Today:
More and more, Columbus Day has become a celebration of indigenous people. Look to the northeastern horizon just after 8 o’clock, where we can watch the Seven Starry Dancers rise, known also as the Seven Sisters, or the Pleiades. This smudge of stars, well right of the bright star Capella, recalls the Onondaga people’s story of seven boys who neglect their chores, and dance all the way into the heavens.
Tuesday:
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS should be near its best for viewing, positioned right between Venus, low in the southwest, and the star Arcturus, one quarter of the way up at 6:45 PM as the comet emerges from the twilight. Through 7:15 the comet edges lower, while the sky darkens for a potentially exciting view. The comet is racing away from the Earth at 180 thousand miles an hour, getting higher and fainter each night.
Wednesday:
The Moon reaches Full tomorrow night, the Full “Hunter’s” Moon, though it rides across the skies over the next few nights. Its name implies the hunting that is done in the fall to provide food through the winter. It is also known as the Kindly Moon in Chinese lore, and the Moon “when quilling and beading are done” by the Lakota Sioux.
