Sky Report
The Griffith Observatory Sky Report
Anthony Cook
Astronomical Observer
This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, October 15. Here is what’s happening in the skies of Southern California:
Venus is the brilliant white object low in the southwest after sunset. Venus sinks below the horizon at about 8 p.m.
Because the sun sets earlier and earlier each night, the planet Jupiter, in Sagittarius the Archer, is best seen 33 degrees high in the south during evening twilight, just as it has been for the last few weeks. The giant planet sets in the southwest at about 11:30 p.m.
The moon changes from waxing gibbous phase to full on the afternoon Tuesday the 14th, and is visible for most of the night this week.
The ringed planet Saturn, in Leo the Lion, rises in the east at 4:20 a.m., and by 6:00 a.m. is easy to find, 20 degrees high in the east. Its rings are only open three degrees to our line of sight, and will be completely edge on to us in 11 months.
The star Sirius of Canis Major the Big Dog, is the glittering object that is found 40 degrees high in the south during the dawn. It is the brightest star of the nighttime sky, and at a distance of 9 light years, is the closest star to the sun visible from the latitude of Los Angeles.
The International Space Station should make two passes high over Los Angeles this week. The first is on Thursday night, October 9. The ISS will cross the sky from the northwest to the southeast between 7:24 and 7:29 p.m., and is highest at 7:27 p.m. when it is 64 degrees high in the southwest. The ISS could exceed Jupiter’s brilliance. Two evenings later, on Saturday, October 11, the Space Station travels on a similar path across the sky between 6:42 and 6:48 p.m., appearing 52 degrees high in the southwest a few seconds before 6:45 p.m.
Free public sky viewing of the sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night, is available through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes until 9:45 p.m., every night–weather permitting–except Mondays, when the Observatory is closed. The next public star party, held by members of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers, will be held on the Observatory’s front lawn on Saturday, November 8. For Observatory information, please visit our website, www.griffithobservatory.org, or call (213) 473-0800.
