Astronomy_News_20_10_2019

Astronomy_News_20_10_2019
This months research Papers 20_10_2019
RASNZ_20_10_2019

Further links and discussion can be found at the groups/links below

Astronomy in New Zealand - Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/5889909863/
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https://groups.io/g/AstronomyNZ
Astronomy in Wellington
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Blogger Posts
http://laintal.blogspot.com/


This months research


What if Planet 9 is a Primordial Black Hole?
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.11090

Nomads of the Galaxy
https://arxiv.org/abs/1201.2687

The Snowball Stratosphere
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.12717

Developing Linear Dark-Field Control for Exoplanet Direct Imaging
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.11664

Detection of CN gas in Interstellar Object 2I/Borisov
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.12144

Observing a wormhole
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.00429

The Habitable Zone Around Supermassive Black Holes
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.00940

A three-phase approach to grain surface chemistry in protoplanetary disks
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.01097

Measuring the atomic composition of planetary building blocks
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.07345

The Effect of Land Fraction and Host Star Spectral Energy Distribution on the Planetary Albedo of Terrestrial Worlds
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.05439

Resilient habitability of nearby exoplanet systems
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.07573

Plutos Far Side
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.08833


Red Dwarfs - Exo planets

Planet formation and migration near the silicate sublimation front in protoplanetary disks
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.03901

A new take on the low-mass brown dwarf companions on wide-orbits in Upper-Scorpius
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.00347

The Precision of Mass Measurements Required for Robust Atmospheric Characterization of Transiting Exoplanets
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.00076

Stability of Nitrogen in Planetary Atmospheres in Contact with Liquid Water
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.04111


No Snowball on Habitable Tidally Locked Planets with a Dynamic Ocean
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.06285


Exporting Terrestrial Life Out of the Solar System with Gravitational Slingshots of Earthgrazing Bodies
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.06414

How do Planetary Radius and Gravity Influence the Surface Climate of Earth-like Planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.06479

SETI - And the search for life


A very good update on Borisov

Detection of CN gas in Interstellar Object 2I/Borisov
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.12144

Interstellar Interloper Borisov Looks Like a Regular Comet, for Now
https://eos.org/articles/interstellar-interloper-borisov-looks-like-a-regular-comet-for-now


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Updates from Andrew B from the UK


Comet 2I/Borisov


A little about the suspected home system of the interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov, the binary red dwarf system of Kruger 60.

Kruger 60 is within the constellation of Cepheus the King.
RA: 22h 27m 59.568s. Declination: +57° 41′ 45.28″. Mag: 11.40.

Krugar 60 is a binary star, two small red dwarfs, Kruger 60 A and Kruger 60 B.

The system currently lies about 13.15 light years away from our Solar System, approaching at about 20 KPS / 12.4 MPS or 72,000 KM / 44,740 MPH. The system will not enter our solar system (just as well as these two stars have enough mass to potentially scatter some of our planets including Earth), but will pass by in about 88,600 years time at a distance of about 6.34 light years.

The direction in relation to our solar system in relation to the rest of the Milky Way is identical to that of Comet 2I/Borisov as they both share the same common motion only Comet 2I/ Borisov was ejected from the system and is travelling a little faster.

They are similar to each other though not identical.

Krugar 60 A has 27% of our Sun's mass or a mass of 89,900 Earths. Has a diameter of 35% of the Sun's or 38 times wider than the Earth, 497,000 KM / 302,600 miles. Has a spectrum of M3.

Krugar 60 B has 18% of our Sun's mass or a mass of 59,930 Earths. Has a diameter of 24% of the Sun's or 26 times wider than the Earth, 333,940 KM / 207,500 miles. Kruger 60 B is also a flare star, flares are not regular in occurance can double in brightness for up to eight minutes then fade back to normal, has been registered as DO Cephei. Has a spectrum of M4.

The fact that Kruger 60 B is a flare star suggests it is young, maybe less than 1 GYO (GYO = Gigayears or billions of years old) where as our Sun is about 4.56 GYO. The fact Kruger 60 A appears quiet is strange but may be going through a quiet phase like our Sun's Maunder Minimum.

Our Sun has a diameter of 1,391,400 KM / 864,575 miles, has a mass of 332,946 times that of the Earth and a diameter of 109 Earths. Spectrum G2.

Kruger 60 A and B on average are about 9.5 times the Earth to Sun distance (AUs or Astronomical Units), about the same to the Sun to Saturn or about, 1.425 Billion KM / 885.45 million miles. The distance varies between 5.5 AUs (similar to the Sun to Jupiter) or about 825 million KM / 516.63 million miles to 13.5 AUs, 2.025 Billion KM / 1.258 Billion Miles or roughly midway between Saturn and Uranus from the Sun.

The orbital period around their common centre of gravity is 44 years and 244 days.

We are seeing the system almost polar on, at about 76 degrees. Currently there is no evidence that the system has any planets, asteroids or dust, but clearly there may well be planets as something kicked Comet 2I/Borisov out. I suspect that this system will soon be the subject of intense research , with a seach for planets, dust / asteroid belts, Kuiper Belt, etc.

Artist impression: NASA / SOFIA / Lynette Cook.

Text: Andrew R Brown.



Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov.

Imaged: Saturday 12th October 2019.

Here the first known interstellar comet to pass through our solar system Comet 2I/Borisov is imaged by the Earth orbiting Hubble Space Telescope for the first time.

New information is revealing further details. The nucleus is very small, barely 2 KM / 1.2 miles wide, is chemically identical to our own solar system comets that have come around for the first time, despite tracking revealing that Comet 2I/Borisov has likely orgininated in orbit around the double red dwarf star Krugar 60, currently some 13 light years away from our solar system.

Kruger 60 is within the constellation of Cepheus the King.
RA: 22h 27m 59.568s. Declination: +57° 41′ 45.28″. Mag: 11.40.

At the time of the imaging by the Hubble Space Telescope, Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov was about 418.43 million KM / 260.00 million miles away from Earth, travelling at about 177,000 KPH / 110,000 MPH in relation to the Sun, far too fast to be gravitationally bound to our Sun in an orbit at that distance out (to be gravitaionally bound to the Sun at that speed, would have be be slightly closer in to the Sun than Mercury at perihelion or about 0.25 AU), with it's one and only perihelion, closest approach to the Sun on: Sunday 8th December 2019, with closest approach to Earth on: Monday 28th December 2019. After perihelion Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov will start heading out of the solar system as is continues to orbit the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy. Comet 2I/Borisov will depart the solar system and re-enter interstellar space in the direction of the small southern constellation of Telescopium the Telescope.

The similarity between Comet 2I/Borisov and our own first time postulated Oort Cloud comets, to me is not that surprising as formative processes will be similar regardless of the home star be it our own Sun or in this case, likely to be Krugar 60. There may well turn out to be minor, but very important differences revealed as the comet hurtles towards perihelion. Comet 2I/Borisov will be able to tell us more about these processes in a way that the first interstellar object, Interstellar Asteroid 1I/’Oumuamua in 2017 could not, as that was found too late during it's passage through the Solar System and was very faint to reveal too much, other than it's weird shape, size, basic composition and rotational period.

The first two images are of Intersrstellar Comet 2I/Borisov, it's one image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, one labled and one unlabled.

The third is a two perspective view of the position of the comet at the time of the Hubble Space Telescope observations. Left panel with the constellation of Eridanus the River in the background, the second with the constellations of Capricornus the Sea Goat, Sagittarius the Archer, Microscopium the Microscope & Grus the Crane in the background.

The final image is an artists impression: Comet 2I/Borisov and the red dwarfs stars Kruger 60A and B nearby in the background, just before Comet 2I/Borisov was ejected over a million years ago. Image credit: NASA / SOFIA / Lynette Cook.

Text: Andrew R Brown.

NASA / ESA. Hubble Space Telescope.



Mars.

Imaged: Tuesday 1st October 2019.

The gigantic shield volcano Olympus Mons including the very highest point on Mars, captured by the small The Visual Monitoring Camera / VMC, also known as The Mars Webcam. This view was obtained from an altitude of 305 KM / 190 miles, above the surface of The Fourth Rock from the Sun, lookng steeply down onto Olympus Mons from the southwest.

The VMC is not a science camera, has a 40 degree field of view, was added to monitor the separation of the UK built Beagle 2 spacecraft way back on: Friday 19th December 2003. Upon landing on Mars on Christmas Day 2003, Beagle 2 never operated. It was thought to have crashed on landing, but more recent research using the telescope, the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has since shown the landing was successful, but a solar panel did not unfurl, blocking the antenna.

However it became clear that the VMC could be used for public outreach and is a great general Mars monitoring camera.

Olympus Mons, Tharsis Quadrangle in the northern hemisphere on Mars.

Olympus Mons rises to some 21,300 metres / 69,882 feet above the mean surface level. Here the martian atmosphere is so thin, less than one half of one millibar or approx 1/2000th the air pressure at sea level on Earth !!!!!!!!!!! In relation to the lava plains to the north, Olympus Mons rises to some 27,000 metres / 88,600 feet. The summit caldera is about 80 KM / 50 miles wide and is about 3,000 metres / 9,850 feet deep.

Like all shield volcanoes, be they on the Earth, Venus, Mercury, The Moon or Mars, Olympus Mons is made from thousands of thin layers of lava which were very fluid when erupted.

General concensus is that the most recent eruptions have been within the last one million years, more than recent enough to suspect that there could still be magma (unerupted molten rock) within the suspected gigantic 47,700 metre / 150,000 foot deep magma chamber, the top of which is likely some 16,000 metres / 52,500 feet below the base of the volcano, with a feed of magma from as deep as 200 KM / 124 miles within the upper mantle of Mars, perhaps Olympus Mons is not quite finished yet.

Text: Andrew R Brown.

