• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

The College of Arts & Sciences

Department of Astronomy

  • Home
  • About
    • Visit Us
    • Virtual Tour
    • Code of Conduct
    • History
    • Alumni & Giving
  • Directory
    • Faculty
    • Emeriti Faculty
    • Adjunct Faculty
    • Research Associates & Postdocs
    • Staff
    • Graduate Students
  • Undergraduate
    • Astronomy Club
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics B.A.
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics B.S.
    • Physics & Astronomy and Astrophysics B.S.
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics Minor
    • Courses
    • Honors Program
    • Academic Advising
    • Research Opportunities
    • Financial Support
    • Student Experience
    • Career Preparation
  • Graduate
    • Admissions
    • Astronomy Ph.D.
    • Astrophysics Ph.D.
    • Astronomy M.A.
    • Astronomy Ph.D. Minor
    • Graduate Handbook
    • Courses
    • Research Areas
    • Graduate Experience
    • Recent Dissertations
    • Previous Qualifying Exams
  • Research
    • Research Areas
    • Observatories
    • Computing Resources
    • Undergraduate Research
  • Outreach + Education
    • Kirkwood Observatory
    • Kirkwood Solar Lab
    • Informal Science Education
    • Teaching Resources
    • StarTrak
    • Bicentennial Images
    • Solar Eclipse 2024
  • News & Events
    • Departmental News
    • Highlights
    • Events
    • Colloquium Schedule
    • Tea Talk Schedule
    • Edmondson Lecture
    • Alumni News
  • Search
  • Quick Links
  • Contact
  • Student Portal
This text appears when someone is browsing using assistive technologies.
  • Kirkwood Observatory
  • Kirkwood Solar Lab
  • Informal Science Education
  • Teaching Resources
  • StarTrak
    • Star Trak Archive
  • Bicentennial Images
  • Solar Eclipse 2024
  • Home
  • Outreach + Education
  • StarTrak
  • Star Trak Archive
  • Star Trak: October 2021

Star Trak: October 2021

By: Hal Kibbey

Friday, October 1, 2021

This text appears when someone is browsing using assistive technologies.
Orionids Meteor Shower

For immediate release: October 1, 2021

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Mercury will make its best morning appearance of the year during the last two weeks of October. The smallest planet will pass closest to the sun on Oct. 8 and then appear in the morning sky. Those watching in the Northern Hemisphere with a clear eastern horizon will see Mercury 5 degrees high an hour before sunrise on Oct. 21. It will brighten through the end of the month and remain clearly in view in morning twilight.

Venus will be visible soon after sunset low in the southwest as October begins. The planet will brighten as the month passes, reaching its greatest separation from the sun on Oct. 25. An hour after sunset each night, Venus will be between 7 degrees and 11 degrees high.

As soon as the evening sky is dark, look low in the south for two bright objects. The westernmost will be yellow Saturn, with white Jupiter 16 degrees farther east. Both planets will be good targets for telescopes, which will show Jupiter's four bright moons changing positions from night to night as well as Saturn's famous rings. Saturn will set about 2 a.m. local time as the month begins and just before midnight by Halloween. Jupiter will shine brilliantly in the constellation Capricornus, setting around 3 a.m. on Oct. 1 and two hours earlier at month's end.

Mars will be too close to the sun to observe during October. It will be back in the morning sky in December.

Meteor shower

The Orionid meteor shower will peak on the night of Oct. 20-21. The moon will be full just one day after the peak, so moonlight will wash out many of the meteors. If the moon were not interfering, observers might see as many as 20 Orionid meteors per hour in a clear dark sky. The Orionids appear to originate from the constellation Orion, which will rise before midnight in the east-southeast. The number of meteors will increase as Orion gets higher. The shower will be active for most of October, with meteors gradually increasing from the start and declining after the peak. The Orionid meteors are caused by dust particles from Halley's Comet, left behind in the comet's orbit.

Moon phases

The moon will be new on Oct. 6, at first quarter on Oct. 13, full on Oct. 20, and at third quarter on Oct. 28.

