WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.226 --> 00:00:02.050 [gentle music] 2 00:00:02.050 --> 00:00:04.170 What's Up for October? 3 00:00:04.170 --> 00:00:07.180 A Harvest moon and a Blue moon. 4 00:00:07.180 --> 00:00:11.680 Mars is up all night and a journey beyond the galaxy. 5 00:00:11.680 --> 00:00:15.740 This month brings not just one but two full moons, 6 00:00:15.740 --> 00:00:18.150 at the beginning and end of the month. 7 00:00:18.150 --> 00:00:21.480 line:15% The full moon on October 1st is called the Harvest Moon. 8 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:23.660 line:15% The Harvest Moon is the name for the full moon 9 00:00:23.660 --> 00:00:26.780 line:15% that occurs closest to the September Equinox, 10 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:29.130 one of two days per year, when day and night 11 00:00:29.130 --> 00:00:30.690 are of equal length. 12 00:00:30.690 --> 00:00:32.900 Most years the Harvest Moon falls in September, 13 00:00:32.900 --> 00:00:36.110 but every few years, it shifts over to October. 14 00:00:36.110 --> 00:00:38.733 The name traces back to both Native American and European 15 00:00:38.733 --> 00:00:43.370 traditions related not surprisingly, to harvest time. 16 00:00:43.370 --> 00:00:46.150 At the end of October, on the 31st, 17 00:00:46.150 --> 00:00:49.060 we'll enjoy a second full moon. 18 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:51.070 When there are two full moons in a month, 19 00:00:51.070 --> 00:00:53.690 the second is often called a Blue Moon. 20 00:00:53.690 --> 00:00:56.180 There's another more traditional definition of a blue moon 21 00:00:56.180 --> 00:00:58.030 but this is the most well known. 22 00:00:58.030 --> 00:01:01.813 Note that this is the only two full moon month in 2020. 23 00:01:02.790 --> 00:01:05.360 October is a great time for viewing Mars 24 00:01:05.360 --> 00:01:08.020 as the planet is visible all night right now 25 00:01:08.020 --> 00:01:11.230 and reaches its highest point in the sky around midnight. 26 00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:14.230 This period of excellent visibility coincides 27 00:01:14.230 --> 00:01:16.100 with the event known as Opposition, 28 00:01:16.100 --> 00:01:17.740 which occurs about every two years 29 00:01:17.740 --> 00:01:20.670 when Mars is directly on the opposite side of Earth 30 00:01:20.670 --> 00:01:21.990 from the sun. 31 00:01:21.990 --> 00:01:24.100 This is also around the time when Mars and Earth 32 00:01:24.100 --> 00:01:26.570 come closest together in their orbits, 33 00:01:26.570 --> 00:01:29.260 meaning the Red Planet is at its brightest in the sky 34 00:01:29.260 --> 00:01:30.660 so don't miss it. 35 00:01:30.660 --> 00:01:33.890 Spacecraft from several nations are currently on the way 36 00:01:33.890 --> 00:01:37.260 to Mars, including NASA's Mars 2020 mission, 37 00:01:37.260 --> 00:01:39.693 which is scheduled to land there in February. 38 00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:43.490 Finally, this month, it's a great time to try and spot 39 00:01:43.490 --> 00:01:45.840 the galaxy of Andromeda. 40 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:49.070 Andromeda is also known as M31. 41 00:01:49.070 --> 00:01:51.440 It's a spiral galaxy similar in appearance 42 00:01:51.440 --> 00:01:54.100 to our own Milky Way, but slightly larger. 43 00:01:54.100 --> 00:01:56.700 Both contain hundreds of billions of stars 44 00:01:56.700 --> 00:02:00.240 and, we think trillions of planets. 45 00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:02.800 Now we can't see the overall shape of the Milky Way 46 00:02:02.800 --> 00:02:05.680 because we're inside it, so Andromeda gives us 47 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:07.680 a sense of what our galaxy would look like 48 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:10.230 if you could see it from afar. 49 00:02:10.230 --> 00:02:13.570 Andromeda is faint and best viewed with a telescope, 50 00:02:13.570 --> 00:02:16.770 but you can observe it with binoculars or even a cell phone 51 00:02:16.770 --> 00:02:20.200 with a good camera on it, even from light-polluted areas. 52 00:02:20.200 --> 00:02:22.990 And under very dark skies, it's just barely 53 00:02:22.990 --> 00:02:24.750 a naked eye object. 54 00:02:24.750 --> 00:02:26.870 So, although it might be a little challenging, 55 00:02:26.870 --> 00:02:30.530 it's worth it to see an entire galaxy with your own eyes. 56 00:02:30.530 --> 00:02:32.260 To find the Andromeda galaxy, 57 00:02:32.260 --> 00:02:34.320 look to the Northeast in the evening sky 58 00:02:34.320 --> 00:02:36.260 once it's truly dark. 59 00:02:36.260 --> 00:02:38.370 Find the sideways "W" that represents 60 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:41.200 the throne of queen Cassiopeia. 61 00:02:41.200 --> 00:02:44.710 To the right of Cassiopeia lies the constellation Andromeda, 62 00:02:44.710 --> 00:02:47.940 which includes this string of bright stars. 63 00:02:47.940 --> 00:02:50.310 Moving upward, hang a left at the second 64 00:02:50.310 --> 00:02:53.010 of these bright stars, and as you scan back over 65 00:02:53.010 --> 00:02:55.180 toward Cassiopeia, you'll notice a faint, 66 00:02:55.180 --> 00:02:57.070 fuzzy patch of light. 67 00:02:57.070 --> 00:03:00.110 That fuzzy patch is the Andromeda galaxy, 68 00:03:00.110 --> 00:03:03.270 located 2 million light years away. 69 00:03:03.270 --> 00:03:05.360 If you manage it, congratulations, 70 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:07.493 you've just gone intergalactic. 71 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:10.940 Here are the phases of the moon for October. 72 00:03:13.440 --> 00:03:15.420 You can catch up on all of NASA's missions 73 00:03:15.420 --> 00:03:19.360 to explore the solar system and beyond at nasa.gov. 74 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:21.870 I'm Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 75 00:03:21.870 --> 00:03:23.457 and that's What's Up for this month. 76 00:03:23.457 --> 00:03:25.874 [soft music]