ESA. Mars Express Spacecraft. VMC.

Mars.

Wednesday 16th October 2019, Sol 315.

Both images taken @ 17:15 HRS LMST.

LMST = Local Mars Standard Time in western Elysium Planitia.

First image from the Instrument Deployment Camera with a 45 degree wide view on the robotic arm.

Second image from the Instrumkent Context Camera mounted on the south facing side of the lander with a 120 degree wide view.

Elysium Planitia. Elysium Quadrangle.

Excellent News.

The plan to get the 'Mole' from the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument to start burrowing again by using the scoop to pin the 'Mole against the side of the hole made in the duricrust, appears to be working. During the last week, the 'Mole' has burrowed a further 2 CM / just shy of an inch. The pace will pick up as the extra friction will improve the burrowing action.

If the 'Mole' burrows continues towards nadir as intended, the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument could be returned to the intended, original position after the 'Mole' burrows to a good depth.

Information obtained from the Seismometer monitoring the hammerings as well as images from the IDC / Instrument Deployment Camera of the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument during hammerings, suggest that the 'Mole' has not become jammed by a large rock under the surface after all, but instead the duricrust at the landing site is thicker than expected (the thickest of any landing site to date) and is causing the 'Mole' to 'wriggle' and turn, rather than hammering straight down.

A solution being attempted is to move the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument slightly to straighten the 'Mole' and then using the side of the scoop at the end of the arm to push gently against the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument to give the 'Mole' extra purchase against the duricrust enough to enable it to hammer deeper, hopefully to below the duricrust for it to hammer down normally without assistance.

Soon we will see. The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument and the 'Mole' are not faulty, and this hiccup is due to Mars being Mars and throwing a few surprises.

The current temperatures at the landing site currently known informally as Homestead Hollow is about minus 100 Celsius / minus 148 Fahrenheit around Sunrise and around minus 55 Celsius / minus 67 Fahrenheit around Sunset. The maximum during early afternoon is around minus 36 Celsius / minus 33 Fahrenheit. This is likely to change during the course of the Martian year. It is currently mid northern Summer / southern Winter on Mars.

On Tuesday 8th October 2019, it was the northern Summer Solstice / southern Winter Solstice on Mars. The Sun will pass overhead at midsol at the martian northern Tropic of Aquarius.

The 40 CM / 16 inch long 'mole' made it 30 CM out of the housing on the surface, when hammering commenced on Thursday 28th February 2019.

On Saturday 2nd March 2019 after an extensive attempt to burrow deeper, no progress was made, and the 'mole' instead of being at an angle of 90 degrees straight down is now at an angle 75 degrees, being 15 degrees off centre.

I do stress that this is not equipment failure, rather that Mars has thrown us a curve ball, but it'll be worked out.

Deployed science equipment: The Seismometer, the Wind & Thermal Shield & the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3).

We we have now found out once and for all that Mars is seismically active, Marsquakes do happen, very weak so far, how deep, and how often? Maybe also detect distant meteorite impacts.

With the Wind & Thermal Shield now protecting the seismometer from the worst of the diurnal and seasonal temperature variations at this location just north of the equator, can get as warm as 10 Celsius / 50 Fahrenheit during the martian Summer in early afternoon, to sunrise morning lows of below minus 100 Celsius / minus 148 Fahrenheit. The warmest detected so far by Mars InSight is minus 21 Celsius / minus 6 Fahrenheit.

On Sol 314, Tuesday 15th October 2019, the maximum was minus 25 Celsius / minus 13 Fahrenheit was a low of minus 103 Celsius / minus 153 Fahrenheit at sunrise.

Also the wind will no longer affect the seismometer, even though martian winds do not have much power, despite high wind speeds at times as the atmospheric pressure here never gets any higher than Earth's at an altitude of about 35 KM / 22 miles above sea level, or about 9 millibars at the very most.

Now with the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument successfully deployed, the 'mole' will start hammering down into the surface.

First there will be a test reading with the 'mole' on the surface. Then every 50 CM / 19.7 inches in depth under the surface, the mole will stop, send out a short pulse of intense heat, and the mole will register the time it takes for the regolith and / or rock to cool down. If cools quickly, then the substructure is dense, at this location within Elysium Planitia, it will be solidified lava. If slower, then it will be looser like rubble.

The hammerings will be measured by the seismometer, and these vibrations will help study the immediate subsurface structure. With the Wind & Thermal Shield now protecting the seismometer, these readings will be extremely reliable.

Once right down at the maximum 5 metres / 16.4 feet deep, the mole will then act as a 'thermometer' measuring the heatflow from the deep interior of the Fourth Rock from the Sun, from the mantle and core of Mars.

On: Wednesday 22nd May 2019 @ 04:23 HRS UTC, Mars InSight detected the most powerful Marsquake to date, about magnitude 3.0 on the Richter Scale.

Text: Andrew R Brown.

NASA / JPL-Caltech. Mars InSight.

Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport.




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Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand
eNewsletter: No. 226, Date 20 October 2019
Affiliated Societies are welcome to reproduce any item in this email newsletter or on the RASNZ website www.rasnz.org.nz in their own newsletters provided an acknowledgement of the source is also included.

Contents
 1. Astronomers Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics
 2. Kyra Xavia Honoured by the IDA
 3. New RASNZ Executive Secretary
 4. The Solar System in November
 5. RASNZ Beatrice Hill-Tinsley Lecture Series
 6. Andromeda Stardate November 1-3
 7. Burbidge Dinner - November 22
 8. NZ Astrophotography Weekend - December 7-9
 9. Variable Star News
10. Star Parties in 2020
11. 2020 Conference and RASNZ Centenary
12. RASNZ 100 Programme
13. Brashear Lens History
14. Comet Borisov's Size
15. Fast Radio Burst Plumbs Galaxy's Halo
16. Marsquakes on Line
17. Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund
  1. Astronomers Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics
The 2019 Nobel Prize for physics prize was split two ways, but both halves went for discoveries beyond Earth. One was for a finding that is, by astronomical standards, quite close by — a planet going around a star a mere 50 light-years distant. The other was for an overview of the entire universe.

In October 1995 Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz, a pair of astronomers then working at the University of Geneva, presented a paper at a scientific conference in Florence. A few months earlier, they had discovered a planet beyond the solar system. It was a gaseous ball twice the size of Jupiter and was going around a star called 51 Pegasi, at a distance of about 8m kilometres — a twentieth of the distance from Earth to the sun. As a consequence of this proximity it orbited 51 Pegasi once every four terrestrial days and had a surface temperature in excess of 1,000°C. The discovery was a puzzle for astronomers. Until then they had thought that such large, Jupiter-like planets could form only far away from their host stars.

That discovery of 51 Pegasi b, as this planet is now known, launched the field of exoplanet astronomy. To date, astronomers have found almost 4,000 other such planets — and the wide variety of sizes, orbits and compositions of these objects continues to surprise researchers, who have yet to come up with a comprehensive physical theory of how planetary systems form.

Since planets do not shine by themselves, astronomers needed to develop special methods to find them. The one Dr Mayor and Dr Queloz used relies on a phenomenon called the Doppler effect. As a planet orbits its star, the star will also move slightly as it orbits around the centre of mass of the two. This will cause the frequency of the starlight arriving at Earth to oscillate (that is, the star will change colour slightly) in the same way that the frequency of an ambulance siren shifts as the vehicle passes by. Nowadays a second approach, which measures the dip in starlight as a planet passes across its disc, is more common. But the Doppler-shift method, as employed by Dr Mayor and Dr Queloz, is still used as well.

The half-prize for the overview of the universe went to James Peebles of Princeton University, who has spent decades developing a theoretical framework to describe how the cosmos evolved from the Big Bang 13.7bn years ago to the state it finds itself in today. According to Sweden’s Royal Academy of Science, which awards the physics prize, Dr Peebles was the person who, in the 1960s, shifted cosmology from speculation to a rigorous discipline.

Until the first decades of the 20th century, astronomers had assumed the universe to be stationary and eternal. This was shown to be incorrect in the 1920s, with the discovery that all galaxies are moving away from each other. In other words, the universe is expanding. Rewind the clock and this means that, at the start of time, now called the Big Bang, the universe would have been incredibly small, hot and dense.

Around 400,000 years after the Big Bang it had expanded and cooled enough for light to travel through space unimpeded. Astronomers can detect the glow of that first light today but, because its wavelength has been stretched by 13bn years of the expansion of space, it manifests itself not as light but as a glow of microwave radiation that fills the entire sky. This cosmic microwave background was discovered, by accident, in 1964 by radio astronomers, who used earlier theoretical work by Dr Peebles to explain their discovery. Dr Peebles also showed that tiny fluctuations in the temperature of the microwave background were crucial to understanding how matter would later clump together to form galaxies and galaxy clusters.

Since the early 1990s, space-based observatories have built up increasingly precise portraits of the cosmic microwave background and, true to Dr Peebles’s predictions, these show that temperature variations of just one hundred-thousandth of a degree map onto the observed distribution of matter and energy in the universe.

Rewarding cosmic shifts in understanding might seem to be a normal day’s work for those who give out the Nobel prizes. But Martin Rees, Britain’s Astronomer Royal, sees something new in this year’s awards in physics. The award to Dr Peebles, he says, will be welcomed by physicists as recognition of a lifetime of sustained contributions and insights by an acknowledged intellectual leader, rather than a one-off achievement.

Such lifetime-achievement awards are more usually associated with the Oscars than the Nobels. But that is not inappropriate. In many ways the Nobel prizes are a Swedish version of the Oscars — with seriousness substituted for superfice, substance for style, and genuine modesty among the winners for the false sort.

