Night Sky Visitors ...

My extended vacation continues to limit my computer activities. In this abbreviated edition of the Libra Night Sky "Planetary Treats" has a couple of links that will keep you current. "Sky Lights" and the "Printable Date Tables" will fill in the blanks. Continue to enjoy the rest of the links and remember to Look Up!

Clear skies,
Susan Sun

Look Up!

Planetary Treats
Search Universe Today for any planet; learn the latest!
Star Gazer's Show Scripts highlight planets in the night sky.
Celestial Delights
The Pumpkin Moon? Random Kindness! A Riddle +
Orion Swings His Club ~ Shooting Stars Fly
A Witch Appears in the Heavens!
Plus ...
Sky Lights
Printable Date Tables
Moon Dances 8/1-30
Moon Dances 8/30-9/29
The Night Sky ~ Home Page

The Planets
Is it a planet? ... What planet? When you look up at the night sky, how do you know you are looking at a planet? Click here. Update ... Learn what a plutoid is.

Celestial Delights

The Pumpkin Moon?
A Random Act of Kindness
A Full Moon Night Riddle!
Bonds that Tie
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Image & Description

Full Moon Exact: Tuesday, 10/14, at 1:02pm PDT; 20:02 UT

Pumpkin Moon? Hunter’s Moon?
A Random Act of Kindness

You just may see a pumpkin colored Full Moon rising in the east or setting in the west. ‘Tis the season for a heavenly jack-o’-lantern to be smiling down upon you!

Traditionally the Full Moon following the Harvest Moon is called the Hunter’s Full Moon. The origin of the name actually relates to the harvest.

... 1 month after the harvest hunters used to ride out under the light of this full moon to hunt the small animals that came out to forage what was left of the harvest. Star Gazer

Since I’m not a hunter and love pumpkins and animals, I prefer calling this Moon the Pumpkin Moon. Hmmm ... Let's surprise our little animal friends by doing something nice for them during the Full Moon! A random act of kindness lifts all of our spirits.

A Full Moon Night Riddle!

What do the Hunter's Moon, the planet Jupiter and a UFO alert have in common? They can all be seen in early evening. 45 minutes after sunset face west and you'll see what looks like a brilliant UFO which is always what people think whenever 8,000 mile wide Venus returns to evening skies which it recently has. It's the brightest planet. But if you face south you'll see the second brightest planet 88,000 mile wide Jupiter, so big we could line up eleven Venuses across its middle. ... Three cosmic goodies in early evening, keep looking up!. Star Gazer 2008 Script 10/6-12

Bonds that Tie

The Full Moon transits the constellation Pisces between Alrisha to the south, the knot star that ties the two fishes together and Mirach to the north, the belt or sash star of the constellation Andromeda the Princess. These two stars are in conjunction and are symbolic of two different kinds of bonds. 10/14 Sky Chart 9:00pm

The southern knot represents emotional ties that keep us from attaining our divine destiny. The northern belt or sash ties us to unions and commitments of the soul. (see Andromeda, Perseus, The Royal Family)

With Alrisha and Mirach… we have indication of the opportunity to release … antiquated roles we play with each other. At the same time, it provides an opening so we can make greater commitments and strengthen the bonds that allow us to step forth into a new era of life expression. Nick Fiorenza 4/19/04

Two galaxies come into play with these stars and the transiting Full Moon, M74 north of Alrisha and M31 north of Mirach. Images: Pisces / Andromeda

M74: The Perfect Spiral can only be observed in perfect conditions with a small telescope. Alrisha the knot at its best can unite the dual fishes of Pisces making manifest the beauty of spirit in matter. Alrisha's potentially perfect union, though close at hand is normally very difficult to see in imperfect conditions with ordinary vision, not unlike its associated galaxy M74.

The Andromeda Spiral Galaxy (M31) unusual in that it has a double nuclei center “is exemplar for the unified polarities of life expressing in their full majesty and glory.” Nick Fiorenza 4/19/04 With Andromeda's Mirach and M31 we are easily shown that the potentially divine union is made manifest.

The Full Moon provides the perfect timing to release the bonds of entangling outmoded energies and to initiate and strengthen the greater commitments, which allow us to live our highest purpose with a radiant heart and move forward toward our divine destiny.

Strengthen the light grid of planet Earth by participating in the Libra Full Moon Radiant Life Global Meditation.

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Orion Swings His Club ~ Shooting Stars Fly

View Image

Orion's belt stars can be a guide to locating 4 stars whose colors stand out in the heavens. The 3 belt stars of Orion point to Sirius, our brightest star, in one direction and in the opposite direction they point to the reddish star of enlightenment, Aldebaran, which dominates the v-shaped head of Taurus the Bull. Now imagine a line from the middle star of the belt which continues out toward the radiant. Here you'll find the red star, Betelgeuse, at Orion's shoulder. This imaginary line extends in the opposite direction to the white star at Orion's foot. This star is Rigel. These helpful hints should make your night sky traveling a little easier. BTW: The constellation Orion can be seen low on the eastern horizon at 11:30pm local time.

The Orionid Meteor Shower, active from October 15–29 and linked to Halley's Comet, is usually one of the most famous displays of the year. The radiant of this meteor shower is the raised club of Orion.The shower’s peak occurs on the night of October 20/21.

The peak unfortunately coincides with a nearby Last Quarter Moon that drowns out the faint meteors and reduces the number observed. Normally you can expect to see 10–20 shooting stars per hour under a clear, dark sky during the peak. This year expect to see 10 per hpur.

Still, this annual shower will be worth a look. First, the Orionids tend to produce bright, swift meteors . Second, the shower may produce more meteors than usual. It exhibited strong activity in 2006, with rates 3 times higher than normal, and some astronomers suspect enhanced activity this year as well. Astronomy Magazine 10/08

These meteors can travel at speeds of 40 miles (66 km) per second. This results in a high rate of bright meteors that leave atmospheric trails glowing for perhaps a minute after the meteor flames out!

Look Up! Even without any meteors, the night sky in Libra promises to be a celestial delight with blazing sunset Venus and brilliant Jupiter, the sparkling Pleiades, the rise of Orion and the other winter stars, and finally the predawn planets Saturn and Mercury, which is at its best!

Observing the Orionids

SpaceWeather.com
Meteor observation updates,
a solar weather report and more!

Meteor Shower Calendar
Meteors by the month!

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Witch Head Nebula!
Do you see the witch's face?

View Image

Her chin is at lower right,
her lips are punctuated with a red star,
and her pointed nose is just above center.

This suggestively shaped reflection nebula is associated with the bright star Rigel in the constellation Orion. More formally known as IC 2118, the Witch Head Nebula glows primarily by light reflected from Rigel, located just outside the top right corner of the image. This nebula which lies about 1000 light-years away is a huge cloud of interstellar dust particles that reflect the light of nearby stars. The particulate scattering of light is more efficient at the shorter (blue) wavelengths of visible light, so the camera records this image in ghostly blue ... Wait ... did I hear an evil laugh? ... Just kidding! <] ;-)

 

Reach for Heaven's Light, if you ever have a fright!

Printable Date Tables
Lunar cycle 8/30/08-9/29/08
Lunar cycle 9/29/08- 10/28/08

I'd like to know your thoughts about The Night Sky and
if you'd like reminders to Look Up! ...
send me an email.
May your Night Sky traveling always be filled
with Celestial Delights and Treats!
Susan Sun

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