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Ephemeris: 10/19/2023 – The southern star of autumn – Fomalhaut

October 19, 2023 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, October 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 6:51, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:04. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 9:39 this evening.

There’s a bright star that appears for only seven and a half hours on autumn evenings. Its appearance, low in the south-southeast at 9 p.m., is a clear indication of the autumn season. It is currently below the much brighter Saturn. The star’s name is Fomalhaut, which means fish’s mouth. That’s fitting because it’s in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish. At our latitude it’s kind of the fish that got away, because usually Fomalhaut appears to be quite alone low in the sky. For the last few years Jupiter and then Saturn have kept it company. In a couple of years Saturn will have moved on leaving Fomalhaut to its lonely vigil in the south.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The first magnitude star Fomalhaut transits, that it is due south at 10:49 this evening, October 19, 2023. The brighter Saturn is above and Fomalhaut is below. The word Fomalhaut means “fishes mouth” and as you can see the Stellarium artist did indeed draw the fish, so Fomalhaut is where the fish’s mouth is in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus or the southern fish. I’ve added the constellations of the Zodiac with it. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Stars Tags: , ,