-- From 'The Economist' October 12, p.78.  The original article is at
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2019/10/12/batteries-exoplanets-cosmology-and-cell-biology-win-nobel-laurels
  2. Kyra Xavia Honoured by the IDA
Each year, the International Dark-Sky Association recognizes and celebrates the incredible achievements of individuals and groups who are committed to our mission to preserve and protect the night. As leaders in their communities, the awardees play a key role in strengthening the global dark sky movement and empowering others to join the fight against light pollution.

“IDA is proud to honor such an inspiring, energetic, and effective group of dark sky advocates. We are grateful that they are a part of the global dark sky network, working on the ground to combat light pollution in their communities and beyond”, says IDA Board President, Ken Kattner.

Among the recipients is Kyra Xavia (New Zealand).  Kyra Xavia is an IDA Delegate and co-leader of the Dunedin Dark Skies Group, who works on light abatement education. Her outstanding public education through multimedia outlets, public forums, council-led forums, school visits and meetings, has enlightened the Dunedin community of the imminent dangers and challenges of an increasingly over-lit world. Her work has resulted in the whole city of Dunedin opting in 2019 to replace all its street lights with 3000K LEDs.

For the full list see
https://www.darksky.org/ida-announces-2019-award-winners/
  3. New RASNZ Executive Secretary
John Drummond of Gisborne was appointed by the RASNZ Council as the new RASNZ Executive Secretary on the 12th October 2019. Any correspondence with the secretary can be achieved by the following -
* Email: rasnz.secretary@gmail.com
* Phone: 0275 609 287 (cell), (06) 8627 557 (home)
* Postal: PO Box 3181, Wellington, 6140 or
  John Drummond, PO Box 113, Patutahi 4045.
  4. The Solar System in November
Dates and times shown are NZDT (UT + 13 hours).  Rise and Set times are for Wellington. They will vary by a few minutes elsewhere in NZ.  Data is adapted from that shown by GUIDE 9.

THE SUN and PLANETS in November, Rise & Set, Magnitude & Constellation
            November 1 NZDT           November 30  NZDT
      Mag  Cons    Rise    Set     Mag  Cons    Rise    Set
SUN  -26.7  Lib   6.06am  8.03pm  -26.7  Oph   5.40am  8.38pm
Merc   0.6  Lib   6.50am  9.48pm   -0.6  Lib   4.49am  6.52pm
Venus -3.8  Lib   7.06am  9.49pm   -3.9  Sgr   7.25am 10.50pm
Mars   1.8  Vir   5.19am  6.15pm    1.7  Vir   4.11am  5.58pm
Jup   -1.9  Oph   8.38am 11.44pm   -1.8  Sgr   7.09am 10.17pm
Sat    0.6  Sgr  10.17am  1.16am    0.6  Sgr   8.34am 11.32pm
Uran   5.7  Ari   7.28pm  6.08am    5.7  Ari   5.29pm  4.11am
Nep    7.8  Aqr   3.22pm  4.17am    7.9  Aqr   1.27pm  2.22am
Pluto 14.5  Sgr  10.40am  1.40am   14.5  Sgr   8.49am 11.48pm

            November 1  NZDT          November 30  NZDT
Twilights    morning     evening        morning     evening
Civil:    start 5.39am, end  8.31pm   start 5.10am, end 9.09pm
Nautical: start 5.03am, end  9.07pm   start 4.29am, end 9.50pm
Astro:    start 4.24am, end  9.46pm   start 3.41am, end10.38pm

   November PHASES OF THE MOON, times NZDT & UT
  First quarter: Nov  4 at 11.23pm (10:23 UT).
  Full Moon:     Nov 13 at  2.34am (Nov 12, 13:34 UT)
  Last quarter   Nov 20 at 10.11am (Nov 19, 21:11 UT)
  New Moon:      Nov 27 at  4.06am (Nov 26, 15:06 UT)


PLANETS in NOVEMBER

MERCURY is too close to the Sun to observe for much of November.  On the evening of the 1st at about 9pm, it will 7° above the horizon and 3° to the left of Venus, so giving a guide to Mercury.  Earlier on the 1st, Mercury is stationary.  It is stationary again on the 21st.  Between the two dates the planet moves to the west and is at inferior conjunction on the 12th.  A solar transit at this conjunction is unobservable from NZ and Australia.

VENUS starts November level with Mercury, but Venus will be moving to the east so the two separate in a few days.  It remains an evening object and sets well over 2 hours after the Sun at the end of November.  On the evening of the 24th, Venus will be 1.5° from Jupiter.  An hour after sunset they will be some 10° above the horizon.  Four evenings later, with Venus 4° above Jupiter, the two will be joined by the crescent moon, a couple of degrees below Jupiter.

MARS moves a little further up into the morning sky, rising 90 minutes before the Sun by the 30th.  Early in the month Mars moves past Spica, with the two less than 3° apart on the morning of the 11th.  Mars then rises only an hour before the Sun, so will be very low

JUPITER is an early evening object so will be low as the sky darkens.  After the 24th when Jupiter and Venus are close, Jupiter will become the lower of the two.

SATURN is an evening object setting just before midnight by the end of November.  This month's lunar occultation on the 2nd is visible from New Zealand.  The disappearance behind the moon Earth-lit limb is observable but occurs during evening twilight for the South Island.  The reappearance is about hour later but takes place at the sunlit limb.

PLUTO, like Saturn, is in Sagittarius, the two planets are less than 4° apart at the end of the month.

URANUS is an evening object.  The almost full moon is 4° from the planet on the 11th.

NEPTUNE, is in Aquarius setting well after midnight.  Its apparent motion is to the west until it is stationary on the 28th.  Its motion then reverses to the normal east.


POSSIBLE BINOCULAR ASTEROIDS in NOVEMBER
                  November 1 NZDT      November 30 NZDT
                Mag Cons  transit    Mag  Cons  transit
(1)  Ceres      9.2  Oph   4.16pm    9.2   Sgr   3.11pm
(4)  Vesta      6.7  Tau   2.09am    6.8   Cet  11.46pm
(9)  Metis      8.7  Psc  12.41am    9.4   Psc  10.26pm
(29) Amphitrite 9.2  Psc  11.29pm    9.8   Psc   9.26pm

CERES gets low in the evening sky.  Venus passes the asteroid on the 30th, with Ceres 2° to the upper left of Venus at 10 pm.

VESTA is at its brightest being at opposition on November 12.  It moves from Taurus to Cetus on the 12th.

METIS and AMPHITRITE are evening objects moving to the west through Pisces.  Amphitrite is stationary on the 27th.

-- Brian Loader
  5. RASNZ Beatrice Hill-Tinsley Lecture Series
The remaining lectures by Babak A. Tafreshi in the 2019 Beatrice Hill Tinsley Lecture series, funded by the RASNZ Lecture Trust Inc, are at:

Dunedin (Dunedin Astronomical Society): October 28, time 4 p.m.
Venue: Otago Museum, Hutton Theatre
Admission charge: No charge, but donations to defray costs accepted.

Wanganui (Wanganui Astronomical Society): October 30, time 7.30pm
Venue: Concert Chamber, Whanganui War Memorial Hall, Watt Street.
Admission charge: $5pp, Family $10

New Plymouth (New Plymouth Astronomical Society): October 31, time 7:30pm
Venue: Spotswood College Staffroom
Admission charge: Adults $10, Children Free
Event details and bookings: Cash Door Sales Only - No EFTPOS

For more information, see - https://www.rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/beatrice-hill-tinsley-lectures.
  6. Andromeda Stardate November 1-3
The Andromeda Stardate is an astronomical festival to be held at Stonehenge Aotearoa in the Wairarapa. The program includes lectures, workshops, barbecues, movies, live music and observing sessions. It begins on Friday afternoon November 1st and runs through to Sunday 3rd.  Overnight camping and caravan sites are available.

Registration Fee:  (all or part of Andromeda Stardate 2019) 
Adults: $30; young persons (5 to 15 years) $5; children (under 5): free.  Camping Fee for weekend $10 per tent or caravan per night.

To book your place or for further information phone (06) 377 1600,
or visit our web page: www.stonehenge-aotearoa.co.nz

-- Kay Leather, Treasurer, Phoenix Astronomical Society
  7. Burbidge Dinner - November 22
The Auckland Astronomical Society's Burbidge Dinner 2019 is on
Friday 22 November 2019.
Start Time: 7:00pm (doors open at 6:30pm)
Venue: Ellerslie Events Centre, Pakuranga Hunt Room.

After Dinner Lecture by Professor Joss Bland-Hawthorn, (Director, Sydney Institute of Astronomy, University of Sydney) "The Galactic Centre - a Window into the Future".  See the lecture abstract at
https://www.astronomy.org.nz/new/public/eventcalendar.aspx

As well as our guest speaker there will be the prize-giving for the New Zealand Astrophotography Competition including the Harry Williams Trophy for the supreme winner, and the Beaumont Writing Prize. A spectacular venue, great meal, cash bar and ample free parking.

Tickets: $65 pp, earlybird price of $60.00 is available until 31st October includes a buffet dinner.
Tickets can be booked: - by email at events@astronomy.org.nz -by phone to Niven on 021 935 261 or Bill on 021 225 8175

-- From the Auckland Astronomical Society's website.
  8. NZ Astrophotography Weekend - December 7-9
At the Foxton Beach Bible Camp, Foxton Beach, Horowhenua.

The Horowhenua Astronomical Society is hosting the sixth New Zealand Astrophotography Weekend. Held in the lower North Island it is an annual event dedicated to astrophotography in a wonderful dark-sky location. It is open to everyone interested in astrophotography - from beginners to advanced. Come along and share your knowledge, tips and experiences
All sorts of astrophotography can be undertaken - solar-system/nightscapes/deep-sky.

The weekend shall consist of: practical astrophotography, image processing, presentations, bring-and-buy, fish and chips dinner, late-night movies.  Everyone is encouraged to bring along their own telescopes, binoculars, mounts, cameras, etc. however basic they might be.

