Ghoulies, ghosties, things that go bump in the night

We have just past a significant hallmark of the year, in the ancient Celtic calendar, that is. It is a cross-quarter day called Samhain, pronounced SAH-win, (don't ask me, I just report these things) otherwise known as Halloween -- or better yet as All Hallows Eve'.

A cross-quarter day is one halfway between an equinox and a solstice and generally considered--at least in the Celtic calendar--the start of the season, in this case, winter, and Samhain has become associated with things and events scary, eerie, and spooky with monsters lurking behind every bush.

Not to worry, however, there are enough monsters in the sky to go around.

There are two fierce bears (Ursa Major and Minor), a ferocious lion (Leo), a sea monster (Cetus, who we looked at last week), a dragon (Draco), which winds between the two bears, a Lynx, a water snake (Hydra), a terrible, raging bull (Taurus), the giant scorpion that killed Orion (Scorpius), an irate crab (Cancer), and last, but not least, the fierce eye of the snaky-haired Medusa, being carried by Perseus.

This "Eye of Medusa," is the star Algol (The Ghoul, in Arabic) which is a blinking variable star, and with a period of 2.5 to three days, it gives the impression the eye is winking. It is what turned the sea monster to stone.

Not to mention the greeting card companies have made sure that Halloween has become associated with a full moon. Not so this year, in fact, the new moon is the day before Halloween, which means all the little goblins trekking out for Trick or Treat will see a very slender crescent moon in the western sky.

So, with all of these "monsters and beasties" about, perhaps we should look to the old Scottish prayer attributed to Robert Burns: "From ghoulies to ghosties, and long-leggedy beasties, and things that go bump in the night, good Lord deliver us."

Hope you had a "cosmic" Halloween.

Incidentally, this is a good time to start a monthly "moon watch." A moon watch is going out each night, or at least two or three times a week, to look at the moon. See what it looks like, what is the phase, where is it (what constellation is it in), and any other interesting things you might observe.

SKY WATCH: First quarter moon, Monday, November 7. Tonight, Wednesday, November 2, be outside about a half-hour after local sunset looking to the southwest for the slender crescent moon. It will be above the planet Saturn and the upper right of Venus. This will be almost the last of our opportunities to view Saturn, as it will be sinking below the western horizon soon. Thursday, November 3, the four-day old moon will be above and right of M8, the Lagoon Nebula, and M20, the Trifid Nebula. M20 will almost be in the same binocular FOV. This will be a great time to look for Earthshine, which is sunlight reflected off of Earth back onto the unlit portion of the moon's surface. Saturday, November 5, a growing crescent moon will be to the upper right of Mars, both objects will almost be inside same binocular FOV.

This may be a little off the subject of the stars, but Election Day is coming on Tuesday, November 8. This is a very important time for us all to make our choices known and the best way to do that is at the ballot box. I trust you will all do your responsible, civic duty and cast your vote for the candidates of your choice.

NEXT WEEK: More astronomical blathering.