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color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use
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Events Home Page.Events Seen All Month Long .Ephemerides Proper
(data from the former yearly ephemerides generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website; miscellaneous data with the 'Astronomical Phenomena for The Year 2017,' a joint work by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and the U.S. Naval Observatory; to be found at the latter's site; all time UT except otherwise stated)
Wwd Albeit not wholly worthy in terms of naked-eye or photographic observation, it's of interest to see how 6 planets of the solar system are present in the twilight sky in the northern hemisphere. From Uranus rising East to Jupiter about to set West, and Neptune, Mars, Pluto and Saturn in-between! The Moon will come to add. The show is also seen at the Tropics, with Venus and Mercury adding like evening stars, but Uranus missing as the show is seen arching over South starting at the southeast. The same in the southern hemisphere, with arching North and Uranus just on the eastern horizon! The correlative to that feat is that no planet is seen like a morning star in the dawn twilight!
 | Most of the solar system present by the evening twilight! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
Wwd Arcturus, the bright star to constellation Boötes, the Herdsman, constitutes a evening star in the northern hemisphere, about West
Wwd In the northern hemisphere, the Great Winter Sky is seen South by dawn. Fine visual and photographic opportunities as the Moon will also come to add!
 | The Great Winter Sky is seen South by dawn in the northern hemisphere! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
2 (1) Wwd The Orionids shooting stars are usually active October 2nd-November 7th, with their peak usually on Oct. 21-22 more at the date of the peak
2 (2) Wwd Moon reaches a northernmost declination at 13:03 UT
4 Wwd Moon is at a ascending node at 03:10 UT
5 Wwd Moon is at its perigee at 22:29 UT (distances non available)
10 EuA AsP Where Mercury available like a evening star, very first crescent is not that far!
 | Where Mercury available like a evening star, Moon is not that far! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
11 UsA EuA First crescent at all latitudes, is not that far from Jupiter in twilight! Fine!
 | Moon close to Jupiter in twilight! Fine! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
12 AsP First crescent at all latitudes, is not that far from Jupiter in twilight! Fine!
14 UsA EuA First quartered Moon by all latitudes, is close to Saturn tonight!
15 (1) AsP First quartered Moon by all latitudes, is close to Saturn tonight!
15 (2) Wwd Moon reaches a southernmost declination at 17:26 UT
17 (1) UsA First quartered Moon at all latitudes, is close to Mars tonight!
 | Moon close to Mars tonight! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
17 (2) Wwd Moon is at its apogee at 19:16 UT (distances non available) as it also is reaching a descending node at 12:03 UT
18 EuA AsP First quartered Moon at all latitudes, is close to Mars tonight!
21 Wwd The Orionids shooting stars usually are peaking on Oct. 21-22more back
29 Wwd Moon reaches a northernmost declination at 18:34 UT
31 Wwd Moon is at its perigee at 20:05 UT (distances non available) as Moon is also reaching a ascending node at 03:46 UT
Occultations observers are advised to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A as they may also check below at our Occultation section
Moon Home PageLast Quarter is on October 2nd, at 09:45 UT
New Moon is on October 9th, at 03:47 UT
First Quarter is on October 16th, at 18:02 UT
Full Moon is on October 24th, at 16:45 UT
Last Quarter is on October 31st, at 16:40 UT
(source: ephemeris generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website)
Planets Home PageMercury is reaching no remarkable position this month as it's a relatively low evening star at the Tropics and the northern hemisphere
 | Venus and Mercury like evening stars! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
Venus is reaching a inferior conjunction on October 26th by 14:13, which means Venus is seen at the Tropics and the southern hemisphere only, like a evening star
Mars keeps high in the northern hemisphere between South and southwest. It is high southwest at the Tropics and much high past West in the southern hemisphere. A Mars Observation Campaign is unfolding 2018-2019 as it constitutes a remarkable, perihelic opposition, with Mars nearest to Earth at the same time it is nearest to the Sun on its orbit! Mars will reach a 24.2" of apparent diameter at its best as the observation campaign will span from when the Red Planet is reaching, then leaving 6" of apparent diameter! Don't miss those occasions of observing Mars! check more at our Mars Observation Campaign 2018-2019 page
