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Autumn is well and truly bedding in, and the night sky is alive with incredible stargazing targets! We start by catching the light reflecting from the enormous asteroid Vesta as it reaches opposition, before watching the moon sidle up to Antares as it glows at the heart of the constellation Scorpius.
Next, we wait for moonset, let the constellation Cassiopeia guide us to the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbor, and watch as a "Demon Star" blinks in the northeastern sky. Plus, who knows what the sun has in store for us following its temper tantrum last week, when it unleashed a quartet of Earth-facing CMEs at Earth, triggering impressive auroral displays!
Here's what to watch for this week.
Clear skies,
Anthony Wood
Skywatching Writer, Space.com
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| (Jules-Pierre Malartre/Starry Night) |
The second largest body in the main asteroid belt, 4 Vesta, reaches opposition today, when it shines opposite the sun in Earth's sky. The asteroid will reach its highest point around midnight local time, when it will shine with a brightness, or magnitude, of +6.5, which places it at the very limit of naked-eye visibility from a dark sky location.
Use a telescope or binoculars to spot the asteroid as it passes silently through the constellation Cetus, the sea monster, which shines in the eastern sky at sunset for viewers in the Northern Hemisphere, close to the bright light of Saturn.
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| (Jules-Pierre Malartre/Starry Night) |
Look low on the southeastern horizon around 7 p.m. local time to see the razor-thin arc of the waxing crescent moon shine less than 2 degrees away from the red star Antares at the heart of the constellation Scorpius.
That twinkling reddish light represents a red supergiant star 700 times the size of the sun, which will end its life in a cataclysmic supernova explosion when it runs out of fuel — an event that could occur anytime from today to the next few million years.
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| (Jules-Pierre Malartre/Starry Night) |
Wait until the 5-day-old waxing crescent moon sets and turn your gaze to the east. The stars of the constellation Andromeda will be waiting for you, twinkling to the right of the "W" stellar formation of the constellation Cassiopeia, for viewers in the U.S.
Three of Cassiopeia's bright stars — Caph, Navi and Shedar — point directly to the Milky Way's closest cosmic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy. October and November happen to be the best months for spotting the vast spiral galaxy, which appears as a milky oval of light when viewed with the naked eye from a dark sky location, while binoculars or a small telescope will make it easier to spot the light cast from its bright galactic core.
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| (Jules-Pierre Malartre/Starry Night) |
Lurking in the constellation Perseus is the "Demon Star" Algol — a spectroscopic binary system whose light dips periodically as its brightest star is eclipsed once every 2.8 days by a dimmer companion star.
Algol can be found shining above the northeastern horizon in the hours following sunset on Oct. 17 during one such eclipse, when it will be about 3.3 times dimmer than its maximum luminosity.
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| (Jules-Pierre Malartre/Starry Night) |
Look to the southern sky at sunset for a majestic sight, as the first quarter moon shines near the famous "Teapot" asterism of stars at the heart of the constellation Sagittarius.
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This month's first quarter moon occurs at 12:13 p.m. EDT (1614 GMT) on Oct. 18, when the lunar disk will appear half-lit as it glows between the brightest stars of the constellation Sagittarius and Capricornus.
During the first quarter phase, the moon rises around noon and sets close to midnight, making it an ideal time to explore the eastern side of the lunar disk as it glows above the southern horizon for skywatchers in the U.S.
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The Orionids peak Oct. 21-22, 2026, bringing fast-moving meteors from Halley's Comet. Here's when and where to look.
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A brilliant fireball brightened the night sky over Arizona on Oct. 6, before appearing to fragment as it neared the surface.
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We learn constellations from diagrams that stay conveniently upright. The real sky has other ideas — as I discovered when Orion returned looking distinctly wonky.
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Astrophotographer Cornelis van Zuilen spent 352-hours of light data to create a spectacular mosaic of the Messier Catalog.
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