Let morning stargazing begin! The darkness of night, when all naked eye stars and constellations are visible, prevails until about 5:35 a.m. this week and 5:50 a.m. at month’s end.
Wherever the Big Dipper is in the sky, simply “arc to Arcturus” to be assured that you have located the second brightest star visible in northern skies.
See January’s shining Full Wolf Moon go dark, the stars appear in a nearly moonless sky and the brilliant orb return to full light, outshining all but the brightest distant suns.
At this time of year, midway between the autumn equinox and winter solstice, the stars Vega, Altair and Deneb are positioned high in the south at twilight.
The Great Square may be visible in less-than-ideal stargazing conditions, whereas the whole of the flying horse, which includes dim stars, requires unpolluted, dark skies.
When planning on being outdoors at dawn for planet- and star-gazing, know that being out just an hour earlier may add shooting stars to your experiences of the heavens.
When clock time springs ahead an hour, not-so-early risers may look out a southwest-facing window at dawn to find star-like Jupiter rather low to the horizon.
Halloween encourages our imaginations and coaxes us to embrace the dark time of year marks the approximate halfway point between the autumnal equinox (September 22) and the winter solstice (December 21).
The Orionid meteor shower, its radiant appearing to be at the upper left of the constellation for which it is named, is forecast to be active from about the 19th through the 22nd, peaking before dawn on the 21st.
