high in the atmosphere. You may get lucky and see a few of the brighter meteors as they disintegrate. Best mornings to observe will be October 20-22 after midnight.

As the night progresses, the constellation Orion, and the point in the sky from which the meteors will appear to radiate, will rise higher and higher into the sky, allowing more meteors to be observed. Maximize your chances of seeing them by blocking direct moonlight, or any other light source, from your eyesight.

And lastly, don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour on Sunday, October 30 at 2:00 am. We then return to Eastern Standard Time. Beginning in 2007, as part of the government's Energy Policy Act of 2005, Daylight Saving Time will be extended.

Instead of "springing ahead" one hour on the first Sunday in April, the time change will occur three weeks earlier on the second Sunday in March. Consequently, in the fall when we would "fall behind" one hour on the last Sunday in October, we won't revert back to Eastern Standard Time until the first Sunday in November! Astronomers are going to hate it!

Remember, Seagrave Observatory is open free of charge to the public every clear Saturday night(except October 1). Check our web site - http://www.theskyscrapers.org - for further information, and always keep your eyes to the skies.