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Howdy stargazers and welcome to this episode of Star Trails.

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I'm Drew and I'll be your guide to the night sky for the week starting October the 6th

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to the 12th.

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This week we'll check out some familiar and some not so familiar deep sky objects.

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Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are all putting on a show and a meteor shower is also in the forecast.

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And by the way, did you hear Earth has gained a second moon?

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We'll check out the lore and features of the constellation Perseus, the Greek hero of myth

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who's been a key player in some of our recent episodes.

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And later I'll recommend some great apps to kick start your observations as we make our way into

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the longer nights of autumn.

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So grab your observational instrument of choice, a comfortable chair under the night sky and let's get started.

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This week the moon will transition from a waxing crescent phase to a waxing gibbous phase.

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By October 10th it will reach the first quarter phase marking the halfway point to the full moon.

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As the week progresses the moon will continue to grow in brightness reaching the waxing gibbous phase

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by the week's end.

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This period is excellent for lunar observation especially with the first quarter phase providing

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clear views of the moon's craters and shadows while the waxing gibbous phase offers brighter,

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more expansive views.

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Elsewhere in the solar system Jupiter continues putting on a show.

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It rises shortly after sunset and is visible for most of the night in the constellation Aries.

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It's near opposition meaning it's bright and easy to spot.

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With a telescope you can observe the planet's cloud bands and its four Galilean moons, EO,

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Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

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Depending on the resolution of your telescope you may be able to catch a unique phenomenon

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on Jupiter's face.

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EO's shadow will transit Jupiter beginning around 8 p.m. on October the 9th.

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If you can stay up later at 2 a.m. on the morning of the 10th you'll see Europa's shadow

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transit Jupiter as well.

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These shadow transits happen frequently and Sky and Telescope has a nice online tool for

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calculating them when they appear.

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I'll include a link in the show notes.

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Look towards the southeast after sunset to spot Saturn in the constellation Aquarius.

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Saturn will be visible through most of the night and with a small telescope you can catch

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its stunning rings and possibly its largest moon Titan.

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Mars rises around midnight and is visible in the early morning hours in the eastern sky.

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You'll spot it near the stars Caster and Pollux in Gemini and its reddish hue makes it easy

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to identify.

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Venus will be shining brightly just after sunset low on the western horizon.

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I've managed to catch it during my evening walks on the past few nights.

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Uranus can be seen near the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus while Neptune is best viewed

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earlier in the evening in Aquarius.

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As always you'll need a good telescope to locate these outer gas giants.

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Even farther out some familiar deep sky objects are rising higher in the autumn sky.

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The Owl Cluster NGC457 is a star cluster in Cassiopeia.

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Also known as the ET cluster its bright stars form a shape that looks like an owl or the

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famous movie alien.

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This cluster is easy to spot and it's a perfect target for binoculars.

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The Pleiades M45 also known as the Seven Sisters is a beautiful open star cluster located in

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the constellation Taurus.

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This cluster becomes increasingly prominent as autumn progresses and it's a fantastic

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target for binoculars which reveal more stars than are visible to the naked eye.

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For a challenge telescope users can seek the Blue Snowball Nebula NGC 7662.

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Located in the constellation Andromeda this striking planetary nebula is known for its

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bright blue appearance resembling a small round snowball.

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It's relatively easy to spot through small to medium telescopes and with higher magnification

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you may observe its internal structure.

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The Nebula is the result of a dying star shedding its outer layers.

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Don't forget the Draconid Meteor Shower which peaks overnight between October the 8th and

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9th.

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The Draconids are unique because they're best viewed in the evening not after midnight like

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many other showers.

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The meteors will appear to radiate from the constellation Draco but remember you can see

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them almost anywhere in the night sky.

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Between last week's annular solar eclipse which sadly was not visible here in North

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America, seemingly non-stop solar flare blasts, a new comet that could light up the sky next

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week and the Nova Watch on T Corona borealis that I've mentioned in quite a few episodes,

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there's been a lot of astronomy in the news lately.

