Astronomical phenomena October 2014

Opportunities for observation for October 2014:


06 october 2014 - Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth (362,481 km from Earth) at 11:42 GMT +2.

07 october 2014 - Uranus opposition. Uranus will be the closest to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. An opposition is when a planet is at an elongation of 180 ° and thus appears opposite to the Sun in the sky. This is the best time to observe Uranus. Due to its distance, it will only appear as a tiny green-blue dot.

08 october 2014 - Full Moon. Earth is between the Sun and the Moon and so the Moon will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase occurs at 12:51 GMT +2.

08 october 2014 - Total Lunar eclipse. A total eclipse, occurs when the Moon passes completely through the Earth's dark shadow, or Umbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will gradually become darker and later take a rusty red or blood color. The eclipse will be visible in most of North America, South America, East Asia, and Australia. This eclipse will be visible from Romania, because it takes place between 10:55 to 14:55.

08-09 october 2014 - Draconid meteor shower. The Moon will be illuminated 99.9%. Draconid meteor shower is a minor one only producing about 10 meteors per hour. This is caused by dust particles left by comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner, which was discovered in 1900. The shower takes place annually between October 6 to 10. Unfortunately, the glow of the Full Moon this year will block all of the brighter meteors. If you are very patient, you may be able to observe a few. The best time for viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Draco, but can appear anywhere in the sky

19 october 2014 - Comet 2013 A1 (Siding Spring) will pass extremely close to Mars, almost certainly to 300,000 km from the planet, possibly much closer. The best actual estimates are approximately 50,000 km move to the surface of Mars.

20 september 2014 - Moon at apogee. Luna reaches the farthest point from Earth (404,898 km from Earth) at 08:06 GMT +2.

21, 22 october 2014 - Orionid meteor shower. Orionids are a meteor shower of medium intensity, which produces about 20 meteors per hour. A good view is in any morning from October 20 to 24. This year will be a great year for the Orionids because the Moon will not be in the sky to interfere with the show. The best cardinal point to see will be to the east after midnight. Orionids originates from Comet Halley.

23 october 2014 - New Moon. Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase occurs at 23:57 GMT +2.

23 october 2014 - Partial Eclipse of the Sun. A partial solar eclipse occurs when the Moon covers only a part of the solar disc, and sometimes looks like a bite of a cookie. A partial solar eclipse can be observed safely only with a special solar filter or looking at the reflection of the sun. This Partial eclipse will be visible in most of North and Central America.


Legend:
-Perihelion-position in the orbit of a planet closest to the Sun.
-Aphelion - position in the orbit of a planet farthest from the Sun.
-Perigee -  the position of the Moon closest to Earth.
-Apogee -  the position of the Moon farthest to Earth.
-Inferior Conjunction - Mercury or Venus passing between the Earth and Sun.
-Superior Conjunction - Mercury or Venus passes on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth.
-Greatest elongation - elongation is the angle between the Sun and a planet as seen from Earth, during eastern elongation (E), the planet appears as an evening star, during western elongation (W), the planet appears as a morning star.
-Opposition - position in the orbit of a planet when opposites the Sun as seen from Earth.
-Conjunction - position in the orbit of a planet when appears closer to the Sun as seen from Earth.
-Occultation - Moon occults or eclipses a star or a planet.
-Ascending Node - the point where a planet passes from the southern to the northern part of its orbit.
-Descending Node - the point where a planet passes from the northern to the southern side of its orbit.

Posted in: Astronomical calendar 2014