Rocktober 2024 - On & Off Earth
The clouds and gloom that have recently greeted our ride into the Fall season have amplified the shrinking of daylight. It seems like even more than 2+ minutes per day is lost when muted by clouds at sunrise and set. A September without a 90° day brought an abrupt end to our summer. October, always, at some point, requires sweaters or jackets. Let us hope we get to use our summer attire a few more times in this, usually, most delightful of months.
As all of our outdoor habits are altered by the reality of less daylight, the one advantage more darkness brings is extra time to take in the views off Earth. Venus has been the Evening Star since August but it is still back behind the sun and very low in the evening sky; that’s beginning to change. The brilliant planet, creeping higher into the sky all month, will be joined, low in the southwest, by a thin, waxing crescent moon on Saturday the 5th. Watch the moon move 12° each night, just left of Scorpio’s reddish heart, Antares (means: Mars rival) on the 7th. Binocs will help spot the star in the twilight; they are not needed to spot Venus! Clear skies will be!
No longer employed and needing to rise early, I don’t. I forget, many, for whatever reason, do get up before sunrise and may wonder about the morning stars as they get their days started out on Earth. I missed mentioning the close pairing of Mars and Jupiter back in August, sorry! The two have separated but Mars remains high in the eastern, pre-dawn sky, shifting about with Castor and Pollux, the twins of Gemini, and the little dog star, Procyon. All are of similar brightness, Mars being the reddish one. The movement of Mars will both explain why the Greeks called planets ‘wanderers’ and offer a class in planet vs. star movement for those out for early walks all fall and winter.
The Full Hunter’s Moon (another Super/King tide moon) will follow Saturn into the sky on October 17th. Jupiter will follow the moon across the sky a couple of hours later. The arc your eyes follow viewing the trio is the ecliptic, the plane of our solar system. We sit 38° above that plane here in central Virginia. The sun spends all of October in the giant constellation, Virgo.
For anyone putting off getting outside, October is the month to bust out of the indoor habit. Cool evenings, warm days, a constantly changing leaf paint party, fewer, slower bugs and snakes, new visitors to the bird feeders (bye-bye hummers..) and harvest and halloween decorations remind us to hope for treats but prepare for tricks.
Hurricane Helene’s recent historic Noachian devastation of the southeast, forecast long before it was even a tiny swirl in the Caribbean Sea, is another harsh reminder of our warming world and that it is still, very much, hurricane season. We continue to dodge the worst of Earth's largest storms but should remain vigilant, Earth doesn’t play favorites.
What could become an momentary diversion from the building election frenzy(and, hopefully, not the legendary harbinger of doom) is the very real potential for a comet, perhaps visible in the daytime in mid-October. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS brightened rapidly in late September morning skies and after it slips past the Sun in early October will move into evening skies; closest to Earth on the 12th. I check spaceweather.com for daily updates but if it reaches its brightness potential, it will be a national news thing. Again, clear skies will be required to view this potential October treat.
Less than 20 quakes
Helene oozes east
Sun..maybe getting wild again
Today On Earth
