What to See in the Autumn Night Sky

As the warm nights of summer give way to crisp autumnal evenings, there's plenty of autumn deep sky objects to see in the autumn night sky.

Autumn Planets

Mercury will be visible in the evening sky from mid-February to early March and in the morning from late March to early May. Mercury returns to the evening sky between early June and mid-July, then back to the morning sky between early August to mid-August. Look for Mercury again in the evening sky between late September and early November. Mercury will be brightest in the evening sky between February and March.

Venus is always brilliant, shining with a steady, silvery light. Mornings in the eastern sky at dawn from early January through to mid-June. Then, because of its proximity to the sun, it will be invisible all through the summer into the early fall. Venus will return to the evening, in the western sky at dusk from Early October through the end of December.

Mars, The Red Planet is visible in the night sky from January to mid-July, then shifts to the morning sky from mid-Oct to the end of December.

Jupiter is a splendid object visible in the southern sky as soon as darkness falls and does not set until early morning. Using higher magnifications you will see the yellowish flattened disc and the four Galilean satellites. You should be able to follow the movement of these moons from night to night. It will be visible in the mornings from January to May, evenings from May to November, and mornings again from mid-December to the end of December.

Saturn shines like a yellowish-white "star" of moderate brightness. The famous rings are only visible in a telescope. Saturn is visible in the mornings from late January to early July, and then in the evenings from July to December.

Autumn Deep Sky Objects

In the west after sunset is the constellation of Hercules, which is home to magnificent autumn deep sky objects, the globular cluster M13 which was the first-star cluster I observed and imagined. The M13 globular cluster is visible in binoculars from a site with dark skies and is a superb target for a small telescope.

In the nearby constellations of Lyra and Vulpecula, you'll also find two beautiful planetary nebulae. M57, the Ring Nebula appears as a grey ring through a 6 to 8-inch telescope, while the dumbbell Nebula, M27, looks like a fuzzy patch of faint light.

M22 is the third brightest star cluster visible in the northern hemisphere and is known to contain at least 75,000 stars. Its low altitude means that it is often overlooked, but at magnitude +5.1, it is a naked-eye object and a fine target for small telescopes. It is fairly easy to see in the low southern skies in the constellation of Sagittarius, approximately halfway from Nunki to µ Sgr. M28 lies nearby, and although lower again

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and Triangulum Galaxy (M33) are the real showpieces of the autumnal skies. Both are visible to the naked eye from dark sky sights, and both fine binocular targets. A small telescope will show M31's satellite galaxies M32 and M110, as well as the galaxy's dust lanes.

You can find M33 by following the line from the star Mirach to Upsilon Andromedae and extending it about the same distance in a straight line.

M33 can be found just less than two-thirds of the way between the stars Hamal in Aries, and Mirach in Andromeda. Through a small telescope, it will appear as a faint, oval-shaped patch of light, while larger telescopes should be able to pick out more detail under dark skies.

Finally, there are some striking double stars on show in autumn. The blue and gold pair of Albireo, the head of Cygnus, is perhaps the most impressive, and the equally impressive "Double Double" Epsilon Lyrae should not be overlooked.

Autumn Meteor Showers

Autumn is a very quiet time for meteor showers, the only one of note is the Orionids which last throughout October and into early November. You can expect a rate of 20-25 meteors per hour. The shower starts around the 2nd of October and lasts until around the 7th of November.

Autumn Constellations

Autumn is an ideal time to observe the following constellations.

• Andromeda
• Aquarius
• Aries
• Capricornus
• Pegasus
• Pisces
• Triangulum

Autumn Deep Space Objects

• C1 Polarissima Cluster - Cepheus (00h 44.4m +85° 20m)
• C2 Bow-Tie Nebula - Cepheus (00h 13.0m +72° 32m)
• C4 Iris Nebula - Cepheus (21h 01.8m +68° 12m)
• C5 Maffei 1 Group - Camelopardalis (03h 46.8m +68° 06m)
• C8 - Cassiopeia (01h 29.5m +63° 18m)
• C9 Cave Nebula - Cepheus (22h 56.8m +62° 37m)
• C10 Lawnmower Cluster - Cassiopeia (01h 46.0m +61° 15m)
• C11 The Bubble Nebula - Cassiopeia (23h 20.7m +61° 12m)
• C13 Dragonfly Cluster (Owl Cluster) - Cassiopeia (01h 19.1m +58° 20m)
• C14 Sword Handle - Perseus (02h 20.0m +57° 08m)
• C16 - Lacerta (22h 15.3m +49° 53m)
• C17 - Cassiopeia (00h 33.2m +48° 30m)
• C18 - Cassiopeia (00h 39.0m +48° 20m)
• C19 Cocoon Nebula - Cygnus (21h 53.5m +47° 16m)
• C20 North American Nebula - Cygnus (20h 58.8m +44° 20m)
• C22 Blue Snowball Nebula - Andromeda (23h 25.9m +42° 33m)
• C23 The Silver Sliver Galaxy - Andromeda (02h 22.6m +42° 21m)
• C24 Per A radio source - Perseus (03h 19.8m +41° 31m)
• C28 - Andromeda (01h 57.8m +37° 41m)
• C30 Deer Lick Group - Pegasus (22h 37.1m +34° 25m)
• C41 Hyades - Taurus (04h 27m +16° 00m)
• C42 - Delphinus (21h 01.5m +16° 11m)
• C43 The Little Sombrero Galaxy - Pegasus (00h 03.3m +16° 09m)
• C44 Propeller Galaxy - Pegasus (23h 04.9m +12° 19m)
• C51 Cetus System - Cetus (01h 04.8m +02° 07m)
• C56 Skull Nebula - Cetus (00h 47.0m -11° 53m)
• C62 The Needles Eye Galaxy - Cetus (00h 47.1m -20° 46m)
• C63 Helix Nebula - Aquarius (22h 29.6m -20° 48m)
• M2 - Aquarius (21h 33.5m -00° 49m)
• M27 The Dumbbell Nebula - Vulpecula (19h 59.6m 22° 43m)
• M29 Cooling Tower Cluster - Cygnus (20h 23.9m 38° 32m)
• M30 Jellyfish Cluster - Capricornus (21h 40.4m -23° 11m)
• M31 The Andromeda Galaxy - Andromeda (00h 42.7m 41° 16m)
• M32 Le Gentil - Andromeda (00h 42.7m 40° 52m)
• M33 Triangulum Galaxy - Triangulum (01h 33.9m 30° 39m)
• M34 Spiral Cluster - Perseus (02h 42.0m 42° 47m)
• M39 - Cygnus (21h 32.2m 48° 26m)
• M52 Summer Salt and Pepper Cluster - Cassiopeia (23h 24.2m 61° 35m)
• M74 Phantom Galaxy (Perfect Spiral Galaxy) - Pisces (01h 36.7m 15° 47m)
• M76 The Little Dumbbell - Perseus (01h 42.4m 51° 34m)
• M77 Cetus A - Cetus (02h 42.7m -00° 01m)
• M103 - Cassiopeia (01h 33.2m 60° 42m)
• M110 - Andromeda (00h 40.4m 41° 41m)