WHAT’S UP?

MONDAY, OCT. 29 An interesting telescope (or binocular) challenge is offered tonight as giant Jupiter comes to within the width of two fingers of innermost Mercury low in the western sky after sunset.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 31: This is Last Quarter Moon night, promising the coming of the next dark moon period for deep sky activities. As on Oct. 4, the Moon will be in the vicinity of M44 the Beehive Cluster, inviting a beautiful binocular experience.

FRIDAY, NOV. 2: The coming week will continue to offer the opportunity to view the Zodiacal Light, a delicate glowing triangle of light extending up from the horizon about an hour before sunrise. The phenomenon is caused by the Sun illuminating the disk of dust left over from planet formation in the solar system’s equatorial plane.

SATURDAY, NOV. 3: Don’t be surprised if you hear reports of the occasional bright fireball this month. If you are lucky enough to see one yourself, it is likely to be a member of the Taurid meteor shower which is active through most of the month. While the Taurids are few and far between, perhaps about a dozen an hour, it does include larger dust grains which produce dramatic fireballs emanating from the vicinity of the Hyades and Pleiades open clusters in Taurus.

Get set for our annual jolt! Yes, daylight saving time will end overnight tonight, so be sure to turn your clocks one hour back before retiring. Looking on the bright side, it is a time to savour since there will now be one less hour of evening daylight and an extra hour of dark sky starting tomorrow.

SUNDAY, NOV. 4: Mars continues its 2018 performance, moving from Capricornus into Aquarius. Tonight it will be its closest to Delta Capricorni, which at home 39 light years away is a complex multiple star system comprised of four members.

This is a free schedule of upcoming celestial events compiled by the Okanagan Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.