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EarthSky Tonight—October 12, Arcturus sparkles in western sky on October evenings

Courtesy of EarthSky
A Clear Voice for Science
www.EarthSky.org [1]

[2]Is Comet Hartley 2 beginning to brighten? [3]

[4]A bright star in the west in the evening in October – flashing colors – is Arcturus.

Let us back up a minute. The extremely bright object in the east to southeast sky on these October 2010 evenings is the planet Jupiter. Still, many have asked about a bright star – not as bright as Jupiter, but still very bright and twinkling very actively – in the west after sunset. Jim wrote, “When I looked at it through my binoculars it flashed brilliant red, brilliant blue and bright white. I live in Indiana and called my cousin in Wisconsin, who also could see it. It was quite beautiful. Do you know what it was that I was looking at?”

Bright star in east on October 2010 evenings? It’s the planet Jupiter [5]

Jim, every year at this time, we get questions about three different stars that are flashing different colors. One is Capella [6] in the constellation Auriga the Charioteer, which is now in the northeast in mid-evening. One is Sirius [7] in the constellation Canis Major the Greater Dog, which is now in the south before dawn.

The third is the one you are asking about, Jim, in the west to northwest after sunset. This star is Arcturus [8] in the constellation Bootes the Herdsman. Its flashing colors for the same reason Sirius and Capella are . . . because all three of these stars are bright and, at this time of year, noticeably low in the sky. When you see an object low in the sky, you are seeing it through a greater thickness of atmosphere than when it’s overhead. The atmosphere refracts or splits the stars’ light to cause the colorful flashing you observed, Jim.

At mid-northern latitudes, scintillating Arcturus adorns the western evening sky all through October.

[9]Written by Deborah Byrd [10]


Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA/JPL [11]

CHANDRA Photo Album [12]

U.S. Naval Observator Astronomical Information cente [13]r

Universe Today [14]

StarDate Online [15]

Sky and Telescope [16]

National Geographic [17]

Space Com [18]

Simostronomy Blog [19]

Amazing Space [20]

The York County Astronomical Society [21]

Scope City [22]

James S McDonnell Planetarium [22]