2024, October 11-16: Moon Passes Saturn

October 11-16, 2024: The waxing gibbous moon moves eastward and passes Saturn.  Look for the pair after sundown.

Moon and Mars, September 5, 2020
Photo Caption – 2020, September 5: The moon and Mars, (Composite of two images)

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Moon Passes Saturn

The moon waxes eastward after its First Quarter phase on October 10th.  After sundown, the lunar orb is in the southern sky, while Saturn is in the east-southeast.

Moon Passes Saturn
Chart Caption – 2024, October 11-16: The moon waxes eastward passing Saturn and Deneb Algedi. Look for Fomalhaut in the scene.

Here’s what to see an hour after sunset:

  • October 11: One hour after sundown, the gibbous moon, 63 % illuminated, is over 20° above the southern horizon.  Saturn, over 20° up in the southeast, is nearly 40° east of the moon.  Look for the star Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish, over 5° above the southeast horizon and 21° to the lower right of Saturn.
  • October 12: The moon, 74% illuminated, is nearly 25° above the south-southeast horizon.  It is 6.0° to the upper left of Deneb Algedi, Capricornus’ tail.  The Saturn-Moon gap is 25°.
  • October 13: The gibbous moon, 83% illuminated, is nearly 25° above the southeast horizon.  Saturn is 11° to the moon’s left.  Find Fomalhaut over 17° below the moon.
  • October 14: The moon, 91% illuminated, is over 20° above the southeast horizon, 3.9° to Saturn’s lower left.  In this moonlight look carefully for the Ringed Wonder.  Earlier this evening the lunar orb occults or eclipses Saturn from southeast Africa and south-central Asia.
  • October 15: Approaching the Full moon phase, the lunar orb, 97% illuminated, is nearly 20° above the east-southeast horizon, and over 19° to Saturn’s lower left. It is 4.7° to Neptune’s lower left and in the same binocular field of view, but moonlight is too bright to easily locate the most-distant planet in the modern solar system.

Hunter’s Moon

The moon is at the Full moon phase on the 17th at 6:26 a.m. Central Time. This month’s seasonal moon is known as the Hunter’s Moon.

During the five nights described, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is appearing in the western evening sky.  The comet’s visibility is diminished by the brightening moon.  Look for it in the western sky.

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