Jupiter reaches opposition and will be high and bright in the night sky.
Find out how to catch it and other astronomy highlights in this week’s episode of the Star Diary stargazing podcast guide 30 October to 5 November 2023.
Chris: Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. You can subscribe to the print edition by visiting skyandnightmagazine.com or to our digital edition by visiting iTunes or Google Play.
Ezzy: Greetings listeners and welcome to Star Diary, a weekly guide to the best things to see in the northern hemisphere's night sky. As we are based here in the UK, all times are in GMT. In this episode, we'll be covering the coming week from 30 October to 5 November. I'm features editor Ezzy Pearson, and I'm joined by reviews editor Paul Money.
Hello, Paul.
Paul: Hello, Ezzie.
Ezzy: And I will start off this week with a quick reminder. You will notice there at the beginning, I said we are in GMT. The clocks changed on 29 October. So do make sure that you have all of your clocks changed. We don't want you to miss out on anything because you haven't taken into account daylight savings.
So with that in mind, Paul, what do we have to look forward to this week?
Paul: Well, I'm afraid we have to start with the morning sky. Sometimes, we've got to sometimes, haven't we? It's just one of those things. But, we look around about 5AM in the morning sky, and it's a quite a wide field view because we've got a range of things to just briefly tick off.
We've got Jupiter up in the sky, Uranus with the Moon above Uranus, and the Pleiades to their left, so that's Messier 45. Minor planet Vesta lies in Gemini. That's around about magnitude +7.8, something like that, so that, you know. But it's binocular view, so you can still get it.
And Comet 103P Hartley is in southern Cancer as well. It's around about +8.0 magnitude, but it's worth going for. Any photographers out there, of course, will be able to record it quite well.
Finally, Venus is... I mean, it's just absolutely brilliant at the moment in the morning. It's a dazzling beacon in the morning sky, and that's over in the east southeast.
So, this is looking around about 5 AM. This is just before we start to get the onset of twilight, morning twilight coming in.
So, that's the morning sky. What about the evening? Well, that same day, 30 October. The evening we have a mini parade of evening giant planets as well. So we find Saturn is due south at about 7 PM.
So nice and early, you know, not too late this time. It's a more sensible time for us really, isn't it? You know, so we've got Saturn then sort of almost due south.
Neptune is just past it in the southeast, close to the border of Cetus and Aquarius. Then over in the east we've got Jupiter. So Jupiter is in both the morning and evening sky at the moment.
But it's getting to the point it'll soon be at opposition. We'll come to that very shortly.
So they're over in the... so Jupiter's above the head of Cetus. Although technically it's in Aries, it's just on the southern part of Aries, close to the border and then the Moon lies below M45.
Because the Moon's moved in those sort of hours between this morning and this evening.
The Moon has moved on, so it's now actually just to the lower left of the Pleiades star cluster itself.
And mustn't forget poor Uranus . It's almost – it's not quite exactly in between – but between Jupiter and the Moon and it gives you a good guide and it is naked eye. But not with the Moon around. I think the Moon will actually spoil the view.
Ezzy: Yeah I was going to say, we often talk about the fact that Uranus, for some people is naked eye visible.
You need a very dark sky sight and you need pretty good eyesight to be able to see it. And it helps if you've got something pointing the way.
But unfortunately, if that thing pointing the way is the Moon, probably not a great chance you're going to see it without some kind of aid.
Paul: But we have hope in the coming weeks, but we'll come to them later on.
Now, all week, we're talking about the Moon, and sometimes, I mean, the Moon is one of the main dominant features of the night sky for us. I mean, it only takes, what, 29 days to go fully around us and come back to the starting point again.
You know, it's going through the change of the phase from gibbous on 30th through to 2nd or so, and then waning to half phase or last quarter Moon, which is actually on 5 November. As it happens, sort of thing, you can be seen in the late evening sky, but gets better placed in the morning sky, because it's heading towards that last quarter phase.
So on the 5th, ironically, it means there'll be no Moon around in the evening for Bonfire Night. Now that could be If it's nice for astrophotographers to get the fireworks in the sky, and if you can see the foreground, you've got an interesting foreground as well, then, you know, that adds to it. And if it's illuminated by the Moon, it can actually be a bonus.
Personally, I tend to sort of like, if I'm going to get fireworks, sort of thing, having something in the foreground, so it's handy if they're illuminated or The Moon does it for you.