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Sometimes these headlines just seem a bit sensational.

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For instance there's been a fair amount of press lately about Earth's new second moon.

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On September 29th Earth captured a new mini-moon called 2024 PT-5 which will orbit the Earth

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for about 57 days.

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But despite the flashy headlines if you expect to see this new moon you're going to be disappointed.

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Astronomers estimate this object is only about 10 meters wide, about the size of a school

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bus.

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I'll leave spotting this one to the professionals.

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While PT-5 might not be much to look at it does remind us that there's a whole world

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of quasi-satellites that whip around the Earth thanks to the influence of our planet's gravity

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on these small objects.

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We'll talk about some of these in a future episode.

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A great constellation to explore in October is Perseus which is well positioned in the

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northeastern sky and offers plenty of interesting stars and deep sky objects.

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In Greek mythology Perseus is one of the great heroes known for slaying the Gorgon Medusa

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and rescuing Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus.

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After his adventures Perseus and Andromeda were placed among the stars along with other

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characters from his story such as Cassiopeia.

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The constellation features some perennial deep sky targets including the double cluster

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NGC 869 and NGC 884.

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Located on the border between Cassiopeia and Perseus the double cluster is a stunning sight

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through binoculars.

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These two open star clusters are packed with young hot stars and they shine brightly against

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the backdrop of the Milky Way.

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The California Nebula NGC 1499 is a faint emission nebula visible under dark skies and

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named for its resemblance to the shape of the state of California.

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The nebula is located near the bright star Mencar.

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It's best viewed with long exposure astrophotography due to its faintness.

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Finally Al Gohl the demon star is one of the most famous variable stars in the sky.

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It's part of an eclipsing binary system where one star periodically passes in front of the

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other causing the star to dim and brighten over a 2.8 day cycle.

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This dimming and brightening can be observed with the naked eye making it one of the few

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stars where you can directly observe variability.

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As we head into October the nights are getting longer and clearer which means it's the

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perfect time to get outside and do some serious stargazing.

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When I was a kid this meant I had to pull out an atlas of star maps and try to make

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sense of the sky while trying to read the charts with a red flashlight.

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I feel very fortunate nowadays as my night sky atlas is on my smartphone.

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There's a universe of helpful apps and software out there that can make your stargazing experience

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even better so I wanted to mention a few of these tools that will hopefully help you get

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more out of your time under the stars.

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We'll start with the apps you can take with you wherever you go, smartphone apps.

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Most of these night sky apps make it easy to navigate the sky using some form of augmented

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reality or motion based tracking.

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They're also helpful for tracking celestial objects and for finding the best times to

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observe.

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You've probably heard me mention on various episodes that cross checking with an app is

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the best way to ensure that you can see the phenomenon we discuss in your area.

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There are a couple good ones to try and don't worry there'll be links to all of these resources

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in the show notes.

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The first up is Sky Safari, one of the most comprehensive stargazing apps out there.

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Available on both iOS and Android, Sky Safari lets you point your phone at the sky and instantly

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identify stars, planets and constellations.

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You can even simulate what the sky looked like hundreds or thousands of years ago.

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I know many of the folks in my local astronomy club prefer Sky Safari.

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It features a massive database of stars, planets and deep sky objects and you can use it to

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control compatible telescopes which is also nice.

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The basic app sells for about $5 but there are plus and pro versions that sell for $20

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and $30 respectively.

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The basic version is aimed at beginners or casual stargazers.

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It includes a database of around 120,000 stars, planets and other objects.

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Sky Safari Plus significantly expands the database to more than 2.5 million stars and

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includes many more deep sky objects, comets and satellites.

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It also introduces enhanced features like more advanced telescope control, orbit simulation

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and detailed observation planning tools.

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For the most advanced users, there's the pro version with an unimaginable database of more

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than 100 million stars and millions of galaxies.

