perihelion

"I have just gone over my comet computations again, and it is humiliating to perceive how very little more I know than I did seven years ago when I first did this kind of work." -Maria Mitchell Well, it's getting close to the end of October, the Moon is waning towards its new phase, and -- at least in the northern hemisphere -- the days are getting shorter and the nights are lengthening. Is there anything unique on its way that's worth watching the skies for? In today's Ask Ethan column, our suggestion comes from longtime reader and commenter Sinisa Lazarek, who inquires: Since ISON comet is…