OctNovDec2020

Night Sky Highlights for October-December 2020

Solar System

Orionid Meteor Shower
Peaking on October 21

Under ideal conditions, this shower can produce up to 20 meteors an hour. This year the conditions will be good after midnight as the waxing crescent Moon will set in the evening.

Geminid Meteor Shower
Peaking on December 13-14

This is one of the best meteor showers each year, with maximum rates up to 120 per hour! This year the shower peaks at the time of the new Moon, so conditions should be ideal for seeing a lot of meteors in the early morning hours.

Mercury
This fall, the best chance to see Mercury will be in the week or so surrounding November 10, when this elusive planet will be low in the eastern sky before dawn. On the 10th, it will be 19 degrees from the Sun.

Venus
Brilliant Venus will be high in the eastern sky before dawn in October. It will gradually start to approach the Sun and get lower in the pre-dawn sky in November and December.

Mars
Mars will be closest to Earth on October 6 when its disk will appear 22.6″ in diameter, the largest it will appear until the year 2035. It will be rising around sunset, so it will be well placed for observing in the late evening. Mars will be almost as large through all of October and into the beginning of November. This should be a great time to see what surface features you can spot with a telescope at high power. By the end of December, Mars will still be a brilliant object in the evening sky but its disk will have decreased to 11″ .

Jupiter and Saturn
Close Conjunction on Monday, December 21
This is an ideal time to observe these two gas giants. Throughout the fall months they will be within 10 degrees of each other, and in the second half of December they will be less than 1 degree apart. On the evening of December 21 (which is coincidentally the winter solstice), Jupiter will be 0.1 degree south of Saturn, making a spectacular sight both for the naked eye and through any telescope. This is the closest conjunction of these two planets since 1623!

Uranus
Located in Aries, Uranus will rise late in the evening during October In November and December it will be in the eastern sky after sunset. At magnitude 5.7 Uranus is theoretically visible to the naked eye, but I have never heard of anyone accomplishing this feat from Connecticut’s light-polluted skies. However, it is easy to see in binoculars if you know where to look for it.

To find Uranus or Neptune with a telescope, you will need a go-to scope or a finder chart such as the one in this article from the Sky & Telescope website:

www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/planets/ice-giants-neptune-and-uranus/

Neptune
Neptune is in Aquarius, appearing at about magnitude 7.8. It rises around sunset in October. In November and December you can start to look for it as soon as the sky gets dark.

Deep Sky Objects

Quite a few deep sky objects in the autumn sky can be seen without optical aid, including the famous Andromeda Galaxy, 2.2 million light years away. If you have binoculars or a telescope, there are countless double stars, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies to seek out. To get directions to any object, click on the link to a star-hop chart.

Messier 31, 32 and 110: Andromeda Galaxy and companions
Galaxies in Andromeda
It is not hard to see M31 with the naked eye, and with even a small telescope you should be able to see its two companion galaxies M32 and M110. M32 is a small fuzzy circle that can be mistaken for a star is you don’t look carefully. M110 is larger than M32 and much more diffuse, so it can be harder to spot. Try averted vision. Star-hop chart

Messier 45, the Pleiades
Open cluster in Taurus
This icon of the autumn skies looks like a little dipper with the naked eye, and some people think it is the Little Dipper. Its blue-white stars are a great view through binoculars or a telescope at low power. Star-hop chart

Melotte 25, the Hyades
Open cluster in Taurus
This is the nearest open cluster to us, about 153 light years away, and its V-shape is easy to see with the naked eye as the face of Taurus the Bull. Bright red Aldebaran appears to be part of the group but it is actually closer, about 65 light years away. This is a great binocular target. Star-hop chart

Kemble’s Cascade and NGC 1502
Asterism and open cluster in Camelopardalis
First noted by amateur astronomer Lucian Kemble, this chance alignment of stars resembles a waterfall stretching across 3 degrees of sky, ending with a splash at the small open cluster NGC 1502. Because of its size, it is best viewed with binoculars or a rich-field telescope. Star-hop chart

Perseus Double Cluster
Pair of star clusters in Perseus
It is always a treat to observe these two rich open clusters with a good telescope and a low-power eyepiece. While enjoying the view, look carefully at the star colors. It should be possible to spot several red giant stars scattered here and there. Star-hop chart

Mesarthim (Gamma Arietis)
Double star in Aries
This is a nice double, a matched pair of 4th magnitude blue/white stars about 7″ apart. They can be separated with just about any telescope at medium power. These are two hot stars about 164 light years from Earth. Star-hop chart

Omicron 1 Cygni
Triple star in Cygnus
With the naked eye, this star forms a pair with Omicron 2, about 5 degrees west of Deneb.  In binoculars or a telescope, three stars of different colors can be seen–yellow/orange, blue and white.  This is a very attractive group through a low power eyepiece. Star-hop chart

NGC 1499, the California Nebula
Diffuse Nebula in Perseus
This emission nebula is over 2 degrees long and 1/2 degree wide, in the general shape of the state of California. You might think such a large object would be easy to see, but because of its low surface brightness it is actually quite a visual challenge. The best chance to see it is with a rich-field telescope and a nebula filter such as H-Beta. Star-hop chart

Mu Cepheus, Herschel’s Garnet Star
Red variable star in Cepheus
This is star is famous for its deep red color. It varies in magnitude from about 3.6 to 5.0, so it is visible to the naked eye. Its color is best seen through binoculars or a small telescope.  A red supergiant, it is one of the largest and intrinsically brightest stars in the sky, about 1400 light years away. Star-hop chart

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