This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, October 7, 2022.
Information updated weekly or as needed.
Times given as local St. Louis time which is Central Daylight Time (CDT). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If relying on times posted in Universal Time (UT), St. louis is -5 hours when CDT.
Public Telescope Viewings
Public telescope viewings at the McDonnell Planetarium have returned as part of the Saint Louis Science Center’s First Friday event. As we ease back into our telescope nights, they will operate a little different than before. To take part in our telescope viewings you will need to get a ticket for the planetarium show that starts at 7:00 p.m. as part of the First Friday event. Tickets for the First Friday planetarium show are free, but they can only be picked up at the Saint Louis Science Center on the night of the event. After the planetarium show ends you will be able to go outside and look through telescopes weather permitting. We will update this posting if anything changes.
Observing Highlight of the Week
Image of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner captured by the Kitt Peak 0.9-m telescope in 1989. Image Credit: N.A.Sharp/NOAO/AURA/NSF
This week another short duration meteor shower will be active from October 8 to October 9. The meteor shower in question is the Draconid meteor shower which peaks on October 8, 2022. The Draconids are a variable meteor shower that most years produce up to 10 meteors per hour at peak activity. On rare occasions Draconid activity will dramatically increase production a meteor storm. This last happened in 1933 and 1946.
The variability of the Draconids is connected to the orbit of the parent comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. This comet orbits the Sun every 6.6 years. The increase in activity occurs when the comet nears Earth during perihelion years. At its closest, the comet and Earth are separated by roughly 3.3 million miles. The last time comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner reached perihelion was 2018 which means the next year we can hope for an increase in activity is 2025.
The Draconids are not expected to exhibit an outburst this year, but it is worth getting outside on October 8 and 9 to see what you can. The radiant for the Draconids is found in the constellation Draco which is ideally place high in the north in the early evening. Draco is found in the north snaking between the Big and Little Dippers. The radiant is near the bright stars in Draco’s head called Rastaban and Eltanin. You can find these stars north of the bright star Vega. Once it is dark, Vega will be the brightest star you see overhead after sunset. It is useful to note the position of a meteor shower’s radiant, but you will not want to look at it all the time. Rather meteors will be seen emanating from the north in all directions.
The Sun and Moon
The Moon as seen from the International Space Station, on July 31, 2011.
Credit: NASA
Sunrise is at 7:02 a.m. on Friday, October 7 and sunset is at 6:34 p.m. providing us with roughly 11.5 hours of daylight. Even after sunset, the light from the Sun will dimly illuminate our sky for roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes. This period is called twilight, which ends around 8:03 p.m. this week. For those with a sundial, local noon occurs around 12:48 p.m. this week.
| Day | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-07 | 7:02 a.m. | 6:34 p.m. |
| 2022-10-08 | 7:03 a.m. | 6:33 p.m. |
| 2022-10-09 | 7:04 a.m. | 6:31 p.m. |
| 2022-10-10 | 7:05 a.m. | 6:30 p.m. |
| 2022-10-11 | 7:06 a.m. | 6:28 p.m. |
| 2022-10-12 | 7:07 a.m. | 6:27 p.m. |
| 2022-10-13 | 7:08 a.m. | 6:25 p.m. |
| 2022-10-14 | 7:09 a.m. | 6:24 p.m. |
| 2022-10-15 | 7:10 a.m. | 6:22 p.m. |
Moon
Moonrise for Friday, October 7 is at 5:51 p.m. and moonset occurs at 5:31 a.m. on the following day. Friday, October 7, the Moon will exhibit a waxing gibbous phase with 95% of the lunar disk illuminated. Full moon occurs on October 9, 2022, at 3:55 p.m.
International Space Station (ISS) Observing
Visible passes of ISS from St. Louis for the week of October 7 occur during evening hours. The best pass this week occurs on October 8. Use the table below for information about this and other visible passes this week.
Blue Walker 3
A new satellite called BlueWalker 3, has successfully been deployed in low Earth orbit. This is a test satellite from AST SpaceMobile that is intended to supply 4G cell phone signals from space. This test unit spans 64 square meters. Future plans if successful, are to launch over 100 larger satellites called BlueBirds. Their intention is to provide better global cell coverage. The scientific community has expressed concerns over the impact they will have on astronomical research. Due to their size these satellites will likely become one of the brightest objects visible at night producing a space-based form of light pollution.
Visible passes of this large satellite are starting this week. Poke your heads outside and see if you can spot BlueWalker 3. Visible passes seen from St. Louis, Missouri can be found here.
Update October 7
Sightings of the BlueWalker 3 satellite have started. Most report it as a 3rd magnitude object. The antenna has not yet fully extended so it will likely become brighter later in October. The next opportunity to spot BlueWalker 3 will be on October 8 and 9. After this, we will have to wait until October 20, 2022, for our next opportunity.
Catch ISS from St. Louis starting Friday, October 7
| Date | Starts | Max. altitude | Ends | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
| 08 Oct | -1.3 | 18:57:12 | 10 | WNW | 18:59:58 | 24 | SW | 19:02:44 | 10 | S |
Magnitude (Mag): The Measure of brightness for a celestial object. The lower the value is, the brighter the object will be.
Altitude (Alt): The angle of a celestial object measured upwards from the observer’s horizon.
Azimuth (Az): The direction of a celestial object, measured clockwise from an observer’s location with north being 0°, east being 90°, south being 180° and west being 270°.
For information about ISS flyovers and other visible satellites, visit www.heavens-above.com
Detailed information regarding all unmanned exploration of our universe, missions past, present, and planned, can be found at Jet Propulsion Laboratories:
The Visible Planets
Looking south at 10:30 p.m. October 8, 2022. Credit: Stellarium, EG
Looking east at 6:30 a.m. on October 9, 2022. Credit: Stellarium, EG.
This week, four naked eye planets are visible. Mercury is visible in the east before sunrise. Mars rises before midnight but will still be best seen in the morning hours. Jupiter and Saturn are now evening targets visible not long after sunset.
Mercury
Mercury has started another morning apparition. It should be high enough above the horizon to spot about 30 minutes before sunrise. At the start of the week, Mercury will appear roughly 10° above the eastern horizon 30 minutes before sunrise. At the end of the week, it will only appear about 7° above the horizon.
Venus
Superior conjunction occurs on October 22, 2022. What this means for most is we have lost Venus to the Sun’s glare. After superior conjunction, Venus will slowly climb out of the Sun’s glare in the west after sunset. We can look forward to evening views of Venus returning by the end of the year.
Mars
Mars rises at 9:36 p.m. Start looking for the red planet around 11:00 a.m. as it clears trees and buildings. Mars is headed towards opposition later this year on December 7, 2022.
Jupiter
Now past opposition, Jupiter will be visible about 30 minutes after sunset. Jupiter reaches superior conjunction on April 11, 2023. As we progress towards this date, we will see Jupiter slowly wander towards the Sun.
Saturn
Now past opposition, Saturn rises before the Sun sets. You can find this giant world in the south about 45 minutes after sunset. Saturn is still a fine target though telescopes and will be a highlight of the evening sky for the rest of the year.
James S. McDonnell Planetarium
Night Sky Update: October 7 – October 15, 2022