Just before daybreak on Friday 20th there is an opportunity to see the shadow of two Galilean moons at the same time on the surface of Jupiter. If you aim your telescope towards the west at 7am and find Jupiter, you should be able to see the shadows cast by Io and Ganymede simultaneously.
The late evening of Saturday 21st into the early morning of Sunday 22nd sees the peak of this year's Orionids meteor shower. At the actual peak around midnight, you can expect to see up to 25 meteors per hour and the radiant point where they appear to originate from will be to the left of Betelgeuse, the red giant star in the constellation of Orion. Around midnight, Orion and the shower's radiant point will be located towards the east.
The shooting stars are created by debris left behind from the famous comet Halley. As the Earth passes through this debris on its orbit around the Sun, gravity pulls the tiny particles through our atmosphere and you see them burning up because of friction as they hit the ever-thickening air.
I am running the first of this autumn's astronomy sessions at the Ham Hill Centre on 27th October, but I've just found out that it is already fully booked. The next one for your diary is Friday 15th December at 7pm which would make a nice Christmas present. Early booking is recommended and this can be done via the Visit South Somerset website.
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