Stardate

October 2009

Venus, Saturn, and Mercury grab the attention in the dawn sky for much of the month, congregating low in the east. Venus, the "morning star," is the brightest of the three. Saturn passes Mercury early in the month, and Venus later on. The Moon joins them on the 16th. Mars is climbing higher and growing a little brighter as we head through the first full month of autumn. And some of the familiar constellations of autumn climb into good view, including W-shaped Cassiopeia in the northeast and V-shaped Taurus in the east.

5th - Venus, Mercury, and Saturn line up from top right to lower left low in the east at first light. Venus is the "morning star." Mercury is farthest from the Sun for its current morning appearance.

8th - Saturn passes Mercury in the dawn sky. They are low in the east at first light, below brilliant Venus.

12th - The Moon, Mars, and the twin stars of Gemini line up high in the southeast at dawn. Orange Mars is to the upper right of the Moon, with Pollux and Castor above the planet.

13th - Venus and Saturn stand side by side in the east at first light. Saturn is to the left of brilliant Venus.

14th - Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, is close to the upper right of the Moon in the pre-dawn hours. Mars is above them, with Venus and Saturn below.

16th - Venus lines up to the left of the Moon at dawn, with Saturn a little farther to the Moon's upper left.

21st - Antares is just to the right of the Moon, quite low in the south- west shortly after sunset. Binoculars will help you find the star.

26th - Dazzling Jupiter is close to the left of the Moon at nightfall. The Moon moves closer to the planet before they set around 1 or 2 a.m.

There are links to many of the words above, but for a reason I have not yet discerned, they are not active in this post. If you go here, the links are active.



I have also added a "Stardate" feed to my list of feeds at the bottom of this blog. I love the stars. Too bad I can't see but five or six of them from our home in Houston, but we are very much looking forward to a visit to West Texas later this month (during the New Moon) which should reveal the truly dazzling array in the night sky.