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Department of the Navy Oceanographer of the Navy
Thursday October 14, 2004
Home About USNO FAQ Products Public Affairs Science Search Site Map News
The Sky This Week
2004 October 7 - October 15
Saturn, 2004 October 7, 10:23 UTC
Saturn, 2004 October 7, 10:23 UTC

Imaged by Geoff Chester with a 20-cm (8-inch) Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope,
2X Barlow Lens, and a Phillips ToUcam Pro 740K webcam.
400 frames selected from 902 raw images, digitally stacked and processed
using RegiStax 3D-Beta software.

Animated Transit of Venus Egress 3rd Contact Animated Transit of Venus Egress 4th Contact
Animation of the interior limb egress (3rd Contact)
of the 2004 June 8 Transit of Venus.
Sequence of 16 frames, each compiled from 100 exposures
made over 20-second intervals between 11:05 and 11:10 UT
through a 20-cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with f/6.3 focal reducer
and a Philips ToUcam Pro 740K webcam by Geoff Chester.
Click on the thumbnail to see a full-sized AVI... 		Animation of the exterior limb egress (4th Contact)
of the 2004 June 8 Transit of Venus.
Sequence of 10 frames, each compiled from 100 exposures
made over 20-second intervals between 11:21 and 11:25 UT
through a 20-cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with f/6.3 focal reducer
and a Philips ToUcam Pro 740K webcam by Geoff Chester.
Click on the thumbnail to see a full-sized AVI...
The Moon slims through the waning crescent phases this week, greeting early risers with her narrowing phase until she disappears into the rising glare of Old Sol. New Moon occurs on the 13th at 10:48 pm Eastern Daylight Time. By the evening of the 15th you should be able to catch a glimpse of her waxing crescent, low in the southwestern sky at dusk. Look for Luna to form a nice triangle with the dazzling planet Venus and the bright star Regulus before sunrise on the 10th. If you venture out to a place with a flat eastern horizon at around 6:45 am on the 12th, look for the almost hairline lunar crescent about 5 degrees above Jupiter, who's beginning to work his way into darker skies after his recent conjunction with the Sun.

October is far and away my favorite month for skywatching. The nights aren't bitterly cold yet, the air is generally clear and clean, and the best stars of three seasons are available for perusal. There are many age-old legends played out in the autumnal sky, and one of my favorites centers on the area of Pegasus, which lies on the meridian at around midnight. Pegasus no more resembles a flying horse than I do, but he is key the lore in this patch of sky. If you let your gaze wander from Pegasus “up and over the top” of the sky, you'll run into a group of stars that resembles a “W” or an “M”. This group represents Cassiopeia, the mythical Queen of Ethiopia in ages past. She boasted that her beautiful daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Sea Nymphs, who promptly complained to their father, the god Neptune. The idea of a mortal claiming beauty beyond that of immortals just didn't sit well with Neptune, so he punished Cassiopeia for her boastfulness by chaining her daughter to a rock, where she was to be devoured by a fearsome monster. To the rescue comes Perseus, riding his faithful (if square) steed, saving Andromeda from the jaws of Cetus and bringing great joy to the vain queen. All of the figures are there to enjoy, but it takes a considerable stretch of the imagination to match them with the players they represent. Sometimes I think the Ancients ate a great deal of moldy rye bread before they went stargazing!

Closer to home, the real action is still in the morning sky. Saturn is near the meridian as dawn breaks, and in the twilight before sunrise the ringed planet shares the sky with Castor and Pollux, the twin stars of Gemini. I got my first good peek at him this morning in the cool soft air as he hung under the fat crescent Moon. While the Cassini mission continues to send back spectacular images, I still thrill at every view I get of Saturn through the telescope.

Brilliant Venus is now moving away from the rising star Regulus, and it's impossible not to notice her in the morning glow. Although she is slowly creeping closer toward the Sun, she will remain a fixture in the morning sky until the end of the year.

For more information eclipses and the transit of Venus, click here.

For information on MARS ROVER ACTIVITIES this week, click here.

For information on BRIGHT SATELLITES passing over Washington, DC this week, click here.

For more information on meteor showers, click here.

For more information on observable comets, click here.

For pictures of Comet Hale-Bopp, click here.

For more information on the digital planet pictures on this page, click here.

Last Modified: Thursday, October 7, 2004 (grc)

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