See www.nzapw.org.nz  for costs and registration details.
Please book early so we know the numbers.

-- Steve Lang
  9. Variable Star News

Eclipse of BL Tel
Algol variables are eclipsing binary stars that are detached; the period of eclipse is determined by the orbital period of the star. Eclipse characteristics are usually a period of a few days or less and a small magnitude change of a magnitude or two. The Algol type variable BL Tel is special because it has a long period a bit over two years (estimate 778 days) and also a large decrease in brightness of mag 2.5 (from about mag 7.0 to about mag 9.5) making it a relatively easy star to monitor. The duration of the eclipse is about two months.

BL Tel will be undergoing eclipse about the time this Newsletter is distributed. BL Tel has been the subject of a long running campaign to observe these eclipses; 8 eclipses were observed in the interval from 1983 and 2000. The monitoring has continued under VSS (for information refer https://www.variablestarssouth.org/project-bl-tel-eclipse/). The star will move into the southwestern twilight about mid-eclipse meaning the later part of the event will not be observable

BL Tel is also special as one of the stars is an intrinsic variable; recently Dave Blane has been making observations of these small (range about 0.2 mags) out of eclipse variations.

Short Period Pulsator Section
The AAVSO is setting up a new section to coordinate work on “short term pulsators” defined as stars that have light pulsations from internal changes within the star and short periods of a few hours to ten days or so. Short period pulsators (SPP) include a number of different variable star types, including Cepheids, RR Lyrae stars, and delta Scuti stars For many of these variable stars the light curve is regular from cycle to cycle but for others the light curve varies in height and shape from cycle to cycle  ?  called the Blazhko effect after the Russian astronomer who first drew attention to it. Multiple pulsation periods which alternately interfere or reinforce each other can result in very complex light curves; multi-periodic stars like these must be observed frequently over weeks or months to provide enough data to determine the periods involved.

For information on the SPP group go to https://www.aavso.org/aavso-short-period-pulsator-section. Visit AAVSO SPP Program page if you are interested in choosing observing targets.

AAVSO Looking to the Future
The AAVSO has been undertaking a consultation amongst its members on the future shape of the organisation (see their “Planning AAVSO’s future” forum.).  AAVSO Director Stella Kafka and President Gordon Myers reached out to Variable Stars South (VSS) and arranged a teleconference on Saturday 12th October in which Mark Blackford and two other VSS members took part. Several topics were raised including what tasks are most usefully done by amateurs now and in the near future given the likely dramatic impact of all-sky surveys and robotic telescope installations. For sure more will come out of the on-going dialogue as discussion continues. The next step will be the AAVSO Annual Conference being held 18-21 October at Las Cruces New Mexico.

-- Alan Baldwin
  10. Star Parties in 2020
The following star parties are planned for 2020:

 Central Star Party: Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th of January at the Tuki Tuki Camp site in the Hawkes Bay.  https://censtar.party/

 Stardate North Island: Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd February at Stonehenge, Carterton. Check Phoenix website - http://www.astronomynz.org/

  Stardate South Island: Late February. At Staveley, South Island. Keep an eye on  https://cas.org.nz/

  Stargazers Getaway 2020 Camp Iona, September 18th, 19th and 20th is new Moon, so we are targeting this weekend for dark skies! See
https://www.facebook.com/events/943327669369996/

  NACAA: The 29th NACAA conference will be held in the NSW (Australia) regional city of Parkes (where the world-famous Parkes Radio Telescope is) over the 2020 Easter weekend, Friday 10 – Monday 13 April. For more details see http://nacaa.org.au/2020/about

-- Mostly from 'Keeping in Touch' #34, 27th Sept 2019.
  11. 2020 Conference and RASNZ Centenary
The 2020 Conference will be held Friday 8 - Sunday 10 May 2020 in Wellington.  The Wellington Astronomical Society is hosting the Conference.

The Conference venue is the Wharewaka Function Centre located on the waterfront just 2 minutes walk from Te Papa.

As the programme will commence at the earlier than usual time of 1pm on Friday we encourage as many as possible to make their travel arrangements to arrive in the city during the morning.  The Conference will conclude mid-afternoon on Sunday.

Planning for this event is progressing and further details will be announced in the near future once they are confirmed.  In the meantime please mark the above dates in your calendar and consider participating in this Conference as RASNZ celebrates its centenary.

-- Glen Rowe, Chair, Standing Conference Committee.
  12. RASNZ 100 Programme
The RASNZ Council is pleased to announce its RASNZ 100 Programme to support Affiliated Societies celebrating the RASNZ's Centennial year in 2020. The programme encourages Affiliated Societies to promote astronomy within their regions to raise the profile of the Society, the RASNZ and astronomy in general. The RASNZ is providing up to $500 to each Affiliated Society to support RASNZ 100 events run by Affiliated Societies. For more information, see https://www.rasnz.org.nz/groups-news-events/rasnz-100-events

-- From 'Keeping in Touch' #34.  27th Sept 2019
  13. Brashear Lens History
A history of the lens in the Brashear telescope now reassembled at Lake Tekapo's Dark Sky Project is detailed in "A tale of three telescopes: the John A. Brashear Company and its 46-cm objective" by Richard Taibi.

The paper is in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Volume 22, No.2, p.247, and can be viewed at
http://www.narit.or.th/en/files/2019JAHHvol22/2019JAHH...22..247T.pdf
The Newsletter editor can pass along a pdf if the above link doesn't work.
  14. Comet Borisov's Size
A paper by David Jewitt and Jane Luu provides an estimate of the size of Comet Borisov's nucleus.  The paper's abstract follows.

    We present initial observations of the interstellar body 2I/Borisov taken to determine its nature prior to the perihelion in 2019 December. Images from the Nordic Optical Telescope show a prominent, morphologically stable dust coma and tail. The dust cross-section within 15,000 km of the nucleus averages 130 sq. km (assuming geometric albedo 0.1) and increases by about 1 percent per day. If sustained, this rate indicates that the comet has been active for 100 days prior to the observations. Cometary activity thus started in 2019 June, at which time C/Borisov was at 4.5 AU from the Sun, a typical distance for the onset of water ice sublimation in comets. The dust optical colors, B-V = 0.800.05, V-R = 0.470.03 and R-I = 0.490.05 are identical to those of a sample of (solar system) long-period comets. The colors are similar to those of 1I/(2017 U1) 'Oumuamua, indicating a lack of the ultrared matter that is common in the Kuiper belt, on both interstellar objects. The effective size of the dust particles is estimated as 100 microns, based on the length of the dust tail and the 100 day lifetime. With this size, the ejected dust mass is of order 1.3e7 kg [13,000 tonnes] and the current dust mass loss rate 2 kg/s. We set an upper limit to the nucleus radius using photometry of <3 .8="" 0.1="" a="" again="" albedo="" argument="" be="" br="" few="" for="" however="" hundred="" in="" km="" likely="" meters="" much="" must="" nucleus="" radius.="" show="" smaller="" statistical="" that="" the="" to="" use="" we="">
The paper "Initial Characterization of Interstellar Comet 2I/2019 Q4 (Borisov)" by David Jewitt and Jane Luu is at https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.02547

---------
 The small size of the nucleus raises the possibility that it will disintegrate during its perihelion.  If so then the comet could be briefly bright.
---------

 Syuichi Nakano, Sumoto, Japan, has computed the asymptotic
points of 2I/Borisov.  The original asymptotic point from whence the comet came on its way to the solar system is located at R.A. = 2h11m.2m, Decl. = +59d26' (equinox J2000.0), which is in the constellation Cassiopeia.  The comet is headed toward the future asymptotic point at R.A. = 18h21m.5, Decl. = -51d59' (which is in Telescopium).

-- From Central Bureau Electronic Telegram No. 4679, 2019 October 18
  15. Fast Radio Burst Plumbs Galaxy's Halo
In November 2018 the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope pinpointed a fast radio burst, named FRB 181112. Follow-up observations with European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) and other telescopes revealed that the radio pulses passed through the halo of a massive galaxy on their way toward Earth. This finding allowed astronomers to analyse the radio signal for clues about the nature of the halo gas.

Astronomers still don't know what causes fast radio bursts and only recently have been able to trace some of these very short, very bright radio signals back to the galaxies in which they originated. "When we overlaid the radio and optical images, we could see straight away that the fast radio burst pierced the halo of this coincident foreground galaxy and, for the first time, we had a direct way of investigating the otherwise invisible matter surrounding this galaxy," said coauthor Cherie Day, a PhD student at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia.

A galactic halo contains both dark and ordinary-or baryonic-matter that is primarily in the form of a hot ionised gas. While the luminous part of a massive galaxy might be around 30 000 light years across, its roughly spherical halo is ten times larger in diameter. Halo gas fuels star formation as it falls towards the centre of the galaxy, while other processes, such as supernova explosions, can eject material out of the star-forming regions and into the galactic halo. One reason astronomers want to study the halo gas is to better understand these ejection processes which can shut down star formation.

J. Xavier Prochaska, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California Santa Cruz and lead author of the study noted that "This galaxy's halo is surprisingly tranquil. The radio signal was largely unperturbed by the galaxy, which is in stark contrast to what previous models predict would have happened to the burst."

The signal of FRB 181112 was a few pulses, each lasting less than 40 microseconds (10 000 times shorter than the blink of an eye). The short duration of the pulses puts an upper limit on the density of the halo gas because passage through a denser medium would broaden the duration of the radio signal. The researchers calculated that the density of the halo gas must be less than 0.1 atoms per cubic centimetre (equivalent to several hundred atoms in a volume the size of a child's balloon). [A cc of air at sea level contains 2.7x10e19 molecules.]

