| The Magazine of the CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES |
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Skyguide October to December 1998
October 5 Tonight's Full Moon, the "Harvest Moon," is the nearest one to the Autumnal Equinox. For the few days that the Moon is full or nearly-full, its bright light allows farmers to continue harvesting in the fields well into the evening. For Chinese, this marks the Mid-Autumn Festival (or Moon Festival), when sweet pastries called "mooncakes" are eaten. In 1353, an uprising against the Mongols was signaled with secret messages hidden inside mooncakes. October 8 Peak of the Draconid meteor shower, also known as the Gia- cobinid meteors usually producing about 20 "shooting stars" per hour. October 20 With New Moon at 3:10 a.m., observers with binoculars may see soon after sunset, a razor-thin, 15-hour-old crescent very low in the west-southwest. October 21 Peak of the Orionid meteor shower, coinciding with a coopera- tive Moon. Caused by dust from Halley's Comet, the Ori- onids usually produce roughly 20 "shooting stars" per hour. October 25 At 2:00 a.m., we adjust our clocks as we "fall back" one hour from Daylight Time to Standard Time. Residents of Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and most of Indiana don't have to bother. October 31 Halloween by the light of a waxing gibbous Moon. November 3 Full Moon, also known as the "Hunter's Moon" and the "Beaver Moon." The Moon is also at its perigee, or its closest point to Earth, for the year. The combination results in very high tides. November 10 Last quarter moon. The Sun, Earth, and Moon form a right angle, and the Moon is said to be "at quadrature." November 16-17 Peak of the Leonid meteors--will they shower or storm? (See box.) November 18 New Moon. Tomorrow (November 19) at sunset, look for a thin crescent very low in the southwest. December 3 Full Moon in Taurus, known variously as the "Moon Before Yule," or the "Long Night Moon." Being directly opposite the low Winter Sun, the Full Moon nearest the Winter Sol- stice makes the highest and longest arcs. December 13 Peak of the Gemini meteor shower–usually the best meteor shower of the year, with 50 "shooting stars" per hour. December 18 New Moon. Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, begins at the sighting of the first crescent. Because the exact New Moon is at 2:43 p.m. on this day, the Moon is still too near the Sun to be seen at sunset–tomorrow night (December 19) is the first opportunity. December 21 Winter Solstice at 5:56 p.m pst. On this day, Earth's north pole is tilted farthest away from the Sun. For the Northern Hemisphere, this results in the shortest daylight period and the longest night of the year. For locations on the Tropic of Capricorn, 231/2 degrees south of the equator, the Sun passes directly overhead at local noon. Planets Mercury This elusive, little planet plays hide-and-seek this quarter, reaching its greatest eastern elongation (maximum angular separation east of the Sun) on November 11. Though it's above the horizon after sunset on that date, the shallow angle of its path relative to the horizon will make it difficult for mid-northern observers to see. It should be more easily visi- ble after it swings between the Earth and the Sun and ascends quite grandly into the predawn sky by mid-December. The Moon makes another close pass on the mornings of December 16 and 17, by which time Mercury should be easier to see in the southeast just before dawn.
Bing F. Quock is a member of the staff of the Morrison Planetarium. |
Fall 1998
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