3 – Standard Time has returned, but what does that mean? The idea of a “standard” time, and time zones, replaced the Sun as the method for determining noon. Local noon is when the Sun is directly south, but when trains made long distance travel possible in the 1800s, train schedules required standardized, rather than local time.
4 – As darkness grows along the southwestern horizon, between 6:00 and 6:30 PM, the crescent moon will dip toward the horizon, its slender curve beneath the brilliant planet Venus, slowly emerging from the twilight. Venus follows the moon in its descent, setting around 7 PM. The Moon appears just a little larger, and to Venus’s left tomorrow evening.
5 – The first of two minor meteor showers peaks tonight, known as the Southern Taurid Meteor Shower, to distinguish it from the Northern Taurids next weekend. This meteor shower remains active from late September through early December, tossing 5 to 10 meteors per hour across the heavens, some blazing a path as brighter, more dramatic fireballs.