Brian, Texas (KBTX) – The night sky in the second half of October is full of opportunities to keep an eye on the sky, and it all starts on Tuesday evening.
Mars in protest
The Red Planet is in the closest orbit to Earth this year and will not be close again until September 2035. This close approach – a little away from .5 38. million miles – happened in October, 2020 and will cause you to see Mars all exceptionally bright throughout October.
It is evening on the 13th when Mars is in protest. This phenomenon occurs when two planets sit exactly on the opposite side of the Sun, in this sense, the Earth sits exactly between Mars on one side and the Sun on the other. The protest takes place at 6PM CDT. When this happens, Mars will rise in the east as the sun sets in the west. After that, Mars will rise in the western sky as soon as the sun sets on Wednesday morning.
Protests occur on average every two years. This is because it takes twice as long for Mars to revolve around the Sun as it does for the Earth.
Although the cloud cover pattern is low, viewers of the Brazzos Valley should consider it from the point of view of Mars as it rises tonight and shines brightly. Sunset Tuesday at 6:56 p.m.
Orionids meteor shower
The biggest meteor shower of the year is around a corner as Haley’s comet passes through the Earth’s debris field. This provides a spectacular show of meteors shooting into the night sky towards the end of October if the sky is clear. Meteor showers appear from October 2 to November 7, but peaks on Wednesday, October 21.
The best way to see these meteors is to find a place away from the city lights and give your eyes about 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness. The good news is that as night reaches its peaks, the moon will create a darker sky for comets to stand out before midnight, and the new moon is located on the 16th, limiting its light pollution in the sky. .
Full moon
With a new moon in the middle of the month, that means the full moon is right around the corner. Two full moons have been given this October. The first came on October 1st and was called Harvest Moon. The second Halloween will take place on October 31, Halloween. This is known as the hunter’s moon.
It is rare to have two full moons in a month, but when that happens it is called a blue moon. Each full lunar cycle lasts 29 days, and like Leap Day, the time is created by the second full moon coming in the calendar month. This is averaged every year in March 2018 with the previous pattern.
Make time to go out and enjoy the rest of the places given in October. If you’re able to take a great photo or video, we’d love to share it with you! Click here to submit a photo or video.
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