Monthly Observing Information
This page provides charts, and text concerning what is visible in the night sky during the month noted. All information is for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but they can still provide useful information for most other areas of the U.S.A. Sky charts, Saturn ring plane, and Venus phase images are for Midnight, on the 15th day of the month. Sky charts are 100 degree field of view, and show objects down to 12th magnitude. Times in the text information are in 24 hour format and have been adjusted for Daylight Savings Time. Subtract 12 hours from those over 12 to get the equivalent PM. RA and DEC given are for Epoch 2000.
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Baton Rouge Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Baton Rouge area only.
Kisatchie Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Kisatchie area only.
October
Moon Calendar
Sky charts
Saturn’s Ring Plane
Venus Phase
Sun and Moon Rise and Set
Date Moonrise Moonset Sunrise Sunset Twilight Twilight ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- 10/1/2017 16:30 02:49 06:58 18:50 05:39 20:09 10/2/2017 17:10 03:46 06:59 18:48 05:39 20:08 10/3/2017 17:48 04:43 07:00 18:47 05:40 20:07 10/4/2017 18:26 05:43 07:00 18:46 05:41 20:06 10/5/2017 19:05 06:44 07:01 18:45 05:41 20:04 10/6/2017 19:45 07:47 07:01 18:43 05:42 20:03 10/7/2017 20:27 08:51 07:02 18:42 05:42 20:02 10/8/2017 21:14 09:57 07:03 18:41 05:43 20:01 10/9/2017 22:04 11:02 07:03 18:40 05:44 20:00 10/10/2017 22:59 12:06 07:04 18:39 05:44 19:59 10/11/2017 23:57 13:07 07:05 18:38 05:45 19:58 10/12/2017 ------ 14:03 07:05 18:36 05:46 19:57 10/13/2017 00:58 14:54 07:06 18:35 05:46 19:55 10/14/2017 01:59 15:40 07:07 18:34 05:47 19:54 10/15/2017 03:01 16:22 07:07 18:33 05:47 19:53 10/16/2017 04:01 17:01 07:08 18:32 05:48 19:52 10/17/2017 05:00 17:38 07:09 18:31 05:49 19:51 10/18/2017 05:58 18:13 07:09 18:30 05:49 19:50 10/19/2017 06:55 18:48 07:10 18:29 05:50 19:49 10/20/2017 07:50 19:24 07:11 18:28 05:50 19:48 10/21/2017 08:45 20:01 07:11 18:27 05:51 19:47 10/22/2017 09:40 20:40 07:12 18:26 05:52 19:47 10/23/2017 10:32 21:23 07:13 18:25 05:52 19:46 10/24/2017 11:24 22:07 07:14 18:24 05:53 19:45 10/25/2017 12:12 22:55 07:14 18:23 05:54 19:44 10/26/2017 12:59 23:45 07:15 18:22 05:54 19:43 10/27/2017 13:43 ------ 07:16 18:21 05:55 19:42 10/28/2017 14:25 00:37 07:17 18:20 05:55 19:41 10/29/2017 15:04 01:32 07:17 18:19 05:56 19:41 10/30/2017 15:43 02:28 07:18 18:18 05:57 19:40 10/31/2017 16:20 03:26 07:19 18:17 05:57 19:39
Information and images in this section from The Sky6 Professional
Solar System Information
Planet View Info Report for 10/ 1/2017 to 10/31/2017
Mercury
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
10/ 1/2017 6:32 18:40 12h09m15s 0°52'10" 6°28'03" 0.976 1.34315
10/ 8/2017 7:02 18:44 12h54m21s -4°31'28" 1°21'12" 0.999 1.40385
10/15/2017 7:30 18:48 13h37m46s -9°40'03" 4°22'03" 0.992 1.42565
10/22/2017 7:56 18:51 14h20m13s -14°19'26" 8°44'35" 0.972 1.41694
10/29/2017 8:21 18:56 15h02m25s -18°21'14" 12°40'23" 0.942 1.38180
Venus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
10/ 1/2017 5:06 17:46 11h00m51s 7°41'14" 24°37'13" 0.907 1.49512
10/ 8/2017 5:18 17:43 11h33m03s 4°27'19" 22°53'37" 0.921 1.52470
10/15/2017 5:31 17:40 12h05m03s 1°05'53" 21°09'27" 0.933 1.55205
10/22/2017 5:43 17:36 12h37m03s -2°18'55" 19°24'59" 0.944 1.57711
10/29/2017 5:56 17:33 13h09m17s -5°42'49" 17°40'21" 0.954 1.59988
Mars
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
10/ 1/2017 5:18 17:52 11h11m11s 6°30'30" 21°48'07" 0.987 2.55340
10/ 8/2017 5:11 17:37 11h27m33s 4°46'18" 24°15'48" 0.985 2.52562
10/15/2017 5:04 17:21 11h43m50s 3°00'57" 26°45'24" 0.981 2.49464
10/22/2017 4:56 17:06 12h00m04s 1°15'00" 29°16'58" 0.978 2.46044
10/29/2017 4:49 16:50 12h16m17s -0°31'01" 31°50'19" 0.975 2.42309