The study found no evidence of cold turbulent clouds or small dense clumps of cool halo gas. The fast radio burst signal also yielded information about the magnetic field in the halo, which is very weak - a billion times weaker than that of a refrigerator magnet.

At this point, with results from only one galactic halo, the researchers cannot say whether the low density and low magnetic field strength they measured are unusual or if previous studies of galactic halos have overestimated these properties. Prochaska said he expects that ASKAP and other radio telescopes will use fast radio bursts to study many more galactic halos and resolve their properties.

-- Abridged from the ESO press release at https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1915/  passed along by Karen pollard.
  16. Marsquakes on Line
Put an ear to the ground on Mars and you’ll be rewarded with a symphony of sounds. Granted, you’ll need superhuman hearing, but NASA’s InSight lander comes equipped with a very special “ear.”  The Insight spacecraft’s exquisitely sensitive seismometer, called the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), can pick up vibrations as subtle as a breeze. The instrument was provided by the French space agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), and its partners.
  
SEIS was designed to listen for marsquakes. Scientists want to study how the seismic waves of these quakes move through the planet’s interior, revealing the deep inner structure of Mars for the first time. But after the seismometer was set down by InSight’s robotic arm, Mars seemed shy. It didn’t produce its first rumbling until this past April, and this first quake turned out to be an odd duck. It had a surprisingly high-frequency seismic signal compared to what the science team has heard since then. Out of more than 100 events detected to date, about 21 are strongly considered to be quakes. The remainder could be quakes as well, but the science team hasn’t ruled out other causes.
   
Put on headphones to listen to two of the more representative quakes SEIS has detected. These occurred on May 22 (the 173rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission) and July 25 (Sol 235). Far below the human range of hearing, these sonifications from SEIS had to be speeded up and slightly processed to be audible through headphones. Both were recorded by the “very broad band sensors” on SEIS, which are more sensitive at lower frequencies than its short period sensors. The Sol 173 quake is about a magnitude 3.7; the Sol 235 quake is about a magnitude 3.3:
    * https://soundcloud.com/nasa/quake-sol-173
    * https://soundcloud.com/nasa/quake-sol-235
  
    Each quake is a subtle rumble. The Sol 235 quake becomes particularly bass-heavy toward the end of the event. Both suggest that the Martian crust is like a mix of the Earth’s crust and the Moon’s. Cracks in Earth’s crust seal over time as water fills them with new minerals. This enables sound waves to continue uninterrupted as they pass through old fractures. Drier crusts like the Moon’s remain fractured after impacts, scattering sound waves for tens of minutes rather than allowing them to travel in a straight line. Mars, with its cratered surface, is slightly more Moon-like, with seismic waves ringing for a minute or so, whereas quakes on Earth can come and go in seconds.
  
SEIS has no trouble identifying quiet quakes, but its sensitive ear means scientists have lots of other noises to filter out. Over time, the team has learned to recognize the different sounds. And while some are trickier than others to spot, they all have made InSight’s presence on Mars feel more real to those working with the spacecraft.
  
“It’s been exciting, especially in the beginning, hearing the first vibrations from the lander,” said Constantinos Charalambous, an InSight science team member at Imperial College London who works with the SP sensors. “You’re imagining what’s really happening on Mars as InSight sits on the open landscape.”
  
Charalambous and Nobuaki Fuji of Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris provided the audio samples for this story, including the one below, which is also best heard with headphones and captures the array of sounds they’re hearing:     https://youtu.be/m9cCuW9nIQg
  
Wind gusts can also create noise. The team is always on the hunt for quakes, but they’ve found the twilight hours are one of the best times to do so. During the day, sunlight warms the air and creates more wind interference than at night.
  
Evening is also when peculiar sounds that the InSight team has nicknamed “dinks and donks” become more prevalent. The team knows they’re coming from delicate parts within the seismometer expanding and contracting against one another and thinks heat loss may be the factor, similar to how a car engine “ticks” after it’s turned off and begins cooling.
You can hear a number of these dinks and donks in this next set of sounds, recorded just after sundown on July 16 (Sol 226). Listen carefully and you can also pick out an eerie whistling that the team thinks may be caused by interference in the seismometer’s electronics:
    * https://soundcloud.com/nasa/dinks-and-donks-sample

See the original text & graphics at:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2019-195

-- From the Jet Propulsion Laboratory press release forwarded by Karen Pollard. 17. Kingdon-Tomlinson Fund
The RASNZ is responsible for recommending to the trustees of the Kingdon
Tomlinson Fund that grants be made for astronomical projects. The grants may be to any person or persons, or organisations, requiring funding for any projects or ventures that promote the progress of astronomy in New Zealand. The deadline for this round of the Kingdon-Tomlinson Grants is Friday 1st November 2019. Full details are set down in the RASNZ By-Laws, Section J. Information on the K-T Fund is at
http://rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/kt-fund
Send applications to the RASNZ Executive Secretary at rasnz.secretary@gmail.com.
The application form at
http://rasnz.org.nz/Downloadable/RASNZ/KT_Application2019.pdf
  Alan Gilmore               Phone: 03 680 6817
P.O. Box 57                alan.gilmore@canterbury.ac.nz
Lake Tekapo 7945
New Zealand











October Celestial Calendar by Dave Mitsky

All times, unless otherwise noted, are UT (subtract four hours and, when appropriate, one calendar day for EDT)

10/2 Pluto is stationary at 21:00
10/3 Mercury is at aphelion today; Venus is 3 degrees north of the first-magnitude star Spica (Alpha Virginis) at 1:00; the Moon is 7.3 degrees north of Antares (Alpha Scorpii) at 7:00; the Moon is 1.9 degrees north of Jupiter at 20:00
10/5 First Quarter Moon occurs at 16:47; the Moon is at the descending node (longitude 283.2 degrees) at 19:00; the Moon is 0.3 degrees south of Saturn, with an occultation taking place in southern Africa, southern Georgia, southern South America, and Easter Island, at 21:00
10/6 The Lunar X, also known as the Purbach or Werner Cross, an X-shaped illumination effect involving various rims and ridges between the craters La Caille, Blanchinus, and Purbach, is predicted to be visible at 4:17; the Moon is 0.1 degree south of Pluto, with an occultation taking place in western Polynesia, southeastern Micronesia, Melanesia, and Australia, at 9:00
10/7 The Martian northern hemisphere summer solstice occurs at 9:00
10/8 The peak of the Draconid meteor shower (10 to 30 per hour) occurs at 21:00
10/10 A double Galilean shadow transit begins at 10:55; the Moon is at apogee, subtending 29' 26" from a distance of 405,899 kilometers (252,214 miles), at 18:29; the Moon is four degrees south of Neptune at 23:00
10/13 Asteroid 19 Amphitrite (magnitude +8.7) is at opposition in Pisces at 8:00; Full Moon, known as the Blood or Sanguine Moon, occurs at 21:08; a double Galilean shadow transit begins at 23:53
10/15 The Moon is 4 degrees south of Uranus at 0:00
10/17 The Moon is 7.4 degrees south of the bright open cluster M45 (the Pleiades or Subaru) in Taurus at 4:00
10/19 The Moon is 1.7 degrees south of the bright open cluster M35 in Gemini at 15:00
10/20 Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation (24.6 degrees) at 4:00; the Moon is at the ascending node (longitude 101.4 degrees) at 7:00; the Moon is 3.3 degrees north of the first-magnitude star Regulus (Alpha Leonis) at 20:00
10/21 Last Quarter Moon occurs at 12:39
10/22 The peak of the Orionid meteor shower (15 per hour) occurs at 0:00; the Moon is 0.7 degree north of M44 (the Beehive Cluster or Praesepe) in Cancer at 5:00; the Curtiss Cross, an X-shaped illumination effect located between the craters Parry and Gambart, is predicted to be visible at 5:16
10/23 Mercury is at greatest heliocentric latitude south today; the Sun is at longitude 210 degrees at 17:00
10/25 Venus is at the descending node through the ecliptic plane at 2:00; asteroid 9 Metis (magnitude +8.6) is at opposition in Cetus at 21:00
10/26 The Moon is at perigee, subtending 33' 04" from a distance of 361,311 kilometers (224,508 miles), at 10:39; the Moon is 5 degrees north of Mars at 17:00
10/27 The Moon is 7 degrees north of Spica at 12:00
10/28 New Moon occurs (lunation 1198) at 3:38; Uranus is at opposition (magnitude +5.7, apparent size 3.7") at 8:00
10/29 Venus is 4 degrees south of the Moon at 14:00
10/30 Mercury (magnitude +0.5) is 3 degrees south of Venus (magnitude -3.9) at 8:00; the Moon is 7.1 degrees north of Antares at 16:00
10/31 The Sun enters Libra, at longitude 217.8 degrees on the ecliptic, at 13:00; the Moon is 1.3 degrees north of Jupiter at 14:00; Mercury is stationary at 20:00

Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Norris Russell were born this month.

The first recorded solar eclipse took place on October 22, 2136 BCE. Supernova SN 1604 (Kepler’s Supernova) became visible to the naked-eye on October 9, 1604. Giovanni Cassini discovered Saturn’s odd satellite Iapetus on October 25, 1671. M51a (the Whirlpool Galaxy) was discovered by Charles Messier on October 13, 1773. William Lassell discovered Triton, Neptune’s brightest satellite, on October 10, 1846. Maria Mitchell discovered Comet C/1847 T1 (Miss Mitchell’s Comet) on October 1, 1847. Asteroid 8 Flora was discovered by John Russell Hind on October 18, 1847. Two of the satellites of Uranus, Ariel and Umbriel, were discovered by William Lassell on October 24, 1851. Edwin Hubble discovered Cepheid variable stars in M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy) on October 5, 1923. Charles Kowal discovered 2060 Chiron, the first Centaur asteroid, on October 18, 1977. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the discovery of the exoplanet 51 Pegasi b (Dimidium) on October 6, 1995.