Author: Hal Kibbey Email: hkibbey [at] gmail.com

  • Faculty + Staff Intranet

Department of Astronomy social media channels

  • Twitter
  • College of Arts & Sciences
  • Department of Astronomy

The College of Arts & Sciences

The College of Arts & Sciences

  • About
    • Visit Us
    • Virtual Tour
      • Kirkwood Observatory
      • Remote Observing Center
      • Rooftop Telescopes
      • Delaney Undergraduate Astronomy Lab (DUAL)
      • Tea Room SW 130
      • Swain West 119
      • Undergraduate Computer Cluster
      • Seminar Room
      • Swain West 208
    • Code of Conduct
    • History
      • Theophilus Wylie
      • Daniel Kirkwood
      • Joseph Swain
      • First Observatory
      • Kirkwood Observatory
      • Frank K. Edmondson
      • Dr. Goethe Link and his Observatory
      • IU Asteroid Program
    • Alumni & Giving
  • Directory
    • Faculty
    • Emeriti Faculty
      • Archive
    • Adjunct Faculty
    • Research Associates & Postdocs
      • Past Research Associates & Postdocs
    • Staff
    • Graduate Students
      • Past Graduate Students
  • Undergraduate
    • Astronomy Club
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics B.A.
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics B.S.
    • Physics & Astronomy and Astrophysics B.S.
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics Minor
    • Courses
      • General Education Courses
      • Courses for Science Majors
      • Courses for Research Experience
    • Honors Program
    • Academic Advising
    • Research Opportunities
      • Alice Palma Summer Undergraduate Research Program
    • Financial Support
    • Student Experience
    • Career Preparation
      • Career Advising
  • Graduate
    • Admissions
    • Astronomy Ph.D.
    • Astrophysics Ph.D.
    • Astronomy M.A.
    • Astronomy Ph.D. Minor
    • Graduate Handbook
    • Courses
    • Research Areas
    • Graduate Experience
    • Recent Dissertations
    • Previous Qualifying Exams
  • Research
    • Research Areas
      • Exoplanets
      • Stellar Astrophysics
      • Stellar Populations
      • Galaxies
      • Dynamics
    • Observatories
    • Computing Resources
    • Undergraduate Research
  • Outreach + Education
    • Kirkwood Observatory
      • Kirkwood History
      • Kirkwood Schedule
      • Kirkwood Virtual Tour
    • Kirkwood Solar Lab
    • Informal Science Education
    • Teaching Resources
      • Mini-Lab Activities
      • Web-Based Tools
      • Ethics
      • Writing
    • StarTrak
      • Star Trak Archive
    • Bicentennial Images
    • Solar Eclipse 2024
      • Solar Eclipse FAQs
  • News & Events
    • Departmental News
      • Archive
    • Highlights
    • Events
      • GLEAM 2023
        • Travel and Accommodations
        • Participant List
        • Program Schedule
        • Registration
    • Colloquium Schedule
      • Colloquium Archive
        • Schedule 2020-21
        • Schedule 2019-20
        • Schedule 2018-19
        • Schedule 2017-18
        • Schedule 2016-17
        • Schedule 2015-16
        • Schedule 2014-15
        • Schedule 2013-14
        • Schedule 2012-13
        • Schedule 2021-22
        • Schedule 2022-23
        • Schedule 2023-24
    • Tea Talk Schedule
      • Tea Talk Archive
        • 2022-23 Tea Talk Schedule
        • 2023-24 Tea Talk Schedule
    • Edmondson Lecture
    • Alumni News
  • Quick Links
  • Contact
  • Student Portal
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate
    • Courses
      • Archive
        • Schedule 2021-22
        • Schedule 2020-21
        • Schedule 2019-20
        • Schedule 2018-19
        • Schedule 2017-18
        • Schedule 2016-17
        • Schedule 2015-16
        • Schedule 2014-15
        • Schedule 2013-14
        • Schedule 2012-13
        • Schedule 2011-12
        • Schedule 2010-11
        • Schedule 2022-23
        • Schedule 2023-24