Jupiter
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
10/ 1/2017 8:29 19:46 13h45m23s -9°46'37" 19°58'40" 0.999 6.37318
10/ 8/2017 8:09 19:23 13h51m02s -10°18'42" 14°34'53" 0.999 6.40340
10/15/2017 7:48 19:00 13h56m46s -10°50'44" 9°11'16" 1.000 6.42354
10/22/2017 7:28 18:37 14h02m35s -11°22'30" 3°50'13" 1.000 6.43327
10/29/2017 7:07 18:14 14h08m26s -11°53'51" 2°01'23" 1.000 6.43241
Saturn
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
10/ 1/2017 12:41 22:55 17h26m13s -22°07'52" 74°09'59" 0.998 10.30909
10/ 8/2017 12:15 22:29 17h28m04s -22°10'29" 67°42'23" 0.998 10.41881
10/15/2017 11:50 22:03 17h30m12s -22°13'11" 61°16'51" 0.998 10.52362
10/22/2017 11:25 21:38 17h32m36s -22°15'52" 54°53'03" 0.998 10.62221
10/29/2017 11:00 21:13 17h35m13s -22°18'30" 48°30'59" 0.999 10.71330
Uranus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
10/ 1/2017 19:37 8:31 1h42m07s 9°56'14" 160°44'44" 1.000 18.96633
10/ 8/2017 19:08 8:02 1h41m05s 9°50'22" 167°54'17" 1.000 18.93542
10/15/2017 18:40 7:34 1h40m01s 9°44'18" 175°05'12" 1.000 18.91904
10/22/2017 18:12 7:05 1h38m56s 9°38'09" 177°33'46" 1.000 18.91763
10/29/2017 17:43 6:36 1h37m52s 9°32'03" 170°21'24" 1.000 18.93130
Neptune
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
10/ 1/2017 17:33 5:03 22h55m43s -7°51'36" 154°08'29" 1.000 29.04244
10/ 8/2017 17:05 4:35 22h55m07s -7°55'16" 147°05'29" 1.000 29.10268
10/15/2017 16:37 4:07 22h54m34s -7°58'31" 140°01'36" 1.000 29.17526
10/22/2017 16:09 3:39 22h54m06s -8°01'20" 132°56'59" 1.000 29.25920
10/29/2017 15:41 3:11 22h53m42s -8°03'37" 125°52'06" 1.000 29.35323
Pluto
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
10/ 1/2017 14:26 0:46 19h12m46s -21°45'40" 98°50'11" 1.000 33.24867
10/ 8/2017 13:59 0:18 19h12m51s -21°46'19" 91°57'52" 1.000 33.37243
10/15/2017 13:31 23:47 19h13m03s -21°46'46" 85°05'14" 1.000 33.49672
10/22/2017 13:04 23:20 19h13m21s -21°47'02" 78°12'15" 1.000 33.61984
10/29/2017 12:37 22:52 19h13m45s -21°47'06" 71°19'08" 1.000 33.73999
Planet Apsides Report for 2017
Mercury
10/29/2017 Aphelion Distance from Sun: 0.47 AU
Venus
10/ 3/2017 Perihelion Distance from Sun: 0.72 AU
Mars
10/ 7/2017 Aphelion Distance from Sun: 1.67 AU
Planet Conjunction/Opposition Report for 10/ 1/2017 to 10/31/2017
Mercury
Date Hour Event
10/ 8/2017 18 Superior Conjunction
Jupiter
Date Hour Event
10/26/2017 18 Conjunction
Uranus
Date Hour Event
10/19/2017 18 Opposition
Planet Data Report
Planet Mean Dist Period of Inclination Equatorial
From Sun Revolution Diameter
(AU) (km)
Mercury 0.39 88 days 7° 4880
Venus 0.72 224.7 days 3.4° 12100
Earth 1.00 365.24 days 0° 12756
Mars 1.52 687 days 1.9° 6794
Jupiter 5.20 11.86 years 1.3° 143200
Saturn 9.54 29.46 years 2.5° 120000
Uranus 19.18 84 years 0.8° 52290
Neptune 30.06 165 years 1.8° 50450
Pluto 39.44 248 years 17.2° 2200-2300
Moon Apsides Report for 10/ 1/2017 to 10/31/2017
Date Hour Apsis Distance (km) Diameter
10/ 9/2017 1 Perigee 366854 0.5429°
10/24/2017 21 Apogee 405164 0.4915°
Moon Nodes Report for 10/ 1/2017 to 10/31/2017
Date Time Node Illuminated Fraction
10/ 1/2017 21:04 Descending 0.83
10/14/2017 17:09 Ascending 0.26
10/29/2017 1:40 Descending 0.61
Meteor Showers Report for 10/ 1/2017 to 10/31/2017
Date Meteor Shower ZHR RA DEC Illum. Frac. Longitude
10/12/2017 Piscids ?? 1h44m 14° 0.47 200°
10/21/2017 Orionids 25 6h24m 15° 0.04 209°
Twilight Report for 10/ 1/2017 to 10/31/2017
Date Sun Astronomical Nautical Civil
Rise Set Begin End Begin End Begin End
10/ 1/2017 6:58 18:50 5:35 20:13 6:03 19:45 6:31 19:17
10/ 8/2017 7:03 18:41 5:39 20:05 6:07 19:37 6:35 19:09
10/15/2017 7:07 18:33 5:43 19:57 6:11 19:29 6:39 19:01
10/22/2017 7:12 18:26 5:48 19:50 6:16 19:22 6:44 18:54
10/29/2017 7:17 18:19 5:52 19:44 6:20 19:16 6:49 18:48
Information for this section is from Astronomy Lab 2.03
Last updated on Monday, October 2, 2017, 11:37 AM.