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Pro is designed for seasoned astronomers and astrophotographers who need detailed observation

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logs and extensive telescope control options.

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Next up is my app of choice, Stellarium Mobile which is another highly rated app for iOS and

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Android.

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Stellarium is known for its clean, intuitive interface that mimics a real-time sky view.

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Stellarium tends to be more accessible for casual users or those who prefer a more visually

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immersive experience without the need for advanced customization.

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It does have some telescope control and a host of other nice features but it's not nearly

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as full-featured as Sky Safari.

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Even so, I've been a fan of Stellarium since its early days when it was a free open-source

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desktop app.

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The base mobile app is free and paying $20 gets you some additional tools to help you

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plan your observations.

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You can also use Stellarium on the desktop or in a web browser for free and we'll talk

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about that in a moment.

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Here's one more app to consider, Starwalk 2.

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Like Sky Safari and Stellarium, Starwalk is like having a planetarium in your pocket.

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Available on iOS and Android, this app uses augmented reality to give you an immersive

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view of the night sky.

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Compared to the other apps, Starwalk 2 is even more beginner-focused and leans more

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into accessibility and ease of use.

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It lacks some of the in-depth tools but provides a visually appealing, easy-to-understand sky

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view that works well for quick lookups and educational purposes.

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There's an ad-supported free version but upgrades and add-ons are only around $3.

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These three apps are all similar so you may want to download each one and see which one

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speaks to you.

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I'd also like to mention two smartphone apps that both deal with astrophotography.

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Photo Pills is an app that lets you plan your shots by predicting where the Milky Way, Moon,

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or specific stars will be at any given time.

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It includes a calculator for finding the best times and angles for photography and a set

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of tools for calculating exposure times.

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Even if you're not an astrophotographer, the sky planning features can really help you

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understand celestial movements better.

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If you want to dip your toe into the world of astrophotography and you don't have a photography

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rig, you might enjoy playing with night cap camera.

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This app is limited to iOS but many phones now have a night or astronomy mode built in

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so you may not even need this app.

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And before you scoff at using a phone for astrophotography, you should try it and see

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what happens.

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Using a Google Pixel phone, I caught Andromeda one evening and I've shot Aurora with my iPhone.

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Night cap camera offers up some features for capturing star fields, meteors, and even the

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International Space Station.

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Don't forget a tripod.

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Now for those of you who like to do a little research and planning before you head outside,

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there are a couple great desktop programs worth mentioning.

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First up is the desktop version of Stellarium which is free and open source.

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Like the phone app, you can simulate the night sky from any location on Earth and see what

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it will look like at any time or day.

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Another great option for the desktop is Starry Night.

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This one is a bit more polished than Stellarium with a highly accurate star map and some extra

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telescope connectivity.

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And finally, before we wrap up, there are a couple websites I recommend you check out

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if you want to stay up to date with celestial events or track satellites and other sky phenomena.

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HeavensAbove.com is my go-to for tracking satellites like the ISS, Iridium flares, and

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more.

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We use this site to generate the sky maps featured on the StarTrails website each week.

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This site is also popular for amateur radio operators who are trying to bounce a signal

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off of one of the numerous Hamsats floating around up there.

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And finally, with all the solar flare activity we've been having lately, I've been checking

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in frequently over at SpaceWeather.com.

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This site keeps you updated on solar activity, auroras, meteor showers, and other sky events.

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It's a great resource if you're looking to catch something like a solar storm or the

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northern lights.

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There are a lot more applications and sites that are useful for astronomy and will probably

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cover more in future episodes.

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Hopefully, these help kick your stargazing into high gear as clear evenings and longer

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nights await us.

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That's it for today's episode of StarTrails.

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If you found this episode useful, please share it with a friend.

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The easiest way to do that is by visiting our website, startrails.show, where you can

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find all of our episodes including transcripts, night sky maps, and more.

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Until next time, keep looking up and exploring the night sky.

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OOSM