October 1, 2026
Saturn Opposition
The planet Saturn is at its best for the year, lining up opposite the Sun. It’s closest to Earth, so it shines brightest, and it’s in view all night. It looks like a bright golden star. It’s low in the east at nightfall, and climbs high across the south later on.
October 2, 2026
Fomalhaut
To the people of ancient Persia, four bright stars ruled the night sky, known as the “guardians of heaven.” The guardian of the southern sky is Fomalhaut, which climbs into view in the southeast not long after nightfall.
October 3, 2026
Moon and Companions
Pollux and Castor, the twin stars of Gemini, will perch to the upper left of the Moon at dawn tomorrow. Pollux is the brighter of the two and will be closer to the Moon. On the following mornings, the Moon will slide past Mars, Jupiter, and Regulus.
October 4, 2026
Moon and Mars
The planet Mars stands quite near the Moon early tomorrow. It looks like a bright star, with a definite orange hue. They are especially close as they climb into good view at about 2:30 or 3 a.m.
October 5, 2026
Moon and Jupiter
For skywatchers across the eastern United States, the planet Jupiter will vanish early tomorrow, hidden behind the crescent Moon. The rest of the country will see an impressively close encounter between the Moon and the brilliant planet.
October 6, 2026
Moon and Regulus
Regulus, the heart of the lion, will stand above the Moon at dawn tomorrow. The brilliant planet Jupiter will be to their upper right, with fainter Mars farther along the same line.
October 7, 2026
Andromeda Galaxy
M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, is in the east-northeast as night falls. Under fairly dark skies, it looks like a faint smudge of light wider than the Moon. It is 2.5 million light-years away, making it the farthest object that’s easily visible to the eye alone.
October 8, 2026
Persistent Triangle
The stars of the Summer Triangle remain in good view in the western evening sky. The brightest member of the trio is Vega, which is high in the west in mid evening. Altair stands well to its left, with Deneb highest in the sky.
October 9, 2026
The Queen
Cassiopeia is an easy constellation to pick out. The stars of the queen form a prominent letter M or W, which is visible even through moderate light pollution. It’s in the northeast at nightfall and climbs high across the north during the night.
October 10, 2026
Double Cluster
The star clusters NGC 869 and 884 are in the northeast as night falls, in Perseus. Together, they are known as the Double Cluster. Under dark skies, they are visible to the eye alone as a hazy smudge of light. Binoculars reveal two sparkling balls of stars.
October 11, 2026
Messier 10
Messier 10 is a globular cluster—hundreds of thousands of stars packed into a ball a few dozen light-years across. It is in the southwest at nightfall, to the upper right of the Sagittarius teapot. Through binoculars, it looks like a hazy smudge of light.
October 12, 2026
Vesta
Vesta, the second-largest object in the asteroid belt, lines up opposite the Sun tonight. It is brightest for the year, and it’s in view all night. You need binoculars to spot it, not far below the bright planet Saturn, which is low in the east at nightfall.
October 13, 2026
Triangulum Galaxy
The third-largest galaxy in our neighborhood, M33, is in Triangulum, which is in the east in mid evening. The galaxy is visible through binoculars as a hazy smudge of light not far from the triangle of stars that gives the constellation its name.
October 14, 2026
Moon and Antares
Antares, the bright star at the heart of Scorpius, huddles quite close to the Moon early this evening. They set not long after the sky gets dark, so there’s not a lot of time to look for them.
October 15, 2026
Receding Moon
The thick crescent Moon sets about three hours after sunset. On average, the Moon is about a quarter-of-a-million miles from Earth. But the distance is growing by an inch and a half per year.
October 16, 2026
Tau Ceti
Tau Ceti, one of the most popular star systems in science fiction, is in the constellation Cetus, the sea monster. The star climbs into view in the east-southeast by about 9 or 9:30 p.m. It is faint, so you need a starchart to help you pick it out.
October 17, 2026
Enif
Pegasus, the flying horse, stretches far across the sky this evening. Its main feature, a wide pattern of four moderately bright stars known as the Great Square, outlines its body. Its nose, the star Enif, stands to the upper right of the square.
October 18, 2026
First-Quarter Moon
The Moon is at first quarter today. It lines up at a right angle to the line between Earth and the Sun, so the Sun illuminates precisely half of the lunar hemisphere that faces our way.
October 19, 2026
Orionid Meteors
The Orionid meteor shower is at its best this week. At its peak, it generally produces a couple of dozen “shooting stars” per hour. Find a dark skywatching site, far from city lights. The best view comes in the wee hours of the morning, after the Moon has set.
October 20, 2026
Moon and Sea-Goat
Capricornus is low in the south at nightfall. The constellation isn’t especially bright, so it’s invisible from light-polluted cities. Under darker skies, you can see the outline of a wide triangle. Tonight, the Moon is near the triangle’s eastern point.
October 21, 2026
Uranus and the Bull
The planet Uranus is in a good position right now. It’s halfway between Aldebaran—the bright eye of the bull—and the Pleiades star cluster. They climb into good view in late evening. Through binoculars, Uranus looks like a faint star.
October 22, 2026
Moving Group
Five stars of the Big Dipper are members of the Ursa Major Moving Group, a collection of stars that were born together and that move through space together. The group appears to include stars in other constellations, including Orion, Aquarius, and Draco.
October 23, 2026
Moon and Saturn
The planet Saturn stands close to the lower left of the Moon at nightfall, and even closer to the Moon as they set, before dawn. It looks like a bright star. A telescope will reveal Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, which looks like a tiny star near the planet.
October 24, 2026
More Moon and Saturn
Saturn lines up to the right of the almost-full Moon as night falls, and farther below the Moon as it sets, before dawn. The Sun’s second-largest planet looks like a bright star.
October 25, 2026
Hunter’s Moon
Centuries ago, native tribes and European settlers alike had to stock up as the weather grew cooler. And they relied on an autumn full Moon for help: the Hunter’s Moon, which is coming up tonight. It’s the full Moon after the Harvest Moon, in September.
October 26, 2026
Cepheus
Cepheus the king stands high in the north this evening. It looks like an upside-down child’s drawing of a house. It was passed down to us from ancient times through the Almagest, a famous text written almost 2,000 years ago by Claudius Ptolemy.
October 27, 2026
Moon and Taurus
The Moon is crossing the constellation Taurus. Tonight, it’s quite close to the bull’s shoulder—the Pleiades star cluster. The bull’s bright eye, the star Aldebaran, is well below the Moon as they climb into view.
October 28, 2026
More Moon and Taurus
The Moon will snuggle especially close to the star Elnath tonight. The star represents the tip of one of the bull’s horns. It is to the lower left of the Moon as they climb into good view, and just above the Moon at dawn.
October 29, 2026
Halloween Dragon
A dragon haunts the night sky: the constellation Draco. Its coils wrap around Polaris, the North Star. In mythology, it guarded a golden apple tree for Hera, the queen of the gods. As a reward for its service, Hera placed the dragon in the stars.
October 30, 2026
Moon and Gemini
Castor, the fainter “twin” of Gemini, is really a family of six stars. The system stands to the left of the Moon as they climb into good view tonight, and to the upper left of Gemini’s brighter twin, Pollux.