Moon and Venus in October 2021
The brightest planet, Venus, has been within the west after sundown for some months. Now, certainly one of northern summer season’s most beloved stars, Antares in Scorpius, is close to Venus within the western twilight. And, starting round October 7, 2021 – or maybe extra realistically for Northern Hemisphere viewers, October 8 – you will notice the younger moon return to the night sky to comb previous Venus over a number of evenings. Their actual conjunction will happen on October 9 round 19 UTC. That’s when Venus and the moon can have the identical right ascension (similar to earthly longitude) on the sky’s dome. But don’t let that date or time fear you. Watch for the moon and Venus on all of those evenings. Just be sure you catch them quickly after sundown. They’ll rapidly observe the sun under the western horizon.
All these objects are simply vibrant sufficient to resist the glow of night twilight. But, for us within the Northern Hemisphere, the problem in seeing the moon, Venus and Antares in October 2021 would be the slim autumn angle of the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the sun’s path in our sky. The moon and planets journey alongside it, too. As seen from northerly latitudes, the ecliptic lies close to the horizon within the night twilight sky. And thus the moon, Venus and Antares will seem properly to 1 facet of the sundown level (to the left of the sundown level, as you stand dealing with west).
From the Southern Hemisphere, the season is reversed. It’s spring in that hemisphere now, and the springtime ecliptic makes a steep angle with the horizon within the night. The Southern Hemisphere can have a wonderful view of the moon and Venus on October 7, 8, 9 and 10.
After about October 10, the moon can have waxed to a fats crescent within the night sky. First quarter moon will come on October 12 by clocks in North America (October 13 at 3:25 UTC). And the full moon will come on October 20.
Meanwhile, maintain watching the western skies for Venus and Antares. They’ll have their very own conjunction (after they’ll be closest in right ascension) on October 16. Afterwards, Antares will slip into the sundown glare to be gone for an additional season. But Venus will proceed to extend its distance from the sundown (nonetheless shifting largely sideways, to the left of the sundown level, as seen from our northerly latitudes). Venus will lastly attain the tip of its tether with respect to the sun on October 29. Astronomers name this occasion a greatest elongation of Venus.
Sneak peak of latest charts from Guy Ottewell
By the best way, if you happen to’ve been following EarthSky, you know the way a lot we worth the chart-making abilities of Guy Ottewell within the U.Okay. See some examples of Guy’s charts at EarthSky here. He’s simply now creating a brand new set of charts for every month, which he calls pairs diagrams, displaying the ten finest views within the morning and night sky every month. Below are Guy’s pairs diagrams for the sweep of the moon previous Venus and Antares on October 7 to 10. Watch for his pairs diagrams in 2022! And see more of Guy’s work at UniversalWorkshop.
Bottom line: The younger moon and Venus might be close to one another within the sky from about October 7 to 10, 2021. The Southern Hemisphere has the very best view!
