COLUMBIA, S.C. — We’ve made it to another month, which means it is time to look at the October night sky in the Midlands.
We got some great photos of the September full moon the other day, including some photos from Betsy and Karen.
This week, we will have multiple passes of the International Space Station. The first is Monday night, with clear skies expected this should be very easy to see. Another pass will occur on Thursday night and will go directly over the Midlands.
On October 14, an annular solar eclipse will take place in the western US. This type of eclipse doesn’t fully cover the Sun and creates what is known as the “ring of fire." Here in the Midlands, we expect a partial eclipse around midday.
The moon is expected to begin covering the sun around 11:50 a.m. and will eventually cover 45% of the Sun by 1:18 p.m. If you plan on viewing this eclipse, you MUST have solar eclipse glasses or you will risk getting eye damage from looking at the sun.
Later in the month, our focus shifts to planets. On the night of the 23rd, you will be able to see Saturn and the moon early in the night sky together. Toward the end of the night, Venus will be shining brightly rising in the Eastern sky.
We close out the month with the Hunters Moon, which is the full moon for the month on October 29th.
If you plan to do some stargazing this week, the weather is looking great with cool weather and clear skies.
As always, if you have any photos or videos from what we talked about today feel free to send those on social media so we can share them on air next month.