Jupiter is now one month ahead of its conjunction next month. It's barely a evening star in the northern hemisphere as it keeps such at the Tropics and the southern hemisphere where it's seen into the night
Saturn is now reaching to the horizon in the northern hemisphere, by 10:30 p.m. local time as it is barely higher at the Tropics by that same time. Saturn keeps high into the night in the southern hemisphere and a high evening star both at the Tropics and there. A ring maximum aperture had been reached in 2017
Uranus Faraway World At its Best Now! is reaching its opposition, or year's best on October 24th by 00:43. Neptune is high in the northern hemisphere past East, high before East at the Tropics and tending northeast, seemingly high in the southern hemisphere
 | Uranus at its best now! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Celestia |
Neptune Faraway World Still At its Best! keeps at its best after a opposition last month. Neptune now, by 10:30 p.m. in the northern hemisphere, is high due South as it reaches to the zenith at the Tropics or high, North, in the southern hemisphere by that same time
 | Neptune keeping at its best! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Celestia |
Pluto tends now low southwest in the northern hemisphere. It remains higher at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere! Pluto in 2018 is reaching a rare 'special' opposition as the latter will occur because the planet will reach its orbit's line of node. (according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) since 2006, Pluto is not considered a planet anymore, but categorized like a dwarf planet instead along with Ceres, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea, and the prototype of a new category of 'trans-Neptunian', 'Pluto-class' objects)
Minor Planets, NEOs Home Page
Minor PlanetsMinor planets are those biggest asteroids in the Asteroid Belt which may be easily observed by amateurs from the Earth, namely Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta (due to the new categorization by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) by 2006, Ceres belongs to the 5 dwarf planets in the solar system with Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea). check data and charts at our section Minor Planets on the yearly Calendar page as our tutorial 'Asteroids and Asteroid Hunting' is of help too. Any remarkable event linked to a minor planet may have a notice here below
Nearest NEOsSome small asteroids dubbed Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are regularly making close approaches at Earth. People interested in such close approaches may obtain recent and upcoming data at NASA site Near-Earth Object Program (their section "Close Approaches"). Date, miss distance in AU or Lunar Distance (LD), estimated diameter, and relative velocity are available. For further observational purposes, check at the Near-Earth Object Program ephemeris Generator. For more about NEOs see tutorial "
Comets Home PageOnce every time, the solar system treats us with a remarkable comet, a eery view spanning up to thirty degrees of sky! Most of the time however comets are the domain of dedicated observers as mostly weak and, at the most, hovering at the limit of the naked-eye visibility. A good site to get information about current such comets is the British Astronomical Association Comet Section page or also the Weekly Information about Bright Comets page (which often points to comets close to the visual magnitude). Our 'Comets and Comet Hunting' tutorial will also be helpful. Remarkable comets otherwise usually will be presented below!
Shooting Stars Home Page->note: shooting stars afficionados will be aware of checking Moon at the dates of the showers
for more about the meteor showers of this month, for possible other meteor showers for this month, and for more about shooting stars, generally, see our tutorial "Shooting Stars"
Occultations Home PageEach month, Moon occults some relatively bright stars, that is the Moon, beginning either with its bright or its dark visible face, is passing in front of a star. This is called an occultation. The Pleiades, on the other hand, due to their position near the eclipic, are often occulted by Moon too. Some planets, at last, along the year, may be occulted by Moon or they themselves, or their satellites, may be seen too occulting a star. The asteroids too may occult stars. Yearly lists of such phenomenons are to be found at Sky & Telescope/SkyTonight.com, either in their newsstand issues or at their site, as a list of occultations of most brilliant stars, the planets and the Pleiades are available at the I.O.T.A site (I.O.T.A. stands for "The International Occultation Timing Association"). Most notable occultations are signaled below
check on this site for more about occultations, theoretically
Sun Home Page| CAUTION! OBSERVING THE SUN IS DANGEROUS AND REQUIRES DEDICATED SAFE TECHNIQUES! |
