Today:
October opens with a waning Gibbous Moon climbing into the east-northeast, followed quickly by the giant planet Jupiter at 8 o’clock. They’ll climb to due east, more than one quarter of the way up at 10 o’clock. The Moon’s orbit brings it around to another meeting with Jupiter on the 28th, the Moon shining as the Full Hunter’s Moon.
Monday:
Autumn has not discouraged the Summer Triangle, just given us a different view. Seen crossing overhead near midnight in the summer, it now appears overhead in the evening. Look for the faintest of the three stars, Deneb, close to the zenith this evening, while Altair shines in the southwest, and the bluish-white Vega gleams sharply, high in the west.
Tuesday:
Directly overhead this evening at 8:40 PM is Deneb, the tail of the Swan, or the top of the Northern Cross. Although Deneb appears as the faintest star of the Summer Triangle, it is by far the most powerful. While Vega shines 40 times brighter than our Sun, and Altair about 10 times brighter, Deneb emits an estimated 200 thousand times more light!