The Draconid (formerly the Giacobinid) meteor shower peaks on the night of October 8th/9th. The Draconids are quite variable and have produced meteor storms in 1933 and 1946. Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zimmer is the parent comet of the Draconids. Consult http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-draconid-meteor-shower http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-draconid-meteor-shower for additional information on the Draconid meteor shower. The Southern Taurid shower, debris from Comet 2P/Encke, may produce five meteors per hour when it peaks on October 9th/10th. See page 50 of the October 2019 issue of Sky & Telescope or click on https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/#Southern+Taurids https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/#Southern+Taurids for more on the Southern Taurids. The Orionid meteor shower peaks on the night of October 21st/22nd but is compromised by a waning crescent Moon. Orionid meteors are fragments of Comet 1P/Halley. Browse http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/orionid.html http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/orionid.html and http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-orionid-meteor-shower http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-orionid-meteor-shower or consult page 48 of the October 2019 issue of Sky & Telescope for more on the Orionids.

Information on Iridium flares and passes of the ISS, the USAF’s X-37B, the HST, and other satellites can be found at http://www.heavens-above..com/ http://www.heavens-above.com/

As October ends, the zodiacal light may be visible in the pre-dawn eastern sky from a dark site. Articles on the zodiacal light appear at http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/zod1.htm and http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-zodiacal-light-or-false-dawn http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-zodiacal-light-or-false-dawn

The Moon is 2.5 days old, subtends 32.7 arc minutes, is illuminated 7.2%, and is located in Libra on October 1st at 0:00 UT. The Moon reaches its greatest northern declination (+22.9 degrees) on October 20th and its greatest southern declination (-22.7 degrees) on October 6th. Longitudinal libration is at a maximum of +7.9 degrees on October 4th and a minimum of -6.1 degrees on October 20th. Latitudinal libration is at a maximum of +6.6 degrees on October 13th and a minimum of -6.5 degrees on October 27th. The smallest Full Moon of the year occurs on October 13th. New Moon occurs on October 28th. The Moon is at apogee (a distance of 63.64 Earth-radii) on October 10th and at perigee (a distance of 56.65 Earth-radii) on October 26th. The Moon occults Saturn from some parts of the world on October 5th and Pluto from some parts of the world on October 6th. Consult http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/planets/planets.htm http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/planets/planets.htm and http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/bstar/bstar.htm http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/bstar/bstar.htm for further information on lunar occultation events. Visit http://saberdoesthestars.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/saber-does-the-stars/ http://saberdoesthestars.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/saber-does-the-stars/ for tips on spotting extreme crescent Moons and http://www.curtrenz.com/moon06.html http://www.curtrenz.com/moon06.html for Full Moon data. Click on https://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/2019/october https://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/2019/october for a lunar phase calendar for this month. Times and dates for the lunar crater light rays predicted to occur in September are available at http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/rays.htm http://www.lunar-occultations.com/rlo/rays/rays.htm?fbclid=IwAR1PXVdXdpx627O3NATxWGuOziBCXPrP_2pfOmZKFw2o-a44lbs2TGcyHKQ

The Sun is located in Virgo on October 1st at 0:00 UT. It enters Libra at 13:00 UT on October 31st.

Brightness, apparent size, illumination, distance from the Earth in astronomical units, and location data for the planets and Pluto on October 1st: Mercury (magnitude -0.2, 5.3", 86%, 1.28 a.u., Virgo), Venus (magnitude -3.9, 10.0", 98%, 1.66 a.u., Virgo), Mars (magnitude +1.8, 3.5", 100%, 2.64 a.u., Virgo), Jupiter (magnitude -2.0, 35.8", 99%, 5.51 a.u., Ophiuchus), Saturn (magnitude +0.5, 16.8", 100%, 9.88 a.u.., Sagittarius), Uranus (magnitude +5.7, 3.7", 100%, 18.85 a.u. on October 16th, Aries), Neptune (magnitude +7.8, 2.3", 100%, 29.12 a.u. on October 16th, Aquarius), and Pluto (magnitude +14.3, 0.1", 100%, 33.92 a.u. on October 16th, Sagittarius).

This month Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter are located in the southwest, Saturn in the south, Uranus in the east, and Neptune in the southeast during the evening. At midnight, Uranus and Neptune can be found in the southwest. Mars is in the east and Uranus is in the west in the morning sky.

Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Sun are all located in Virgo as October begins.

Mercury is at aphelion on October 3rd. The speediest planet reaches greatest eastern elongation on October 20th and greatest heliocentric latitude south on October 23rd. Mercury is three degrees south of Venus on October 30th. It is visible low in the south at twilight. Southern hemisphere observers will have a more favorable view.

The separation of Venus from the Sun increases from 13 degrees on October 1st to 21 degrees by October 31st but the planet remains low in the sky at sunset. Venus and Mercury grow closer to one another as October progresses. On October 29th, Mercury is positioned three degrees to the lower left of Venus and six degrees directly below the two-day-old crescent Moon, while Venus is five degrees to the lower right of the Moon. Once again observers in the southern hemisphere are favored.

Mars increases very slightly in apparent size this month but remains constant in brightness at magnitude +1.8. The Red Planet crosses southward over the celestial equator on October 7th.

Jupiter fades slightly to magnitude -1.9 and decreases in apparent size by 2.3 arc seconds this month. It sets about 2.5 hours after the Sun sets by the end of October. The waxing crescent Moon passes less than two degrees north of Jupiter on October 3rd and October 31st.

Saturn is almost 30 degrees in altitude at dusk in early October and sets around midnight. By the end of the month, it sets shortly after 10:00 p.m. local time. Saturn reaches eastern quadrature on October 7th. The Ringed Planet’s disk is some 16 arc seconds in angular diameter in mid-October. Its rings measure 37 arc seconds and are inclined 25.2 degrees. Titan is north of Saturn on October 1st and October 17th and south of it on October 9th and October 25th. Iapetus lies 8.5 arc minutes from Saturn and shines at tenth magnitude when it reaches greatest western elongation on the night of October 1st. It dims to eleventh magnitude on October 22nd when it passes 1.3 arc minutes north of Saturn. For further information on Saturn’s satellites, browse http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/interactive-sky-watching-tools/ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/interactive-sky-watching-tools/

Uranus lies three degrees southwest of the sixth-magnitude star 19 Arietis this month. The waning gibbous Moon passes four degrees south of the ice giant on September 15th. When Uranus reaches opposition on October 28th, it is 2.6 light hours from the Earth and shines at magnitude +5.7, which is bright enough to be visible from a dark site. Uranus will be 63 degrees above the southern horizon, the highest it’s been since February 1962, just before 1:00 a.m. local time on the night of opposition. Visit http://www.bluewaterastronomy.info/resources/Maps/Charts-2019/09uranus_2019_1.pdf http://www.bluewaterastronomy.info/resources/Maps/Charts-2019/09uranus_2019_1.pdf and http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/uranus.htm http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/uranus.htm for finder charts.

Neptune is positioned 0.7 degree west-southwest of the fourth-magnitude star Phi Aquarii on the first day of October. As the month ends, Neptune is located 1.3 degrees west-southwest of the star. The waxing gibbous Moon passes four degrees south of Neptune on September 10th. Browse http://www.bluewaterastronomy.info/resources/Maps/Charts-2019/10neptune_2019_1.pdf http://www.bluewaterastronomy.info/resources/Maps/Charts-2019/10neptune_2019_1.pdf and http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/neptune.htm for finder charts.

Articles on Uranus and Neptune with finder charts appear on pages 48 and 49 of the September 2019 issue of Sky & Telescope and on pages 52 to 55 of the October issue of Astronomy. Finder charts for Uranus and Neptune are also available online at https://s22380.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/WEB_UrNep_2019-2020_updated.pdf https://s22380.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/WEB_UrNep_2019-2020_updated.pdf

The dwarf planet Pluto can be found near the Teaspoon asterism in northeastern Sagittarius at a declination of nearly -22.5 degrees. Finder charts are available at http://www.bluewaterastronomy.info/resources/Maps/Charts-2019/Pluto2019.jpg http://www.bluewaterastronomy.info/resources/Maps/Charts-2019/Pluto2019.jpg and on page 48 and 49 of the July 2019 issue of Sky & Telescope and on page 243 of the RASC Observer’s Handbook 2019.

