Sky this Week (Oct 21 to Oct 27)
Highlights
- Bright ISS passes Sunday 7:42 pm, Monday 6:30 pm , and Tuesday at 6:52 pm MDT
- Comet C/2007 F1 Loneos difficult to find but visible in binoculars
International Space StationThere are several bright passes this week. Tonight (if it clears off in a hurry) Oct 21st at 7:42:15 pm MDT the ISS appears in the WNW and disappears in the Earth’s shadow at 7:45:19 in the SW (-2.1 magnitude).
Probably a better chance tomorrow with clearing skies, Oct 22 at 6:30:12 pm. It appears in the NW and disappears in the ESE at 6:35:35 pm (-1.7 magnitude).
Another chance on Tues Oct 23 it appears at 6:52:59 in the WNW and disappears in the SE at 6:58:38 (magnitude -2).
Sun
This week the Sun rises at 7:19 am to 7:26 am MDT and sets 6:15 pm to 6:07 pm MDT. No regions are currently visible (Sunday). Solar activity is expected to remain at very low levels this week.
Moon
The Moon will be full on Thursday, Oct 25 at 10:51 pm.
Planets
Mercury is not visible.
Venus shines brilliantly at magnitude -4.4 before sunrise, high up in constellation Leo; it rises around 3:30 am. It appears in a telescope as a third quarter moon.
Mars rises around 10:11-9:54 pm MDT in constellation Gemini. By Saturday it will -0.5 magnitude in brightness, 11.7 arc sec across, and 90% illuminated. The best time to view Mars is when it is high up around 2 am. Early in the week Mare Cimmerium will be near center view with Mare Tyrrhenum to the right. Later in the week the martian features the features Mare Serenum will be near center. See Sky and Telescope’s Mars profiler for other times and additional information.
Jupiter is the brightest object low in the SW after sunset at magnitude -1.9. It sets around 8:30 pm.
Saturn rises in the ENE around 2:35 am and is located above Venus. It is magnitude 0.7 in brightness.
Uranus is in constellation Aquarius, magnitude 5.8, and 3.5 arc-sec in diameter.
Neptune is in constellation Capricornus, magnitude 7.9, and 2.5 arc-sec in diameter.
Dark Sky
Not this week.
Comets
Comet C/2007 F1 (Loneos) is currently magnitude 6. Unfortunately it very low to the horizon, in the northeast before dawn and in the northwest just after sunset. It rises around 5 am and sets shortly after 8 pm. For more information, finder charts etc, see http://www.cometchasing.skyhound.com/ or http://aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html .