Monday 2nd to Sunday 8th October 2023
We're going to concentrate on Jupiter's moons as during the coming week, there are several transits where one of the moons passes in front of the planet, casting a shadow.
Firstly, if you are up at around 2.30am on Tuesday 3rd and look to the south, you will see Jupiter, with a Gibbous Moon and the Pleiades cluster to the left of it. Further left again will be the constellation of Orion.
If you zoom into Jupiter with your telescope it will be possible to see all four of the Galilean moons, from left to right - Ganymede, Europa, Io and Callisto. Look closely at Jupiter and you should see Europa's shadow on the surface of the planet.
If you prefer not to stay up so late, try around 10.30pm on Thursday 5th and you will be able to catch Ganymede's shadow near Jupiter's south pole. At this time, Jupiter will be more towards the east.
Should you then decide to stay up really late and follow Jupiter, from 3am on the Friday morning, it is Io's turn to cast a shadow.
On a totally different subject, the evening of Sunday 8th sees the peak of the Draconids meteor shower. Look towards the north from 8.30pm and find the bright star Vega. The radiant point of the meteor shower will be a little below the star.
The shower is so named because its radiant point appears to be in the same part of the sky as the constellation of Draco.
Finally, I have just agreed to run another couple of my popular astronomy evenings at the Ham Hill Centre this autumn. Booking information will be available soon, but in the meantime the dates for your diary are Friday 27th October and Friday 15th December.
www.starsoversomerset.com
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2023
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