XPost: alt.astronomy, alt.fan.heinlein

from https://www.cnet.com/science/space/october-2024-skygazing-stars-include-a-supermoon-and-a-rare-comet/

October 2024 Skygazing Stars Include a Supermoon and a Rare Comet
Look up into the sky in October to spot a supermoon, watch a major NASA
launch, catch a falling star and, if you're lucky, see a comet.


Amanda Kooser
Oct. 2, 2024 9:43 a.m. PT
3 min read

a full moon
This brilliant full moon was photographed from NASA's Kennedy Space
Center in Florida in 2017.
NASA/Kim Shiflett
Autumn is in full swing in the Northern Hemisphere. October is full of celestial action with a supermoon, a comet, meteor showers and a major
NASA mission launch all on tap for this month. Here's the calendar of
events and how to participate in these cosmic happenings.

Oct. 2: Annular solar eclipse
Sequence of annular solar eclipse shows a bright sun ring in the middle.
An annular solar eclipse creates a "ring of fire."
Kristen M. Caldon/NPS/Grand Canyon National Park
A "ring of fire" eclipse obscures the sun on Oct. 2. The eclipse is
mostly over ocean waters, but the full ring effect will be visible from
parts of Argentina and Chile. Other spots will be treated to a partial
eclipse. Here's everything you need to know about the ring of fire and
how to watch it.

Oct. 7-8: Draconids meteor shower peaks
"Shooting stars" will be dancing across the night sky throughout the
month. Meteor showers happen when little bits of icy comets or rocky
asteroids enter Earth's atmosphere and turn into bright streaks of
light. The pieces of space debris are called meteoroids. When they
become fireballs, they're called meteors. If part of a meteoroid reaches
the ground, it's a meteorite.

Here are all the named meteor showers active through the end of the year
and how to see them. For October, pay special attention to the Draconids
and Orionids. The Draconids shower peaks around Oct. 7 and Oct. 8, but
runs from Oct. 6 to 10. The Draconids shower doesn't always deliver a spectacular show, but has the potential to generate an impressive flurry
in some years. Aim for a place with dark skies and minimal light pollution.

Oct. 10: NASA launches Europa Clipper

NASA is targeting Oct. 10 for the fiery launch of its Europa Clipper
mission. The agency will send a spacecraft to study Jupiter's weird and fascinating ocean moon Europa, a place that may potentially be habitable
for microbial life. Liftoff is scheduled for 9:31 a.m. PT on a SpaceX
Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA will livestream the launch. Launches are sometimes postponed for technical or weather-related issues.

Oct. 12: Comet A3 closest approach to Earth
Green curve of Earth's atmosphere with bright splash of Comet A3 in the
center.
Comet A3 makes a spectacular appearance in this image from NASA
astronaut Don Pettit taken from the International Space Station.
Don Pettit/NASA
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is also called C/2023-A3 or Comet A3 for short.
This icy visitor survived a close approach to the sun and may develop
into a celestial celebrity for viewers on Earth. Astrophotographers in
the Southern Hemisphere and astronauts on the International Space
Station have already snapped the comet's portrait. The Northern
Hemisphere may get some good viewing opportunities in October.

Comet A3's closest approach to Earth happens on Oct. 12. You may need a telescope or a good pair of binoculars, but there's a chance the comet
could be visible to the naked eye.

"Comet A3 has generated so much excitement about how bright and visible
it might be that it has even been billed as the 'comet of the century'
in some quarters," the Royal Astronomical Society said in a statement on
Sept. 30. It's too soon to tell if it will live up to the hype. The RAS recommends looking west just after sunset from Oct. 12-Oct. 30. Happy
comet hunting!

Oct. 17: Full Hunter's 'supermoon'
October 2024 moon phases with the full moon on Oct. 17.
NASA highlights the phases of the moon for October 2024.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
The October full moon is known by its nickname of the Hunter's Moon.
This year's Hunter's Moon is a "supermoon," which means the moon is
close to Earth and may appear slightly bigger and brighter than normal.
The size difference is subtle. Any full moon is a delightful experience,
but it's especially fun to cheer on a supermoon. The Hunter's Moon will
reach peak illumination at 4:26 a.m. PT on Oct. 17, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. For best viewing, look for the moon after sunset that evening.

Oct. 20-21: Orionids meteor shower peaks
Orionids meteor streaks across a dark sky.
The Orionids meteor shower is known for bright streaks. It's one of the
top meteor showers of the year.
NASA/JPL
The Orionids meteor shower reaches maximum on Oct. 20-21, but runs
through the entire month. Expect 10-20 meteors per hour at its peak if
you have ideal viewing conditions. This shower tends to be more reliable
than the Draconids.

Bonus: Earth has a mini-moon
Earth welcomed a temporary tiny moon into orbit in late September. The
small asteroid will stick around until late November. It's too small to
spot it with amateur astronomy gear, but it's up there and makes for a
fun talking point. Here's everything you need to know about our visiting mini-moon.

Science
Get Outside and Catch a Meteor Shower: Here Are All the Ones Left in 2024 You've got a good chance of seeing a shooting star on almost any night
for the rest of the year.


Joe Hindy
Sept. 25, 2024 10:22 a.m. PT
7 min read

Meteor shower in China
You'll have plenty of chances to see a meteor shower in 2024.
SKY2014/Getty Images
Between the aurora borealis making multiple appearances, the full solar
eclipse and planet parades, there has been no shortage of skygazing
spectacles. August featured the Perseids meteor shower, an annual event
for skygazers all over the world. If you're still hoping to catch a
shooting star, you'll have plenty of opportunities in 2024.

