No telecopes required: five spectacular planetary events happening this week

[The title was written by my editor.]

Beginning Tuesday, October 14, sky-watchers will be treated this week to not one, not two, but five nighttime solar system events.

by John Tyburski

Copyright © Daily Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

First published at Daily Digest News on October 13, 2014

This week will bring five special nighttime sky events, beginning on Tuesday, October 14. Sky-watchers will want to prepare their telescopes or binoculars, if they have them, but a clear sky is all one really needs to appreciate what is in store.

To kick things off, on Tuesday Saturn will sink away in the southwest evening sky with its striking rings, tilted 23 degrees toward Earth, visible by telescope. Observers may find Saturn by looking at the southwest horizon about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset. At lower latitudes, the yellow-looking planet will be farther away from the sun and easier to spot within the Libra constellation.

On October 15, the fading moon will don a stellar crown. It will appear high in the southeast sky, surrounded by wintertime’s brightest stars. Appearing closest to the moon will be Orion’s Betelgeuse, Canis Minor’s Procycon, and Gemini’s Pollux.

In the pre-dawn hours of October 17, the waning crescent moon in the southeast sky will appear with Jupiter to its left and the Beehive star cluster nearby. Binoculars will ease spotting the cluster, which is located in the Cancer constellation. With the naked eye, the cluster, also known as Messier 44, will be just visible as a fuzzy spot that spans about the same amount of the night sky as two full moon disks side-by-side. A small telescope or binoculars will allow one to see within the cluster about 70 or so stars across 11 light years of space.

The comet Siding Spring will pass some 87,000 miles away from Mars on October 19 and will shower the planet’s atmosphere with trailing icy debris. The pass will happen at the closest a comet has ever passed Mars in recorded history, a distance just under half the distance between the Earth and its moon. A live webcast will follow the comet flyby via the Virtual Telescope project.

Finally, the globular cluster NGC 6401 will appear just one degree above Mars. This cluster is only going to be visible with a six-inch or larger telescope. The cluster, Mars, and the comet together will make for an interesting scene, however.

Details and resources for these events are available at Astronomy.com.