Skywatch October 2004

Tuesday, October 19th, 2004.  Written by Steven Russo

Planetarium Manager of the Suits-Bueche Planetarium at the Schenectady Museum.

    The sun sets tonight in the west at 6:07.  It will rise tomorrow, Wednesday, at 7:16, and will set at 6:05.  During this time of the year, we are loosing around 15 minutes of daylight each week.  The Moon is approaching First Quarter, which is tomorrow.  It rose today at 1:51 in the afternoon, and will set tonight at around 10:10 PM.  It will rise tomorrow at 2:40 in the afternoon and set at 11:40 tomorrow night.

    Venus is the very bright star-like object in the East Northeast before Sunrise.  Above Venus, you can locate the planet Saturn.  The Planet Jupiter is now becoming visible below Venus in the morning sky.

    The famous Summer Triangle is overhead by 9:00 PM. It is marked by the three bright stars of Vega, Deneb, and Altair.  They are the brightest stars in the constellations of Lyra the Harp, Cygnus the Swan, and Aquila the Eagle.  High up in the north east, you can spot the Andromeda Galaxy.  Appearing as a dim smudge, it is actually a spiral galaxy with about 300 billion stars.  The light that left Andromeda has traveled 2 million years to reach your eyes.

    Along with the Andromeda Galaxy, is our own Milky Way.  Away from the bright city lights, it can be viewed as a white “smudgy” band, which runs from the northeast to the southwest right through the middle of the Summer Triangle overhead.

    Very close to the horizon in the north, you can find the Big Dipper.  During this time of the year, it is right-side up.  Drawing an imaginary line through the two end stars in the cup, and extending it upwards from the horizon, will point you to the North Star.  It is also known as Polaris.  Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT the brightest star in the sky.  Its only importance is that it points us towards the north.

    Public Programs at the Suits-Bueche Planetarium at the Schenectady Museum are on Saturdays and Sundays at 1, 2, and 3 P. M.  The 1:00 program is The Friendly Stars, a program for young people. At 2 P.M. is Hubble Vision. And at 3 P.M. is a live narration of the late summer and early fall sky.  There are also programs on Wednesday and Thursdays at 2 PM.

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