Last week of buses, whoopee.

Well we certainly have an autumn sky now, which in many ways is as it should be, the summer constellations are now but an ephemeral wisp of memory. Taurus the bull with its baleful red eye is well up in the east by 10 closely followed by Orion. Which neatly brings us to the Orionid meteor shower which peaks this week around the 21^st, and much good will it do us, because we have a full moon on the 23^rd so throughout the entire week we will be hard pushed to see anything at all. But if you’re a fanatic and are determined to have a look then to have any chance at all look toward Orion in the eastern sky after midnight and good luck

And because there’s not much else this week, and I know its flogging a dead horse, lets reprise comet Hartley, with the rash optimism of youth I looked for it again and failed again, and this week with a full moon as well it will be even more difficult, but undaunted I’ll put another guide on the blog. So if you’re a fanatic and are determined to have a look then to have any chance at all look toward Auriga, the only constellation named after a local guest house, almost straight over head to the North with binoculars look a greenish star with a smudge.

Some people have managed to find Hartley 2.

As for the planets Venus has gone it will be back in the dawn sky in 3 weeks. Jupiter remains the main attraction dominating the southern sky throughout the whole night. And Saturn is back in the dawn sky rising around 7 in the east.

And that's your night sky for the week ending on the 1704th anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint Demetrius of Thessalonica.

Fly Fishing Again.

A brief look again this week because there’s not a great deal going on just for once, I mentioned Hartley the comet last week, I looked for it again and I may have seen it, in fact I almost certainly did. There was no moon, I looked with binoculars a little to the east of Cassiopeia toward Perseus and saw hundreds of stars, the thing which has no tail and is allegedly surrounded by for want of a better word a smudge, was indiscernible amongst the milky way, and the moons back next week so it will there’s a guide above, if you think you may have better luck.

Next week maybe from Sunday onwards we have the Orionid meteor shower, which usually peaks on the 21^st, but you’ll need to be up after midnight and look toward Orion in the east.

As for the planets we’ve just about got Venus and most definitely have Jupiter.

Venus, though very bright at magnitude –4.7, is disappearing very low in the southwest during bright evening twilight. It sets well before dark. And if you’re on St Mary’s you have to go up the garrison to see it. It’s a very pronounced crescent at the moment.

Jupiter is loitering at the Pisces-Aquarius border as twilight fades; the giant planet becomes very obvious low in the east-southeast. It shines high in the southeast by mid-evening, by far the brightest star like point in the sky. It's highest in the south around midnight. And well worth a look in binoculars where it will show as a clear disc with the 4 largest moons clearly visible.

And that was your night sky for the week ending on the 1st anniversary of Chris Stevens of New Richmond, Wisconsin proudly displaying the world’s biggest pumpkin at the Stillwater Harvest festival in Stillwater, Minnesota, it weighed 1810.IIbs 8 oz.

Fly Fishing

The path of comet Hartley.

A brief look this week because there’s not a great deal going on, I mentioned Hartley last week, I looked for it but the moon was too bright, not this week though. Periodic Comet Hartley 2 is a dim 7th magnitude, visible in binoculars in a dark sky. It's excellently placed very high these moonless evenings, passing just south of Cassiopeia. But it's large and diffuse, so you'll need an unpolluted dark sky. Which we have in abundance, the moon is new on Thursday so this is the best week for a look, Cassiopeia is the wonky W high in the north eastern sky before midnight, there’s a guide on the blog.

Mercury (magnitude –1.2) drops back down into the sunrise this week. So its gone for a while but it will soon be back in the evening sunset.

Venus, though very bright at magnitude –4.7, is disappearing very low in the southwest during bright evening twilight. It sets well before dark. And if you’re on St Mary’s you have to go up the garrison to see it. It’s a very pronounced crescent at the moment.

Mars, vastly dimmer at magnitude +1.5, is 7° above or upper right of Venus in bright twilight. That's about one field-of-view width in typical binoculars. You'll need them. Good luck.

Jupiter is loitering at the Pisces-Aquarius border and is two weeks past opposition now. As twilight fades, Jupiter becomes very obvious low in the east-southeast. It shines high in the southeast by mid-evening, by far the brightest star like point in the sky. It's highest in the south around midnight. And well worth a look in binoculars where it will show as a clear disc with the 4 largest moons clearly visible.

And that was your night sky for the week ending on the 200^th anniversary of the first Oktoberfest: When the Bavarian royalty invited the citizens of Munich to join the celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.