I don’t know, but this is not how I remember Fall. At one point a couple of weeks ago, I went from weekly lawn trimmings to prepping my snow blower for ‘The Big One’. We’ve gone from late summer to pre-winter, and neither my mind nor body are ready for this. My recent astronomical excursions, on those rare occasions when there was actually a clear sky, consisted of stepping outside for a moment to ensure nothing had happened to the Moon. It’s fine, incidentally. But, the forecast for the rest of the month is more sunshine than rain, so I’ll have to get out more.
A good time to start would be the next few nights: Venus becomes prominent in the west at dusk, and the Orionid Meteor Shower and dwarf planet Ceres peak the night of the 20-21st. To catch Venus, you have to start early. Sneak out to somewhere with an unobstructed western horizon about a half hour after the 5:30 sunset and try to spot bright Venus low on the horizon a little south of west. It will be a little higher each night until it sits directly between the red giant Antares and the planet Saturn on the 21st.
No dawdling though; Antares sets by 6:30, and Venus and Saturn an hour later. This is only the beginning of Venus’ journey; you’ll be able to watch it move ever higher daily through January. Once the sky darkens and the stars come out, the Orionid meteors start coming into view. The shower’s good for 10 - 20 meteors an hour on a moonless night under a dark sky. This year, the Last Quarter Moon rises just before midnight, so it will not interfere in the evening. Although the best time to view the Orionids is just before dawn, the Moon’s up by then, and you’re asleep. No problem: evenings are almost as good. Orionids are fast and often leave trails of smoke. They will appear to originate low in the north east in the constellation Orion, which is just poking its head above the horizon at eleven-thirty. The Orionids are one of two showers originating from Halley’s Comet, the other being the May Aquarids. October 21st also marks the date that dwarf planet ‘1 Ceres’ is at its brightest for the year.
Unfortunately, Ceres is just beyond naked eye visibility, and not near anything bright enough to use as a reference, so to find it you will need a friendly person with a telescope and star map. Although cool, at least evenings are finally dark enough to see stuff. Jackets and mitts were obviously invented to prolong night sky viewing times, so find your astronomical wardrobe and get outside.
The universe waits for no one, and is always available right there in your own chilly back yard.
