This weekend, if we're lucky to get clear enough skies, check out one of the best moon phases
for lunar observation.
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Hyades
Right in the center of Taurus the Bull is the bright orange giant Aldebaran. Aldebaran is close… just over 60 light years away. And because of that, it’s easy to miss what’s behind it… about 90 light years behind it, to be exact. But even then, at over 150 light years away, the Hyades is one of the closest open star clusters. Compare that to the Pleiades at well over 400 light years away.
In Greek mythology, the Hyades are daughters of Atlas. As are the Pleiades… and following the death of their brother Hyas, their grief transformed them into stars. And their weeping for the loss of their brother… makes the rain.
When it’s not raining, you can see the Hyades by finding their sisters, the Pleiades in the eastern sky this evening. When you find the Pleiades, which is a cluster of bright blue stars you can easily see with the naked eye, look beneath it to find the bright, orange Aldebaran. Then grab your binoculars or any telescope and look straight at it… you’ll notice several bright white and yellowish stars just below and to the right of Aldebaran...and there you have it. The Hyades. Now, along with Aldebaran, the four brightest stars of the Hyades make up the head of Taurus the Bull. And since the Hyades is one of the closest and most studied open star clusters in the sky, we’ve known for a while why those four stars are so much brighter than the rest of the cluster. They’ve exhausted their core hydrogen and are evolving into giants. One of the final stages before their demise… in a few million years.
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Pleiades
Observations of the bright, open cluster known as The Pleiades have been recorded since the 17th century BC, and likely even before that. It was scientifically and spiritually significant to many ancient cultures across the globe, and continues to educate and inspire observers today.
The Pleiades is a collection of B-type stars, which are bright, hot, and blue in color. And the stars of the Pleiades are close too—around 450 light years away, which contributes to its brightness. And while you don’t need a telescope or even binoculars to appreciate the Pleiades, it certainly helps.
The Pleiades is also known as the Seven Sisters, after the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione in Greek Mythology. Observers with good eyesight under dark skies will count seven stars in the cluster. It wasn’t until Galileo looked at the Pleiades through his telescope that dozens of other stars were discovered. Since then, further scientific observations and subsequent calculations have estimated over a thousand stars in the cluster.
To see the Pleiades for yourself, look to the eastern sky in the evening—the later it is, the higher it will be. To the naked eye under suburban skies, it could be confused as a small cloud. Under darker skies, it’ll look more like a star cluster. Once you find it, grab your binoculars or a telescope. Once you look at the Pleiades with a little help, you’ll quickly realize why this star cluster has captured the human imagination for thousands of years.
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Halloween Full Moon
Saturday night is the spookiest night of the year. Not just because it’s Halloween… but also because it’s a Halloween with a full moon. This sort of thing happens about once every 18 or 19 years. Less rare, but still pretty rare is the fact that it’s also a Blue moon, meaning it’s the second full moon in the calendar month. We get a blue moon about every 2.5 years. The last one we saw was March of 2018.
But because Halloween is the last day in a 31-day month, and the lunar cycle is 29-and-a-half days, every Halloween full moon is a blue moon.
And even though the full moon officially happens one night out of the month, it’ll appear full all weekend. On Friday night, it’ll rise just before 7pm. Saturday night, trick-or-treaters will be able to see it just above the horizon around 7:15. On Sunday night, it gets confusing because it’ll rise again before 7pm--yet another trick... the end of Daylight Saving Time.
Of course, the full moon through binoculars or a telescope can be fun, but if you’re looking for more treats, there are plenty of other bright targets to appreciate this weekend as well. In the evenings, bright orange Mars will be high to the southeast, while Jupiter and Saturn will be setting toward the southwest. Grab a telescope--any telescope--even good binoculars, and you’re likely to see Jupiter’s four largest moons, and the rings around Saturn.
So, if we’re lucky enough to have clear skies on Halloween, you’ll have plenty to scream about.
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Cassiopeia
We all know about… the dippers. Ursa Major and Ursa Minor—the big and little dippers. We know about them because they’re out every night. But there’s another bright northern-hemisphere constellation you should know about… Swirling around the northern sky year-round are the five bright stars that make up… Cassiopeia.
Cassiopeia is popular with amateur astronomers because it’s large, bright, and the main reference point for several deep-sky objects. Things like Double Cluster, the Andromeda Galaxy, Messiers 52 and 103, both open star clusters, and the Owl Cluster, also known as the E.T. Cluster. Yes, THAT E.T. It’s called that because apparently it looks like the movie character. I don’t really see it, but I do enjoy finding it when I can.
Anyway, this weekend, you can find Cassiopeia high to the northeast after sundown. If you were to draw lines between its five bright stars, it would look kind of like a wonky lowercase “W” on its side.
Interestingly enough, if we were to take a quick trip to nearby star system Alpha Centauri, our own sun would appear in Cassiopeia. It would turn the “W” into a bit of a squiggle, and would be appear to be by far the brightest star in the constellation.
Cassiopeia has inspired novels, movies, TV shows, even songs. If we get a clear night this weekend, maybe look up for a little inspiration of your own.
Matt Pelsor is an astronomy geek. He loves observing the stars, planets and other celestial objects that fill our night sky. With his help, you'll discover the magic of the skies, from streaking comets to harvest moons, in the Weekend Sky Report archives.
South Africa