There are eight named meteor showers left in 2024, with at least one
meteor shower being active at all times. That means you have the chance
of seeing a shooting star on any given night between now and the end of
the year. Since most meteor showers last for weeks, many overlap, giving
you increased odds on some days.

Included in the list are the Geminids and Quadrantids meteor showers.
They are two of the largest such events of the year, with Geminids
producing upward of 150 meteors per hour and the Quadrantids producing
up to 120 per hour. Despite these showers taking place during the colder months, people who bundle up and go outside will be rewarded for their
efforts.

There are also several smaller meteor showers like Kappa Cygnids and
Alpha Aurigids where the display won't be so amazing, but they happen so consistently that you could see a meteor outside at any time. We'll go
over all the meteor showers both big and small for the rest of 2024.

How to view a meteor shower
Meteor shower-viewing requires a little bit of work. In general, when astronomers calculate the number of meteors that you see per hour, they
do so under the assumption that you are far away from the big city with
no visible moon. Since the moon is almost always at least partially
full, that means you likely won't see the maximum number of meteors per
hour.

Get outside where the sky is as dark as possible. Folks living in the
big city may see a couple during the larger showers like Geminids and Quadrantids, but for the smaller showers, even people living in the
suburbs may not see any. Once you're far away from the light pollution,
all you have to do is look at the radiant -- or the point from which the
meteor showers originate -- and wait for the meteors to show up.

Daytime Sextantids
When is it happening: Through Oct. 9

Peak date: Sept. 27

Maximum meteor rate: 5 meteors per hour

The Daytime Sextantids is another smaller meteor shower that takes place
in September. This one hails from the Apollo 2005 UD asteroid. Since it
isn't the most active meteor shower, you'll want to wait for the peak
date to try to scope out a shooting star. It hails from the Sextan constellation, which is in the southern skies near Leo and Cancer. It's
also an early-bird special, as the best time for viewing will be the few
hours immediately before dawn.

Orionids
When is it happening: Sept. 26-Nov. 22

Peak date: Oct. 20-21

Maximum meteor rate: 10-20 meteors per hour

The Orionids are a long meteor shower and you can see meteors from it
for almost two straight months. Meteors from this shower come courtesy
of the famous Halley's Comet, which is the only known short-period comet
in our solar system and appears in the night sky about once every 72 to
80 years. Fun fact, Halley's Comet is also responsible for the Eta
Aquariid meteor shower that happens every May.

To see Orionids, you'll want to direct your attention to the
southwestern skies near the Orion constellation to see upwards of 20
meteors per hour. The show should last from dusk until dawn.

Southern Taurids
When is it happening: Sept. 23-Dec. 8

Peak date: Nov. 4-5

Maximum meteor rate: 5 meteors per hour

The Southern Taurids meteor shower is one of the longest-lasting meteor
showers of the year, lasting over two months. Meteors from this shower
come from the Encke comet, which was discovered over 250 years ago. It
peaks late in its cycle compared with some other meteor showers, so
you'll be braving the November elements to see this one. Keep your eyes
on the southwestern skies near Taurus.

Draconids (Giacobinids)
When is it happening: Oct. 6-Oct. 10

Peak date: Oct. 7

Maximum meteor rate: 10 meteors per hour

The Draconids meteor shower is unlike most other meteor showers in that
it takes place in the early evening and night hours and is typically
less active after midnight. In addition, while the predicted number of
meteors per hour is low, this meteor shower has the chance to produce
several hundred meteors per hour, as it's done periodically over the
last 100 years. Meteors from this shower are from the Giacobini-Zinner
comet, which was discovered in 1900.

To see Draconids, look toward the head of the Draco constellation in the northern sky near the Big and Little Dippers on the peak date. If it's a
year where Draconids decides to go crazy, you almost can't miss it.

Northern Taurids
When is it happening: Oct. 13-Dec. 2

Peak date: Nov. 11-12

Maximum meteor rate: 5 meteors per hour

The Northern Taurids is the second meteor shower to come from the Encke
comet, and it's very similar to the Southern Taurids shower. In fact,
both come from nearly the same place in the sky, so if you see a
shooting star from around the Taurus constellation, you likely won't be
able to tell which meteor shower it came from. Northern Taurids peaks
exactly one week later than the Southern Taurids in virtually the same
part of the sky, so if you can find one meteor shower, you can easily
find the other.

Leonids
When is it happening: Nov. 3-Dec. 2

Peak date: Nov. 17-18

Maximum meteor rate: 15 meteors per hour

Leonids comes to us courtesy of the Tempel-Tuttle comet and will last
for about a month. This is one of the stronger meteor showers left in
2024, although it pales in comparison with the next one. This one acts a
bit like Draconids, where most years it's pretty tame but has a history
of going extreme. In 2001, astronomers reported thousands of meteors per
hour, and the chance that we might see another storm like that makes
Leonids worth watching.

Leonids is also unique in that it's visible all across the night sky.
The radiant is the Leo constellation, which isn't readily visible for
most of the night in the northern hemisphere. However, NASA says that
it's better to look farther away from Leo to see the best meteors. That
means keep your eyes on the northwestern skies to see the best Leonids
meteors.

Geminids
When is it happening: Nov. 19-Dec. 24

Peak date: Dec. 13-14

Maximum meteor rate: 150 meteors per hour

Geminids is one of the biggest meteor showers of the year and it'll take
place after it gets cold outside. It's generated from the 3200 Phaethon asteroid, which is unique because its orbit brings it closer to the sun
than any other named asteroid. Geminids is, on average, even more
intense than the popular Perseids meteor shower, spawning anywhere from
two to three times as many meteors.

The radiant for Geminids is Gemini, which is under the horizon for most
of the night. Fortunately, much like Leonids, the radiant isn't the best
place to look for Geminids, as it'll be visible across the entire night
sky during its peak.

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