Night sky

By Claire Wardlaw

Claire Wardlaw, originally from Edinburgh, lives in the Charente with her husband. Since their move over 4 years ago, Claire has become passionate about astronomy.

The Night Sky

THIS MONTH, ONCE AGAIN, WE HAVE MANY OBJECTS AND EVENTS TO LOOK FORWARD TO

We can watch a Blue Moon rising on Regulus and Algieba - look towards the Halloween, see the spectacular east. The waxing Moon will be passing salmon pink colour of a brightening Mars, close to Saturn and Jupiter from the 21st to enjoy one of the best meteor showers this 23rd, looking towards the south around year emanating from the constellation of 8pm. The Moon and Mars will again be Orion, and explore the beautiful close together in the eastern evening sky 'Winged Horse' constellation which is on 29th at around 8pm. positioned close to our nearest galaxy neighbour- Andromeda. Meteor Shower in October The Moon and Planets in October The Orionids, so called as they seemingly emanate from the constellation of Orion, The first of two full moons of the month are best viewed when the constellation has will be on the 1st around 10pm. A treat risen further above the horizon. This coming up will be a 'Blue Moon' (song shower can have around 25 meteors per anyone?). The name of Blue Moon is given hour. They are very fast and can have to a second full moon in one calendar persistent trains. The peak for these month or the third of four full moons in a meteors will last for a week from 20th to season. This month the Blue Moon will 27th. The Moon will be brightening in its occur on the 31st, rising in a Halloween sky phase so it will be easier to catch a and will be full just shooting star on before 4pm. You won't see a blue colouring, although this can occur if Our continued desire to study and explore Mars saw the launch this the 20th. These meteors are associated with the atmospherics are July of three missions Comet 1P/Halley. affected by, for example, When planning volcanic eruptions. The darkest skies this your night with the meteors do ensure you month will be from around the 10th to have allowed your eyes to become dark 23rd, when the moon phases are less adjusted, lie back on the ground or on a bright. The planets will be beautiful this deckchair and observe as wide an area of month. Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars the sky as possible. will all be visible and will form a variety of conjunctions with other celestial objects. A Mars Special Firstly we turn to Venus. On the morning The stunning red planet of Mars will be at of the 3rd at around 5.30am, she will be 'Opposition' this month. This is when the close to the star Regulus (in Leo) when Earth sits directly between the Sun and rising in the east. A little later on the same Mars and as a result will make it easier to morning, looking south west, the Moon observe. As the planets do not have and Mars will appear very close together in completely circular orbits - they travel in a brightening sky. On the mornings of the ellipses - at times they will appear bigger 13th and 14th a pretty crescent Moon will when closer to the Earth. This also makes be positioned close to Venus and the stars observations much easier and more rewarding. When a planet is closest to the Earth in its orbit it is said to be at 'Perihelion'. Both of these events occur this month. 'Opposition' for the planet of Mars will occur on 13th and 'Perihelion' on 6th. Mars has been brightening through the month of September, surpassing the brightness of Jupiter by month end. It will truly be a spectacular sight. We have been fascinated by the planet for a very long time and our continued desire to study and explore Mars saw the launch this July of three missions. These missions named Hope, Tianwen-1 and Nasa's 'Perseverance' rover will have a variety of goals: studying the weather and climate, searching for landing sites for a future rover, and the NASA rover collecting rock and soil samples to return to Earth in a future mission.

MARS FACTS! DID YOU KNOW….?

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Mars is almost half the size of the Earth

The temperature on the surface ranges from -153 degrees to 20 degrees

A year lasts 687 days

Mars has the largest volcano in our solar system - 'Olympus Mons', 25km high

It is the fourth planet from the sun orbiting at an average 228 million km

The atmosphere on Mars is around 96%

Carbon dioxide

Mars has 2 Moons: Phobos and Deimos

Sketching Fun

Whether you are new to the world of stargazing or you are a seasoned astronomer, taking the time to sit back and look at the night sky with paper and pencil in hand can be a great fun way to see, look and learn. This can be a good introduction to the world of Astronomy for children (particularly if they get to stay up late!). Find a dark spot on a clear night and begin to look up. With imaginations at the ready start to add the star patterns, shapes and designs you can spot in small areas of the sky. While many of these already have names and numbers associated with them, can you see any objects, patterns, shapes or animals of your own? Give them your own names and maybe even add stories about them. Do you see Lions, Swans, Fish, Hunters or Bears? Or do you see something else? People have been