For more on the planets and how to locate them, see http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/ http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/

Comet C/2018 W2 (Africano) glides southwestward through Pisces and Aquarius during October. The fading comet is located two degrees southwest of the fifth-magnitude star Kapp Piscium on the night of October 1st and two degrees northwest of the third-magnitude star Delta Aquarii on October 7th. Browse http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/ and http://www.aerith.net/comet/future-n.html http://www.aerith.net/comet/future-n.html for further information on comets visible this month. Other sources of information include https://theskylive.com/comets https://theskylive.com/comets and http://www.shopplaza..nl/astro/ http://www.shopplaza.nl/astro/ and http://britastro.org/computing/charts_comet.html

Asteroid 29 Amphitrite travels southeastward through Pisces this month. It shines at magnitude 8.7 when it reaches opposition on October 13th. Asteroid 9 Metis (magnitude +8.6) is at opposition in Cetus on October 25th. Other asteroids brighter than magnitude 11.0 coming to opposition this month include 33 Polyhymnia (magnitude +10.2) on October 16th and 14 Irene (magnitude +10.6) on October 17th. Data on asteroid occultations taking place this month is available at http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/2019_10_si.htm http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/2019_10_si.htm and http://www.poyntsource.com/New/Global.htm http://www.poyntsource.com/New/Global.htm

A wealth of current information on solar system celestial bodies is posted at http://nineplanets.org/ http://nineplanets.org/ and http://www.curtrenz..com/astronomy.html http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomy.html

Various events taking place within our solar system are discussed at http://www.bluewaterastronomy.info/styled-4/index.html http://www.bluewaterastronomy.info/styled-4/index.html

Information on the celestial events transpiring each week can be found at http://astronomy.com/skythisweek http://astronomy.com/skythisweek and http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Online data generators for various astronomical events are available at https://astronomynow.com/almanac/ https://astronomynow.com/almanac/ and https://calsky.com/ https://calsky.com/

The famous eclipsing variable star Algol (Beta Persei) is at a minimum, decreasing in brightness from magnitude +2.1 to magnitude +3.4, on October 3rd, 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 28th, and 31st. Consult page 50 of the October 2019 issue of Sky & Telescope for the minima times. On the night of October 2nd, Algol shines at minimum brightness (magnitude +3.4) for approximately two hours centered at 9:23 p.m. EDT (1:23 UT October 3rd). It does the same at 11:04 p.m. EDT (3:04 UT October 23rd) on the night of October 22th and 7:53 p.m. EDT (23:53 UT) on the night of October 25th. For more on Algol, see http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/Algol.html and http://www.solstation.com/stars2/algol3.htm

Free star charts for the month can be downloaded at http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html and https://www.telescope.com/content.jsp?pageName=Monthly-Star-Chart https://www.telescope.com/content.jsp?pageName=Monthly-Star-Chart and http://whatsouttonight.com/ http://whatsouttonight.com/

Data on current supernovae can be found at http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/

Finder charts for the Messier objects and other deep-sky objects are posted at https://freestarcharts.com/messier https://freestarcharts.com/messier and https://freestarcharts.com/ngc-ic https://freestarcharts.com/ngc-ic and http://www.cambridge.org/features/turnleft/seasonal_skies_october-december..htm http://www.cambridge.org/features/turnleft/seasonal_skies_july-september.htm

Telrad finder charts for the Messier Catalog and the SAC’s 110 Best of the NGC are posted at http://www.astro-tom.com/messier/messier_finder_charts/map1.pdf http://www.astro-tom.com/messier/messier_finder_charts/map1..pdf and http://sao64.free.fr/observations/catalogues/cataloguesac.pdf http://sao64.free.fr/observations/catalogues/cataloguesac.pdf respectively.

Information pertaining to observing some of the more prominent Messier galaxies can be found at http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/358295-how-to-locate-some-of-the-major-messier-galaxies-and-helpful-advice-for-novice-amateur-astronomers/ http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/358295-how-to-locate-some-of-the-major-messier-galaxies-and-helpful-advice-for-novice-amateur-astronomers/

Author Phil Harrington offers an excellent freeware planetarium program for binocular observers known as TUBA (Touring the Universe through Binoculars Atlas), which also includes information on purchasing binoculars, at http://www.philharrington.net/tuba.htm http://www.philharrington.net/tuba.htm

Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel are useful freeware planetarium programs that are available at http://stellarium.org/ http://stellarium.org/ and https://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/start https://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/start

Deep-sky object list generators can be found at http://www.virtualcolony.com/sac/ http://www.virtualcolony.com/sac/ and http://tonightssky.com/MainPage.php http://tonightssky.com/MainPage.php and https://dso-browser.com/ https://dso-browser.com/

Freeware sky atlases can be downloaded at http://www.deepskywatch.com/files/deepsky-atlas/Deep-Sky-Hunter-atlas-full.pdf http://www.deepskywatch.com/files/deepsky-atlas/Deep-Sky-Hunter-atlas-full.pdf and http://astro.mxd120.com/free-star-atlases http://astro.mxd120.com/free-star-atlases

Eighty-five binary and multiple stars for October: Struve 2973, Struve 2985, Struve 2992, Struve 3004, Struve 3028, Otto Struve 501, Struve 3034, Otto Struve 513, Struve 3050 (Andromeda); 29 Aquarii, 41 Aquarii, 51 Aquarii, 53 Aquarii, Zeta Aquarii, Struve 2913, Struve 2935, Tau-1 Aquarii, Struve 2944, Struve 2988, Psi-1 Aquarii, 94 Aquarii, 96 Aquarii, h3184, Omega-2 Aquarii, 107 Aquarii (Aquarius); Otto Struve 485, Struve 3037, 6 Cassiopeiae, Otto Struve 512, Sigma Cassiopeiae (Cassiopeia) ; Xi Cephei, Struve 2883, Struve 2893, Struve 2903, Krueger 60, Delta Cephei, Struve 2923, Otto Struve 482, Struve 2947, Struve 2948, Struve 2950, Struve 2984, Omicron Cephei, Otto Struve 502 (Cepheus); Otto Struve 459, h1735, Struve 2876, Otto Struve 465, Struve 2886, Struve 2894, h1756, Struve 2902, Struve 2906, 8 Lacertae, Otto Struve 475, 13 Lacertae, h1828, 16 Lacertae (Lacerta); Struve 2857, Struve 2877, 34 Pegasi, Struve 2908, Xi Pegasi, Struve 2958, Struve 2978, 57 Pegasi, Struve 2991, h1859, Struve 3007, Struve 3021, Otto Struve 504, Struve 3044 (Pegasus); Struve 3009, Struve 3019, Struve 3033 (Pisces); Eta Piscis Austrini, Beta Piscis Austrini, Dunlop 241, h5356, Gamma Piscis Austrini, Delta Piscis Austrini, h5371 (Piscis Austrinus); h5417, Delta Sculptoris, h5429 (Sculptor)

Notable carbon star for October: RZ Pegasi

Seventy-five deep-sky objects for October: NGC 7640, NGC 7662, NGC 7686 (Andromeda); NGC 7180, NGC 7183, NGC 7184, NGC 7293, NGC 7392, NGC 7585, NGC 7606, NGC 7721, NGC 7723, NGC 7727 (Aquarius); Cz43, K12, M52, NGC 7635, NGC 7788, NGC 7789, NGC 7790, St12 (Cassiopeia) ; B171, B173-4, IC 1454, IC 1470, K10, Mrk50, NGC 7235, NGC 7261, NGC 7354, NGC 7380, NGC 7419, NGC 7510 (Cepheus); IC 1434, IC 5217, NGC 7209, NGC 7223, NGC 7243, NGC 7245 (Lacerta); NGC 7177, NGC 7217, NGC 7320 (the brightest galaxy in Stephan' s Quintet), NGC 7331, NGC 7332, NGC 7339, NGC 7448, NGC 7454, NGC 7479, NGC 7619 (the brightest member of Pegasus I), NGC 7626, NGC 7678, NGC 7742, NGC 7769 (Pegasus); NGC 7541, NGC 7562, NGC 7611 (Pisces); IC 5156, IC 5269, IC 5271, NGC 7172, NGC 7173, NGC 7174, NGC 7176, NGC 7201, NGC 7203, NGC 7214, NGC 7221, NGC 7229, NGC 7314, NGC 7361 (Piscis Austrinus); NGC 7507, NGC 7513, NGC 7713, NGC 7755, NGC 7793 (Sculptor)

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for October: M52, NGC 7209, NGC 7235, NGC 7243, NGC 7293, NGC 7510, NGC 7686, NGC 7789, NGC 7790, St12

Top ten deep-sky objects for October: K12, M52, NGC 7209, NGC 7293, NGC 7331, NGC 7332, NGC 7339, NGC 7640, NGC 7662, NGC 7789

Challenge deep-sky object for October: Jones 1 (PK104-29.1) (Pegasus)


The objects listed above are located between 22:00 and 24:00 hours of right ascension.






This email describes updates for minor planet occultations for October 2019.
If you do not wish to receive these updates please advise
the Occultation Section.

You can view updated paths and other details at:
http://www.occultations.org.nz/

Minor Planet Occultation Updates:
================================

Events of particular ease or importance below are marked: *****

Oct 1 (1119) EUBOEA: Star Mag 10.3, Max dur 1.3 sec, Mag Drop 5.5
Slightly uncertain path across northern South Australia and southern Queensland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191001_1119_67444_u.htm

Oct 1 (471) PAPAGENA: Star Mag 10.3, Max dur 6.9 sec, Mag Drop 2.0
Northern South Australia and southern Queensland, passing over Gladstone.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191001_471_61606_u.htm

Oct 2 (1533) SAIMAA: Star Mag 9.3, Max dur 1.7 sec, Mag Drop 7.2
Somewhat uncertain path across southern Tasmania and southern New Zealand, passing over Hobart and Dunedin.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191002_1533_67446_u.htm

Oct 2 (1119) EUBOEA: Star Mag 10.8, Max dur 1.4 sec, Mag Drop 5.0
Slightly uncertain path across central Australia and Queensland, passing near Mackay.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191002_1119_67448_u.htm

***** Oct 3 (331) ETHERIDGEA: Star Mag 12.4, Max dur 3.6 sec, Mag Drop 2.8
Victoria and south-eastern New South Wales, passing over Warrnambool, Ballarat, Shepparton, Canberra and Wollongong.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191003_331_61620_u.htm

Oct 3 (386) SIEGENA: Star Mag 12.5, Max dur 10.3 sec, Mag Drop 0.8
Wide path across West Australia, northern South Australia and northern New South Wales.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191003_386_61622_u.htm

Oct 3 (517) EDITH: Star Mag 11.1, Max dur 4.8 sec, Mag Drop 4.6
West Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, running from Lancelin to Townsville.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191003_517_67452_u.htm

Oct 3 (785) ZWETANA: Star Mag 8.3, Max dur 4.3 sec, Mag Drop 5.9
Path across West Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, running from Shark Bay to Bowen.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191003_785_61624_u.htm

Oct 4 (266) ALINE: Star Mag 12.4, Max dur 7.2 sec, Mag Drop 1.8
Path across New Zealand, passing over Wellington.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191004_266_61632_u.htm

