October 25-28: Before sunrise, the crescent moon passes Leo in the eastern sky. Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars are visible during the night.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Four Bright Planets Nightly
Four bright planets are visible during the nighttime. The string of planet viewing begins after sunset with brilliant Venus in the southwest. It steps eastward each night in the southwestern sky. It is in front of Ophiuchus, to the upper right of Antares, Scorpius’ brightest star.
Saturn is in the southeast, retrograding in front of Aquarius.
After Venus sets, Jupiter rises in the east-northeast less than three hours after nightfall, followed by Mars over two hours later. During morning twilight, they are high in the southern sky.
Mercury, the fifth bright planet visible without an optical assist, sets about 30 minutes after sundown, during bright twilight. It becomes visible next month.
Earthshine
The crescent moon is in the eastern sky before sunrise. As it wanes each morning, it is farther eastward and lower in the sky, displaying a thinning crescent.
Look for earthshine on the moon’s night portion. The effect is from sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land that gently illuminates the lunar night.
Step outside an hour before sunrise and look eastward. The crescent moon appears near Leo’s stars.
Leo is marked by a backwards question mark of a half dozen stars, nicknamed the Sickle of Leo after the agricultural tool, that is connected to a triangle. The sickle represents the Lion’s head, while the triangle marks the haunches and tail. The figure is the silhouette of a westward-facing Lion.
Moon Passes Leo
Here’s what to look for during October 25-28:
October 25: One hour before sunrise, the crescent moon, 39% illuminated, is over halfway up in the southeast, nearly 15° to the upper right of Regulus, the Lion’s brightest star. The moon is in front of Cancer’s dim stars. The moon is still bright enough to illuminate terrestrial features and light up the ground. There is not much earthshine this morning.
October 26: At 30% illumination, the moon is 3.2° to Regulus’ upper left. It seems to be on the sickle’s handle. Try to see earthshine this morning. The illumination is better tomorrow with the thinning crescent.
October 27: The crescent moon, 21% illuminated, is less than halfway up in the east-southeast. It is 10.2° to Regulus’ lower left and over 15° to Denebola’s upper right, the Lion’s tail and the pattern’s easternmost star. Look for earthshine. Photograph it with a tripod-mounted camera and exposures lasting up to a few seconds.
October 28: A good morning to view and photograph earthshine, the crescent, 14% illuminated, is less than one-third of the way from the east-southeast horizon to overhead. It is over 20° to Regulus’ lower left and 11.2° to Denebola’s lower right. This is the last morning that the moon is in front of Leo for this lunation.
Look for the moon each morning. On the 30th, the crescent is less than 10° up in the east-southeast.
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