Highlights of the October Sky 2018
鈥� OCT 1 NASA becomes operational on this day in 1958, following the passage of the National Aeronautics and Space Act by President Dwight Eisenhower on July 29th of that same year.
鈥� OCT 2 Moon is at last quarter.
鈥� 鈥� OCT 4 In the predawn sky, look for the waning crescent moon about 1 degree to the south of the Beehive Cluster, Messier 44.
鈥� OCT 5 The moon is at perigee, its closest point in its orbit this month at a distance of 227,666 miles at 5:27 PM CDT
Robert Goddard, the 鈥渇ather of modern rocketry鈥� was born on this day in 1882.
鈥� OCT 8 Moon is at new phase.
鈥� OCT 11 The waxing crescent moon is just above the planet Jupiter in the western sky after sunset.
鈥� OCT 14 The waxing crescent moon is now adjacent the planet Saturn in our evening sky.
鈥� OCT 16 The moon is now at first quarter phase.
鈥� OCT 17 The waxing gibbous moon is just to the west of the planet Mars in our evening sky.
鈥� OCT 19 International Observe the Moon Night at the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub in NLR, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (see our October feature article for more details).
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Nobel Prize winning Indian-American astrophysicist who studied the evolution of stars was born this day in 1910.
鈥� OCT 21 The Orionid Meteor Shower peaks in the predawn sky. However, a bright gibbous moon will obscure all but the brightest of meteors.
鈥� OCT 26 The moon is at full phase. According to some Native American cultures, this full moon is known as 鈥淭he Full Hunter鈥檚 Moon鈥�, as this was the time of year to start hunting in preparation for the long winter months ahead.