Oct 4 (1911) SCHUBART: Star Mag 11.3, Max dur 25.2 sec, Mag Drop 5.6
Slightly uncertain path across southern Tasmania, during evening twilight, and across New Zealand, over Whangarei.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191004_1911_61636_u.htm

Oct 4 (428) MONACHIA: Star Mag 9.2, Max dur 1.2 sec, Mag Drop 7.2
Somewhat uncertain path across central South Australia, north-western New South Wales and southern Queensland, passing over Bundaberg.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191004_428_67456_u.htm

***** Oct 4 (856) BACKLUNDA: Star Mag 11.5, Max dur 1.6 sec, Mag Drop 4.2
Southern South Australia, north-western Victoria and southern New South Wales, passing over Adelaide and Sydney.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191004_856_67458_u.htm

***** Oct 4 (18) MELPOMENE: Star Mag 9.7, Max dur 7.4 sec, Mag Drop 1.2
Southern West Australia, northern South Australia, northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, passing over Cervantes, Kalgoorlie and Coolangatta.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191004_18_61638_u.htm

Oct 4 (501) URHIXIDUR: Star Mag 10.6, Max dur 7.2 sec, Mag Drop 3.7
Somewhat uncertain path across northern South Australia and Northern Territory.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191004_501_61642_u.htm

Oct 4 (1070) TUNICA: Star Mag 11.5, Max dur 3.2 sec, Mag Drop 3.9
Somewhat uncertain path across north-western Northern Territory and West Australia, passing over Perth.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191004_1070_67460_u.htm

Oct 5 (586) THEKLA: Star Mag 11.8, Max dur 4.6 sec, Mag Drop 3.4
Central South Australia and northern New South Wales, passing over Port Augusta, Broken Hill and Grafton.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191005_586_61648_u.htm

Oct 5 (422) BEROLINA: Star Mag 11.4, Max dur 2.6 sec, Mag Drop 1.1
Significantly uncertain path across New South Wales, northern South Australia and southern West Australia, passing near Taree, Gloucester, Coonabarrabran, Kalgoorlie and Jurien.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191005_422_67464_u.htm

Oct 6 (547) PRAXEDIS: Star Mag 10.7, Max dur 7.2 sec, Mag Drop 3.0
Slightly uncertain path across central West Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191006_547_61666_u.htm

Oct 7 (471) PAPAGENA: Star Mag 12.2, Max dur 6.1 sec, Mag Drop 0.8
Across New Zealand between Gisborne and Otaki.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191007_471_61672_u.htm

Oct 7 (177) IRMA: Star Mag 10.3, Max dur 3.2 sec, Mag Drop 4.6
Path across New Zealand, passing over Wellington.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191007_177_61674_u.htm

***** Oct 7 (1724) VLADIMIR: Star Mag 10.9, Max dur 3.0 sec, Mag Drop 4.2
Somewhat uncertain path across south-eastern Queensland, New South Wales and western Victoria, passing over Surfers Paradise, Dubbo, Echuca and Portland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191007_1724_67468_u.htm

Oct 9 (426) HIPPO: Star Mag 12.0, Max dur 8.0 sec, Mag Drop 2.3
Path across West Australia and Northern Territory, passing near Geraldton and Katherine.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191009_426_61706_u.htm

Oct 10 (103) HERA: Star Mag 11.7, Max dur 10.8 sec, Mag Drop 0.6
Path across northern Queensland, Northern Territory and southern West Australia, passing over Cardwell, Cloncurry, Alice Springs and Cervantes.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191010_103_67472_u.htm

Oct 11 (1041) ASTA: Star Mag 10.6, Max dur 5.6 sec, Mag Drop 3.3
Slightly uncertain path across southern Queensland, central Australia and central West Australia, passing over Bundaberg, Birdsville and Shark Bay.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191011_1041_61728_u.htm

Oct 11 (332) SIRI: Star Mag 12.2, Max dur 20.5 sec, Mag Drop 2.1
Slightly uncertain path across north-eastern Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and West Australia, passing over Melbourne and Adelaide.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191011_332_61730_u.htm

Oct 11 (1085) AMARYLLIS: Star Mag 12.5, Max dur 7.1 sec, Mag Drop 2.9
Path across West Australia and Northern Territory.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191011_1085_61734_u.htm

Oct 13 Neptune: Mag 12.3 is occulted by Neptune over NZ and eastern Australia.

***** Oct 14 (399) PERSEPHONE: Star Mag 10.3, Max dur 2.2 sec, Mag Drop 4.6
Slightly uncertain path across Victoria and New South Wales, passing over Colac, Shepparton, Tamworth and Byron Bay.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191014_399_62870_u.htm

Oct 14 (387) AQUITANIA: Star Mag 11.9, Max dur 16.2 sec, Mag Drop 1.6
Northern West Australia, Northern Territory, south-western Queensland, north-eastern New South Wales and New Zealand, passing over Derby, Tennant Creek, Forster, Port Macquarie and Invercargill.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191014_387_61762_u.htm

Oct 14 (983) GUNILA: Star Mag 12.2, Max dur 9.0 sec, Mag Drop 3.0
Northern Queensland, north-western South Australia and south-eastern West Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191014_983_61764_u.htm

Oct 15 (105) ARTEMIS: Star Mag 12.1, Max dur 6.8 sec, Mag Drop 2.0
Path across West Australia passing over Exmouth during morning twilight.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191015_105_61780_u.htm

Oct 17 (1874) KACIVELIA: Star Mag 9.5, Max dur 2.4 sec, Mag Drop 4.7
Somewhat uncertain path across northern Queensland and Northern Territory.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191017_1874_62874_u.htm

***** Oct 17 (997) PRISKA: Star Mag 8.6, Max dur 1.3 sec, Mag Drop 8.2
Significantly uncertain path across far southern South Australia, Victoria, south-eastern New South Wales and New Zealand, passing near Melbourne.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191017_997_67488_u.htm

Oct 20 (924) TONI: Star Mag 11.4, Max dur 3.9 sec, Mag Drop 3.3
New Zealand during early evening twilight.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191020_924_61818_u.htm

Oct 20 (640) BRAMBILLA: Star Mag 11.2, Max dur 4.5 sec, Mag Drop 3.4
Path across northern West Australia, Northern Territory and northern Queensland passing over Tennant Creek and Bowen and near Townsville.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191020_640_61820_u.htm

Oct 20 (32) POMONA: Star Mag 10.7, Max dur 2.3 sec, Mag Drop 2.3
Southern West Australia, northern South Australia and Queensland passing over Perth and Kalgoorlie during evening twilight then over Marlborough and Rockhampton low in the south-west.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191020_32_67494_u.htm

***** Oct 20 (343) OSTARA: Star Mag 10.5, Max dur 6.5 sec, Mag Drop 4.2
Somewhat uncertain path across Tasmania, eastern Victoria, New South Wales and south-east Queensland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191020_343_67496_u.htm

Oct 20 (429) LOTIS: Star Mag 9.5, Max dur 7.4 sec, Mag Drop 3.2
Path across south-eastern Queensland, north-western New South Wales and South Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191020_429_61822_u.htm

Oct 21 Jupiter occults mag 8.8 HIP 84936 over western Australia.

Oct 21 (1114) LORRAINE: Star Mag 10.2, Max dur 3.4 sec, Mag Drop 5.6
Across southern Victoria.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191021_1114_62876_u.htm

Oct 22 (74) GALATEA: Star Mag 12.4, Max dur 4.4 sec, Mag Drop 1.6
Path across New Zealand, passing over Wellington.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191022_74_61838_u.htm

Oct 22 (266) ALINE: Star Mag 11.1, Max dur 4.8 sec, Mag Drop 3.1
Path across Northern Territory and West Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191022_266_67498_u.htm

***** Oct 24 (178) BELISANA: Star Mag 10.8, Max dur 2.3 sec, Mag Drop 3.3
South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191024_178_67502_u.htm

Oct 26 (4833) MEGES: Star Mag 12.4, Max dur 4.6 sec, Mag Drop 4.4
Significantly uncertain path that may shift over Tasmania.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191026_4833_61874_u.htm

Oct 28 (3200) PHAETHON: Star Mag 11.3, Max dur 0.2 sec, Mag Drop 5.6
Narrow, large uncertainty path across northern Queensland and South Australia, albeit at low elevation.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191028_3200_67654_u.htm

Oct 28 (996) HILARITAS: Star Mag 11.2, Max dur 21.5 sec, Mag Drop 4.5
Somewhat uncertain path across northern Queensland, Northern Territory and northern West Australia, passing near Bowen, Townsville, Tennant Creek and Exmouth.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191028_996_67512_u.htm

Oct 29 (55638) 2002VE95: Plutino event near/potentially over New Zealand.

Oct 29 (511) DAVIDA: Star Mag 11.7, Max dur 24.8 sec, Mag Drop 0.5
South Australia, north-western New South Wales and southern Queensland.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191029_511_61908_u.htm

***** Oct 31 (678) FREDEGUNDIS: Star Mag 4.9, Max dur 6.3 sec, Mag Drop 6.2
Path across south-eastern Queensland, western New South Wales, north-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia.
Details: http://occultations.org.nz/planet/2019/updates/191031_678_61922_u.htm

Note: for some events there will be an additional last minute update so check
for one, if you can, on the day of the event or in the days leading up to it.
You may need to click "Reload" or "Refresh" in your browser to see the updated page.

Please report all attempts at observation to the address below.
(PLEASE report observations on a copy of the report available from our website).

Peter Litwiniuk

---------------------------------------------
RASNZ Occultation Section
P.O.Box 3181 / Wellington, 6140 / New Zealand
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WEBSITE: http://www.occultations.org.nz/
Email: Director@occultations.org.nz
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