Comets - October 2015

Evening			Midnight			Morning
Comet	Mag	h	Comet	Mag	h	Comet	Mag	h
C/2013 US10 (Catalina)	5	26	C/2013 X1 (PanSTARRS)	11	10	C/2013 X1 (PanSTARRS)	11	13
22P/Kopff	10	31	29P/Schwassmann- Wachmann 1	13	4	67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko	12	7
10P/Tempel 2	11	39				C/2014 Q1 (PanSTARRS)	13	2
C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)	11	3				141P/Machholz 2	13	10
C/2014 Q1 (PanSTARRS)	12	26
C/2015 F4 (Jacques)	12	8
29P/Schwassmann- Wachmann 1	13	56

The 'h' means the highest altitute for the month for the Southern Hemisphere.

IMAGE CREDIT: Kos Coronaios from Soutpansberg Astronomy Club taken on 6 January 2015

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy.

Meteors - October 2015

Meteor information from the International Meteor Organisation.

(Official three-letter codes are in parentheses)

Major Activity: Recommended experience: Beginning and up

Radiant	Duration	Maximum
Orionids (ORI)	October 15-29	Oct. 21

Moderate Activity: Recommended experience: Intermediate and up

Radiant	Duration	Maximum

Minor Activity: Recommended experience: Expert

Radiant	Duration	Maximum
Arietids (Autumn)	September 7-October 27	Oct. 8/9
Delta Aurigids (DAU)	September 22-October 23	Oct. 6-15
Eta Cetids	September 20-November 2	Oct. 1-5
October Cetids	September 8-October 30?	Oct. 5/6
October Cygnids	September 22-October 11	Oct. 4-9
Draconids (GIA)	October 6-10	Oct. 9/10
Epsilon Geminids (EGE)	October 10-27	Oct. 18/19
Northern Piscids	October 5-16	Oct. 12/13

Daylight Activity: Recommended experience: Expert

Radiant	Duration	Maximum
Sextantids	September 24-October 9	Sept. 30-Oct. 4

Visit Meteors Online's Meteor Calendar for more information on meteor showers for other months of the year.

File Facts

COMETS

Comets are small, irregularly shaped objects composed of a mixture of rocks, dust, and what astronomers refer to as "ice" - frozen water, methane, and ammonia.

Most have highly elliptical orbits that bring them close to the Sun and then swing them deep into space, often beyond the orbit of Pluto.

When a comet is far from the Sun, it is frozen solid into a tiny nucleus. But comets put on a spectacular show when they visit the inner solar system.

As a comet gets closer to the Sun, the surface of its nucleus warms.

Icy materials begin to sublime into gas. As the gas boils off the comet, it can take small particles of dust with it. The gas and dust forms a cloud of diffuse material, called a coma, that surrounds the nucleus.

The coma can swell to many times the size of the nucleus. If the comet gets close enough to the Sun, the solar wind can blow gas and dust away from the comet, forming elongated and often multiple tails of gas and dust.

The tail always points away from the Sun - not away from the comet's direction of motion.

METEORS

Meteor showers occur when the Earth collides with a collection of particles also orbiting the Sun.

It is usually believed that these particles of ice and dust are the remnants of comets that once passed through the inner solar system.

When these meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere, friction with the air causes them to heat up and glow.

Most meteoroids burn up completely in the atmosphere but occasionally one survives to actually hit the Earth. This object is then termed a meteorite.

Not all meteorites are pieces of comets. A number of meteorites have been found in the Antarctic which have been traced back to our neighbouring planet Mars!

Larger meteorites may be pieces of asteroids.

Meteors can be seen on any clear night although they are usually more prevalent after midnight. If you are lucky, you might glimpse a sporadic bolide or fireball.