October 22-24: During morning twilight, Red Planet Mars and the moon are high in the southern sky. Watch the moon approach and pass the planet.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Four Bright Planets
Four bright planets are visible during the nighttime. Mercury hides in bright evening twilight before it emerges next month. Venus and Saturn are visible after sunset. Venus steps eastward in front of Scorpius in the southwest, while Saturn retrogrades in front of Aquarius in the southeast.
Jupiter and Mars are high in the southern sky during morning twilight. Jupiter rises less than three hours after nightfall followed by Mars less than two hours later.
During morning twilight, the moon approaches and passes planet Mars with the Gemini Twins nearby.
An hour before sunrise step outside and look high in the southern sky. Bright Jupiter is high in the west-southwest. It is the brightest star in the sky this morning, although Venus is over 10 times brighter than the Jovian Giant.
The moon, stepping eastward each morning, is to Jupiter’s left.
Mars, Castor, and Pollux are nearby, high in the south-southeast.
Morning Mars, Moon
Here’s what to look for during October 22-24:
October 22: The gibbous moon, 69% illuminated, is high in the south-southwest. It is nearly 20° to Mars’ upper right. The Red Planet, marching eastward in front of Gemini, is 5.9° below Pollux, a Twin.
October 23: The bright moon, 59% illuminated, is high in the south-southeast, 6.4° to the upper right of Mars and 3.7° to the right of Pollux. Look carefully for the star. Moonlight may overwhelm the star’s brightness.
October 24: The moon is at the morning half-full phase, known as Last Quarter, at 3:03 a.m. Central Time. During morning twilight, the lunar orb is high in the southeast, 8.0° to Mars’ lower left.
Moon and Beehive
This morning, the moon is 5.3° to the upper left of the Beehive star cluster. They fit into a binocular’s field of view. Place the moon near the top of the field, then the stellar bundle is near the bottom. The two stars near the cluster are Asellus Borealis and Eta Cancri (η Cnc on the chart). Once the cluster is located, move the binocular down slightly so the moon moves out of the field and the cluster is at the center.
Watch the moon wane and appear farther eastward each morning, passing Mars.
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