This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 Oct. 5 – Oct.12

The Pleiades star cluster, which is located in the shoulder of Taurus the Bull, is rising around 8:30 pm now as a harbinger of winter. In a month it will be rising at sunset. Due to its shape, this eye-catching cluster has been mistaken for the Little Dipper. Most of us can count six stars in the Pleiades under good conditions but keen-eyed wonders have picked out twice that number from a dark sky. A low power view of it in binoculars will show a couple of dozen stars and it is one of the prettiest sights you will see in the night sky. I always look for the hockey stick in the binocular view.

According to Wikipedia, the name Pleiades likely comes from the ancient Greek word “plein,” which means “to sail.” Sailing season in the Mediterranean Sea typically began when the cluster was first spotted before sunrise. In mythology it became the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, hence its common name of the Seven Sisters. Somewhere along the way one of them got lost. Astronomers also know it as M45 from the Messier catalogue. The cluster played a significant role in marking time for several ancient cultures, including the Maori, Mayan, Aztec and some First Nations.

Perhaps you have seen the Pleiades while stuck in traffic and just haven’t realized it. The six-star logo of Subaru automobiles depicts the Pleiades, as Subaru is the Japanese name for the cluster. The name, which means “united,” was chosen because the large company was formed from a merger of five.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:23 and sunset will occur at 6:50, giving 11 hours, 27 minutes of daylight (7:28 and 6:56 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:32 and set at 6:37, giving 11 hours, 5 minutes of daylight (7:37 and 6:43 in Saint John).

The Moon is just below the red supergiant star Antares on Monday evening and it is at first quarter on Thursday. Use a telescope to look for the illuminated Lunar X just within the shadow line around 9 pm on Wednesday. Venus shines brightly low in the southwest in the early evening, and Saturn is at its highest and best for observing at 11 pm. Jupiter’s moon Ganymede emerges from the planet’s shadow at 11:34 pm on Tuesday, five minutes before Io disappears into the shadow, and the Red Spot will also be in view. Jupiter reaches its first stationary point Wednesday, after which it begins westward motion against the stars. Mercury is out of sight man. Rural observers can look for the subtle wedge of the zodiacal light in the east 90 to 60 minutes before sunrise. By next weekend comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will be appearing low in the southwest after sunset.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre this Saturday at 7 pm. Tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay. The Fredericton Astronomy Club meets at the UNB Forestry-Earth Sciences building on Tuesday at 7 pm.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 Oct. 5 – Oct.12