This is one of the few times that light pollution may have an advantage sort of thing in lighting up a landscape for you. Although obviously as astronomers we really don't want light pollution at all, do we, Ezzy?
Ezzy: I do have to say it's quite unusual to hear an astrophotographer or an astronomer talking about Bonfire Night like that as an opportunity to take some more unusual photographs.
Because one of the big problems with bonfire night is as well as putting a bunch of light into the air it also puts a lot of smoke and dust which means it's quite often not the best night to be doing astronomy. But there is still things that you can see and image in the night sky. It's just they're man made this time.
Paul: Yes, and the thing is, I suppose that you can combine it with meteorology. Because what I've done in the past is actually take account of the wind direction, so that I position myself so that the smoke is drifting away from me. It doesn't come towards me and spoil the actual photograph.
And that, you know, it's one of those things that you don't always... When you get positioned like that, you don't always have a nice interesting object in the background in the sky to actually photograph. But I'm thinking sort of like, you know, we've got Jupiter rising. Seven o'clock, Jupiter's up in the east.
So, you know, and it's quite low down. So if you're photographing the fireworks, you might be able to position yourself so you've got Jupiter in the background as well. But we sometimes have to think of these as... opportunities. Unusual opportunities as well, sort of thing.
But you know, so even, you know, though we've got the bonfire night going on, sort of thing, the fireworks going off, if it's a clear night, take advantage of it. See what you can actually achieve with it as well.
But that was all week with the Moon as it's gradually dropping down towards last quarter, which is to say, is actually on 5th. But, this week. It's Jupiter time! Because it reaches opposition on 3 November, so it's at its best. It's visible all night, it is literally opposite the Sun in the sky.
So as the Sun sets, Jupiter rises, and then as Jupiter sets, the sun rises. It's as simple as that, you can't get any simpler with a nice definition such as opposition.
So it's a great time now for Jupiter because it's getting well placed, it's high up in the sky, so it is on the borders of sort of Aries and Cetus, just into Aries. It's well up, it's around about 50 plus degrees up in the sky.
So astrophotographers [who] love imaging the planets can't wait for planets like Jupiter to get so high in the sky. In the next couple of years, it'll pass through its highest point. So we're in that phase of having the ideal conditions to image Jupiter. So this is the time to actually do it.
And of course, in binoculars, you can pick out the moons, the four Galilean moons, and watch them go around. Obviously, they're quite close to the glare of the planet, and when they're really close to the planet, the glare can actually hide them. But obviously, a small telescope will bring them out as well.
Jupiter's magnitude -2.8, you know, so it's a dazzling object. The only other objects that are brighter is Venus, the Moon, and the Sun, sort of thing. So, you know, it's a pretty good, you can't mistake it, let's put it like that, when it rises. I mean, the number of people who have often said, sort of thing, you know, what's that light in the sky?
Is it a star? Is it a planet? If it's not Venus, as a rule, it will be Jupiter, because if it's moving, it's the International Space Station, or a particularly bright satellite. So it really dominates the sky at the moment, until we get Venus in the early morning.
But it's worth looking out at the moons, because when you look out on the 3rd, this is the night of opposition. I did note that the moons, Europa, at 8pm, lies on one side of the planet, and the other three, Ganymede, Io, and further out, Callisto, are all on the other side. So well worth having a look out, just so you can actually see it, and we will mention a few of over the coming weeks.
We'll mention a few of the interesting events that occur with the various moons as they cross the disk, because we're in that phase at the moment, whereby we get shadow transits and moon transits across Jupiter itself.
Now it is moving slowly, retrograde. This is Jupiter against the backdrop of stars, and it lies in southern Aries.
So, telescopically, take a look at the planet, because you've got the two main equatorial belts. They're the first things any newbie picks up on first because they're the most prominent ones.
However, there are a whole range of other belts and with experience, even with relatively small apogee, you start to pick them out. But it is helpful if you can actually increase the magnification.
So you know, you can pick out four belts and then you start to see subtle features within the main belts themselves. So in the northern belt, you tend to have these plumes, these darker patches extending down in the equatorial region. You tend to start noticing more spots in the southern belt as well as, of course, the Great Red Spot as well.
But the Great Red Spot depends on whether it's on the right side of the planet, whether it's facing us or whether it's the other side.
