What’s Up and Happening in our Skies

Now that we’ve all enjoyed (if we could last week) the lunar eclipse, there’s a partial solar eclipse coming up next week that will be visible to at least some observers around the world on October 23rd. It’s partial because the Sun will only be partially blocked, which means that it’s not an eclipse you can watch with the naked eye. In fact, it is REQUIRED that you wear eye protection or use special projection methods to observe this eclipse. Although it should go without saying, I’m going to say it anyway: NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN WITHOUT EYE PROTECTION!  Practice safe solar viewing. Use eclipse glasses, welder’s glass, or use pinhole projection to see this event.

It begins at 3:38 p.m. EDT (7:38 PM UT). It sets eclipsed for most viewers.  If you live in North America or the extreme eastern parts of Asia, you have a shot at observing the eclipse. For more information, check out MrEclipse.com, Eclipsewise, and Timeanddate.com’s pages on eclipses.

October is a good month for sky viewing. For most of the world, the weather isn’t too bad, and clear skies give you a chance to do some exploring. I’ve got a little video up at Astrocast.tv that explains some of the sky sights you can seek out. I talk about the planet Mars, low in the western sky after sunset, along with Saturn, Jupiter in the early morning, and a possible glimpse of Mercury (also in the predawn hour). There’s also the Orionid Meteor shower, and while you’re waiting for it to send some meteors our way, you can search out the Andromeda Galaxy and Perseus Double Cluster (for northern hemisphere explorers) and the Magellanic Clouds and the globular cluster 47 Tucanae in the southern hemisphere skies. Check it all out in Our Night Sky.