{"id":36195,"date":"2022-09-15T14:27:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T14:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=36195"},"modified":"2022-09-21T10:27:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T10:27:04","slug":"the-planets-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/2022\/09\/15\/the-planets-13\/","title":{"rendered":"The planets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our<\/span> celestial neighbourhood in October<\/span><\/p>\n\n

PICK OF THE<\/strong> MONTH<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Neptune <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Best time to see<\/strong>: 1 October, 23:00 UT
Altitude: <\/strong>33\u00ba Location: Aquarius
Direction<\/strong>: South
Features<\/strong>: Colour, occasional atmospheric effects, Triton
Recommended equipment:<\/strong> 200mm or larger <\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Faint Neptune and brighter Jupiter will be close companions near the Circlet all month <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Neptune was at opposition in the middle of September and remains very well placed for observation from the UK throughout October. By the end of the month, shining at mag. +7.8, Neptune and mag. \u20132.6 Jupiter will appear separated by just 6.7\u02da, both planets being located below the faint Circlet asterism in Pisces. The separation continues to reduce into next month, reaching a minimum of around 6.1\u02da in late November. <\/p>\n\n

At mag. +7.8, Neptune is too faint to be seen with the naked eye, theoretically being the only one of the main planets that needs optical assistance to see. In reality, it\u2019s difficult to spot Uranus too, which often lurks on the threshold of naked-eye visibility, and binoculars are your best choice to try to secure a view of both worlds. <\/p>\n\n

Through a 75mm telescope at high power, it\u2019s possible to get a feel that Neptune\u2019s blue-hued dot isn\u2019t a star, but a larger scope, say over 150mm diameter, is recommended to confirm this view. If you suspect you\u2019ve got it in your field of view but aren\u2019t sure, centre it and gradually increase the power. If the atmospheric stability \u00de Neptune and its largest moon Tri ton: viable targets (seeing) is poor, don\u2019t go too for 200mm high with the magnification. A power of 150x or more should reveal Neptune as a planet. <\/p>\n\n

The larger the aperture you use the easier it will be to see Neptune\u2019s tiny 2.4-arcsecond disc. Large planetary imaging setups may, on occasion, pick up vague detail within the planet\u2019s atmosphere, including banding and large-scale storms. Being the most distant of the main planets, Neptune doesn\u2019t give up its secrets easily, but amazingly its scopes largest moon, Triton, can be seen quite easily through a 200mm instrument. Triton shines at mag. +13.5. <\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Mercury <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Best time to see: 8 October, 30 minutes before sunrise
Altitude: 12\u02da
Location: Virgo
Direction: East<\/p>\n\n

A morning planet on 1 October, mag. +1.4 Mercury rises 70 minutes before the Sun. It improves markedly and by 8 October at mag. \u20130.2, reaches greatest western elongation, rising 100 minutes before sunrise. It remains well-placed to around 20 October, at mag. \u20130.9. It remains bright, but its rising offset from the Sun then reduces. On 24 October, mag. \u20131.0 Mercury, preceded by a 1%-lit Moon, rises an hour before the Sun. By the end of the month, the rise time offset decreases to just 30 minutes. <\/p>\n\n

Venus <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Best time to see: 1 October, 20 minutes before sunrise
Altitude: 2\u02da (extremely low)
Location: Virgo
Direction: East <\/p>\n\n

Rising just 40 minutes before the Sun on 1 October, mag. \u20133.8 Venus is now becoming hard to see. Venus reaches superior conjunction on 22 October, thereafter reemerging into the evening sky. <\/p>\n\n

Mars <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Best time to see: 31 October, 03:00 UT
Altitude: 61\u02da
Location: Taurus
Direction: South <\/p>\n\n

Mars is now a major planet in the late evening to early morning sky. Rising in the northeast around 20:30 UT on 1 October, it reaches 60\u02da as dawn breaks. Shining at mag. \u20130.6 on this date, it presents an apparent disc size of 11 arcseconds. Passing just over 1\u02da north of the Crab Nebula, M1, mid-month, Mars is joined by a 73%-lit Moon 3\u02da to the north on 15 October. As the month ends, Mars shines at mag. \u20131.2 and is 15 arcseconds across. <\/p>\n\n

Jupiter <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Best time to see: 1 October, 23:40 UT
Altitude: 37\u02da
Location: Pisces
Direction: South <\/p>\n\n

Following opposition, Jupiter remains superbly positioned. On 1 October, it shines at mag. \u20132.8, east and slightly south of the Circlet asterism in Pisces. On 8 October, it is joined by an almost full Moon less than 3\u02da to the south as they rise. By 31 October, it appears at mag. \u20132.7 and reaches its highest position in the sky, due south at 21:30 UT, at an altitude of 35\u02da from the centre of the UK. <\/p>\n\n

Saturn <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Best time to see: 1 October, 21:00 UT
Altitude: 21\u02da
Location: Capricornus
Direction: South <\/p>\n\n

At mag. +0.6 on 1 October, dimming to mag. +0.8 by the end of the month, Saturn reaches its highest position due south, under dark sky conditions all month, reaching 20\u02da altitude as seen from the centre of the UK. A bright 81%-lit Moon lies nearby on the evening of 5 October. <\/p>\n\n

Uranus <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Best time to see: 31 October, 00:30 UT
Altitude: 53\u02da
Location: Aries
Direction: South <\/p>\n\n

Uranus is extremely wellplaced for UK viewing, appearing over 50\u02da up when due south, from the centre of the UK. A 94%-lit waning gibbous Moon lies 2.5\u02da west at 01:50 UT on 12 October. <\/p>\n\n

\n\n

The planets in October <\/h4>\n\n

The phase and relative sizes of the planets this month. Each planet is shown with south at the top, to show its orientation through a telescope <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

JUPITER\u2019S MOONS: <\/strong>OCTOBER <\/h4>\n\n

Using a small scope you can spot Jupiter\u2019s biggest moons. Their positions change dramatically over the month, as shown on the diagram. The line by each date represents 01:00 BST (00:00 UT.) <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Photos: PETE LAWRENCE <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our celestial neighbourhood in October<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":36191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"48","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"48","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_48-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_48-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"October-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"October-2022","purple_external_id":"October-2022-48-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"October-2022-48-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086557||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086557||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.209","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.209","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.209","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.209","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/897d6081-1bc5-4d13-b577-c4db43febce1.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/897d6081-1bc5-4d13-b577-c4db43febce1.jpg",1446,930,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/897d6081-1bc5-4d13-b577-c4db43febce1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/897d6081-1bc5-4d13-b577-c4db43febce1-300x193.jpg",300,193,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/897d6081-1bc5-4d13-b577-c4db43febce1-768x494.jpg",768,494,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/897d6081-1bc5-4d13-b577-c4db43febce1-1024x659.jpg",800,515,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/897d6081-1bc5-4d13-b577-c4db43febce1.jpg",1446,930,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/09\/897d6081-1bc5-4d13-b577-c4db43febce1.jpg",1446,930,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Our celestial neighbourhood in October","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36195"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36830,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36195\/revisions\/36830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}