October 1
The Sea Monster Wakes
Sun Position
The Sun is in Libra. Its declination is about -3°, placing it just south of the celestial equator. Days and nights are nearly equal across both hemispheres, with the Northern Hemisphere losing light noticeably now and the Southern Hemisphere gaining it.
Sky Highlight
Early October brings the tail end of the Draconid meteor shower (peak near October 7-8), but October 1 marks the opening of the autumn deep-sky window in the Northern Hemisphere, when Andromeda and Perseus climb to good altitude by evening. Southern Hemisphere observers gain evening access to the same region of sky, though lower on the horizon.
Deep Sky Object
M77 (NGC 1068), a Seyfert galaxy about 47 million light-years away. M77 in Cetus is one of the closest and best-studied Seyfert galaxies, a spiral with an active nucleus that blazes at X-ray and radio wavelengths, driven by a supermassive black hole consuming surrounding gas. Well-placed for Northern Hemisphere evening viewing in autumn; visible from Southern Hemisphere latitudes as well, though lower in the sky.
Featured Star
Diphda (β Cet) is an orange giant of spectral class K0III sitting about 96 light-years away, close enough that its warmth-tinged light has had less than a century to reach us. Despite wearing the Beta label, it is actually the brightest star in Cetus, a quiet irony in a constellation named for a monster. Diphda, the sea monster's tail, brightest star in Cetus despite its Beta label.
Around This Date
- October 1, 1958NASA officially opened for business, inheriting personnel and projects from the earlier NACA and beginning the agency's formal role in the space age.
- October 4, 1957The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, inaugurating the space age and triggering an immediate global reckoning with what orbit meant for science and security.
Autumn is a good time to learn Cetus, wide, dim, and patient, it asks you to look where the sky seems empty.