[Energetic music]
[Chelsea Gohd] What's Up for October?
A supermoon takes over,
the Draconid meteor shower peeks through,
and the Orionid meteors sparkle across the night sky.
The evening of October 6th, look up and be amazed
as the full Moon is bigger and brighter because -
it's a supermoon!
This evening, the Moon could appear to be about 30% brighter
and up to 14% larger than a typical full Moon.
But why?
Well, supermoons happen when either a new Moon
or a full Moon coincides with "perigee,"
which is when the Moon is at its closest to Earth all month.
So, essentially, this is an exceptionally close full Moon!
Which explains its amazing appearance.
And what timing -
- while the supermoon appears on October 6th,
just a couple of days before on October 4th,
is "International Observe the Moon Night"!
This is an annual, worldwide event when Moon enthusiasts
come together and enjoy our natural satellite.
You can attend or host a Moon-viewing party, or simply
observe the Moon from wherever you might be.
So look up, and celebrate the Moon
along with people all around the world!
If you luck into some dark sky
between October 6th and 10th,
you might witness
the first of two October meteor showers - the Draconids!
The Draconid meteor shower comes from debris trailing the comet
21P Giacobini-Zinner burning up in Earth's atmosphere.
These meteors originate from nearby
the head of the constellation
Draco the dragon in the northern sky
and the shower can produce up to 10 meteors per hour!
The Draconids peak around October 8th,
but if you don't see any,
you can always blame the bright supermoon
and wait a few weeks until the next
meteor shower - the Orionids!
The Orionid meteor shower,
peaking October 21st,
is set to put on a spectacular show,
shooting about 20 meteors per hour across the night sky.
This meteor shower happens when Earth travels
through the debris trailing behind Halley's Comet,
which burns up in our atmosphere.
The full duration of the meteor shower
stretches from September 26th,
all the way to November 22nd,
but your best bet to see meteors
is on October 21st before midnight until around 2 am.
This is because, not only is this night the shower's peak,
it is also the October new moon, meaning the Moon will be
between the Earth and the Sun,
making it dark and invisible to us.
With a moonless sky, you are much more likely
to catch a fireball careening through the night.
So find a dark location after the Sun has set,
look to the southeast sky
(if you're in the Northern Hemisphere)
and the northeast (if you're in the Southern Hemisphere)
and enjoy!
Orionid meteors appear to come
from the direction of the Orion constellation
but you might catch them all across the sky.
Here are the phases of the Moon for October.
You can stay up to date on all of NASA's missions
exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.
I'm Chelsea Gohd from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
and that's What's Up for this month.