If it's the other side, I have to say, I'm quite horrible. If it's the other side, I always think Jupiter looks a bit boring. I mean, if there wasn't the Great Red Spot, we'd be excited by that side of it as well.
But, you know, with the Great Red Spot, you can't wait for it to rotate round, sort of thing. So there we are, great way to finish the week, isn't it? With Jupiter virtually at opposition.
Ezzy: Absolutely. And I think one of the great things about this is because, as you mentioned, Jupiter's just going to be getting better every year at every opposition.
So if there is anybody out there who's maybe thinking about getting into planetary photography, but needs something to give them that little bit of a push, this is a great time to start because you can learn now when it's relatively good, but then over the coming years, it's going to get better and better.
You'll have even more chances to improve your photography when it's better and higher in the sky. We always love to see your images. Please do send them in. You can find details on how to do that at skyatnightmagazine.com. I'll put a link down to that in the show notes below as well.
So lots of great things to see. And I think also, another thing you mentioned, the fact that the moons are going to be very well placed. Because the moons are constantly going around Jupiter. I think, is it Io that takes a week to go around?
Paul: Takes less than that sort of thing, it's just a few days.
Ezzy: No, Io, Io is three and a half days.
It's the next one out that's, a week to go around. But the point is, they go around Jupiter very, very quickly. And so it's actually, it's quite nice to be able to see all of them at once without one of them being behind the planet or in front of the planet because whilst you get shadow transits when that happens you can't really see it through a telescope unless you're really focusing in on the planet.
So it's a great opportunity to get to know Jupiter better if it's something that you're not particularly familiar with. And the fact it's at opposition it's always a great excuse. And just because we can't see the Great Red Spot that doesn't mean there's not still. really interesting and dynamic things to see going on on Jupiter.
Paul: The belts don't stay the same. They do change and they do shift. They sometimes change colors. You can find out a lot more about that in our November issue of Sky at Night magazine.We have a feature all about Jupiter's shifting belts. So do be sure to look that up in the November issue of Sky at Night magazine if you want to find out more about that.
To summarize on that week, and it certainly looks like to be a jam packed week, starting on the morning of 30th, you'll be able to see lots of things in that morning sky. Jupiter and Uranus will be visible, as will the, as will the minor planet Vesta in Gemini. And also Comet 103P Hartley will still be making its way across the night sky.
So if you haven't had a chance to see that yet, do be sure to look out for it in the morning sky. And also we have Venus and the Pleiades, which will be well on view at the time. So lots to see. But if you're not a morning person, if you'd rather go for the evening, there's equally still a lot of interesting things to see there.
We've got an evening parade of all of the major planets. Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter and Uranus will all be visible in the evening sky. And also on the evening of the 30th you'll be able to see the moon in the Pleiades as well, so lots to see there.
On 3 November we have Jupiter in opposition, so that is a great time to really take advantage of that planet.
Get to know it better if you don't know it very well, or just even take more advantage of being able to see it if it's one of your favourite things. So, lots to go on throughout the week. Lots of planet things going on. And also you'll have the moon changing its phases from Gibbs to last quarter throughout the week.
So very good to see there. And finally, of course, on 5 November, we'll be finishing off the week with fireworks night if you're here in the UK, which means it's possibly not the best night to be doing astronomy. If you want to take advantage of that last quarter moon, then you will be needing to pick your sights carefully to make sure that you are getting away from all of that firework smoke.
Or you could take a chance to do a different kind of night-time photography and maybe see if you can capture some of those fireworks on camera as well.
Thank you for listening. Do subscribe to the podcast to get even more highlights from the astronomy weeks coming up. And we hope to see you here next week.
If you want to find out even more spectacular sites that will be gracing the night sky this month. Be sure to pick up a copy of BBC Sky at Night magazine, where we have a 16 page pull out sky guide with a full overview of everything worth looking up for throughout the whole month. Whether you like to look at the Moon, the planets, or the deep sky. Whether you use binoculars, telescopes, or neither, our sky guide has got you covered. With detailed star charts to help you track your way across the night sky.
From all of us here at BBC Sky at Night magazine. Goodbye. Thank you for
Chris: listening to this episode of the Star Diary podcast from the makers of BBC Sky Night Magazine. For more of our podcasts, visit our website at skynightmagazine.com or head to acast iTunes or Spotify.
