TRAC Action Plan: October 2024

Autumn Constellations

Autumn is here, and that means the summer constellations we've grown accustomed to seeing will soon be setting earlier in the evening, making way for another set of star patterns.

On a clear night, we'll look out for these early autumn constellations:

• Pegasus – an enormous winged horse from Greek mythology.
• Aquarius – the water carrier. Found in a patch of sky called the Sea.
• Andromeda – daughter of Cassiopeia. Contains the galaxy M31.
• Delphinus – a cute little celestial baby dolphin.
• Cetus – a large sea monster slayed by Perseus and Heracles.
• Pisces – a pair of fish connected by a long fishing line.
• Capricornus – a mythical sea goat that's half goat and half fish.
• Aries – Latin for ram. Contains the bright star Hamal.
• Auriga – Latin for charioteer. Contains the bright star Capella.
• Perseus – named after the Greek mythological hero.
• Cepheus – the king of Aethiopia, and the husband of Cassiopeia.

The Great Square of Pegasus will dominate the view to the south. We'll use it to guide us to Mirach when we track down the Andromeda Galaxy.

The Coathanger (Star Cluster)

Officially called Brocchi's Cluster, this asterism consists of 10 stars ranging from magnitude 5 to 7. We'll find it high in the SW along the Summer Triangle, halfway between Altair and Vega.

We should be able to view it with binoculars by sweeping along the line between these two bright stars. If we don't have any luck with binoculars, we'll use the telescope with a low magnification eyepiece.

Planets!

Mars (mag 0.5) can be seen in the constellation of Gemini, but not until after midnight! We'll wait until November before we attempt to observe it.

Jupiter (mag -2.5) is shining bright again. We can try to see the enormous storm in its upper atmosphere, known as the "Great Red Spot".

Saturn (mag 0.7) will still be easily visible. We've seen its largest moon, Titan, so we'll focus on its other large moons like Rhea, Dione, and Tethys.

Uranus (mag 5.6) is at an altitude of 33° at 22:00 by the end of the month. Uranus can be found in the constellation of Taurus, the bull, slightly west of The Pleiades star cluster. Like Neptune, it will be hard to find and will appear as a small dot in the telescope eyepiece. Hopefully, it will be discernible as a blue-green disc.

Neptune (mag 7.8) will be high (26°) in the southern sky all month. Bear in mind that it's roughly 13,000 times fainter than Jupiter! As mentioned previously, Neptune will be difficult to locate, and seeing it poses the greatest challenge we face in 2024. If we can find it and resolve it as a blue disc, I'd call that a success! If we can also spot its largest moon, Triton, then we'll be cooking!!!

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

Have you ever seen an entire galaxy floating out there in the darkness of space? Hopefully, by the end of the month, we'll all be able to say "yes"!

The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest major galaxy to our own, the Milky Way. It's approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth. That's about 14.7 quintillion miles (1.47 x 10¹⁹ miles) or 23.7 quintillion kilometers (2.37 x 10¹⁹ km). Can you even begin to imagine such a vast distance?

It's often said that M31 is the most distant object visible to the unaided eye, and it will be interesting to see if that's achievable from Rainham. It has an apparent magnitude of 3.4, so we stand a decent chance.

Autumn is the best time to see the Andromeda Galaxy. We'll view it on a moonless night through binoculars, then with the telescope, and see whether we can pick out any details of its spiral structure.

The Ring Nebula (M57)

We're all familiar with the constellation of Lyra and its bright star, Vega. Nestled between two stars in Lyra sits the stunning Ring Nebula (mag 8.8).

This nebula was formed when a star shed a large glowing cloud of ionised gas into the neighbouring interstellar space. It would be fantastic if we were able to make out the ring structure at a high magnification.

Telescope GoTo Feature

October is the perfect time for us to learn how to use the telescope's built-in GoTo feature. This will mean reading the instruction booklet.

Once it's been correctly configured, the GoTo function is designed to automatically point the telescope at any object we select from its extensive database.

Lunar Observations

October 2024 Lunar Calendar

• New Moon Wed 02
• First Quarter Thu 10
• Full Moon Thu 17
• Last Quarter Thu 24

The Brightest Full Moon of 2024

This month's Full Moon (mag -12.8) will be the brightest "supermoon" of the year. A so-called "supermoon" occurs when the Moon is at perigee (the closest it comes to Earth) at a distance of roughly 222,000 miles (358,000 km).

The Moon may appear around 14% larger compared to when it's at apogee (the furthest away it gets from Earth).

The Astronomy Club Turns 1!

TRAC will celebrate its first birthday on Friday, 25 Oct 2024! Perhaps you can come up with some ideas for how we can mark this special occasion in style!

New BBC Series: Solar System

There's a new TV series all about the Solar System starting soon that will interest anyone who's keen to learn more about our celestial neighbours.

Professor Brian Cox explores the spectacular natural phenomena that are happening right now on planets and moons in our solar system. The programme appears to be aimed at the KS3 level (Yrs 7-9).

The first episode airs on Monday, 07 October, at 21:00 on BBC Two.

Admin Tasks

Finishing the letter to Medway council is my top priority. As soon as it's ready, we can all add our signatures, and I'll post it the following morning. Then, all we can do is wait and hope our request is approved!

We must also write back to our fellow astronomy colleagues at MKAS.

As always, the website remains a work in progress. If you have any ideas for how we can improve the website, let me know or send me an email.

Summary

Our main aims this month will be to see the Andromeda Galaxy, identify the major autumn constellations, figure out how the telescope's GoTo function works, and locate one of the ice giants, Uranus, or Neptune.

A warning about bright lights: Your eyes take around 20 minutes to become fully dark-adapted. Each time you look at a bright light like a torch or your phone screen, the clock resets. To stand any chance of seeing faint stars, you must allow your eyes to adapt to the darkness.

A warning about time: Astronomy is not suitable for people who are in a hurry. Do not underestimate how long it will take to pinpoint a tiny object like Neptune or hunt down the faint glow of a distant galaxy or nebula.

A warning about the cold: Autumn is here, and it can get very chilly after sunset, so please wrap up warm! Wear multiple layers, plus a hat and gloves. Never be embarrassed to wear a vest. The ground gets very cold, and no one likes having cold tootsies, so wear two pairs of socks if necessary. The park is often muddy, so wear strong shoes with decent grip. I don't want to hear anyone complaining that they're cold!

October will be an important month for us; it will be getting darker earlier, and the half-term break gives us more opportunities to get outside when the skies are clear. Let's stay focused and see some amazing sights!

James M
TRAC Team Leader
03 Oct 2024 – Rainham, Kent