What to See in October's Night Sky

Night Sky viewing guide for October 2024 including Moon phases, supermoon , conjunctions, meteor showers and Deep Space Objects.

October 7th is the second of three supermoons for 2024. The Moon will be near its closest approach to the Earth and may look slightly larger and brighter than usual.

On October 2nd, there will be an annular solar eclipse. When the Moon is too far away from the Earth to completely hide the Sun, an annular solar eclipse occurs. As a result, a ring of light appears around the darkened Moon. During an annular eclipse, the Sun's corona is obscured. The route of the eclipse will begin in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America and will pass over sections of southern Chile and Argentina. The majority of southern South America will see a partial eclipse.

The highlight in October should be C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS. which will be best viewed in Octobers evening skies.

Around October 12th comet Tsuchinshan will be low on the Western horizon in Virgo, however as the month progresses it will get higher. By mid month it will be located in Ophiuchus when it will be best viewed around the 17th.

The Draconids Meteor Shower is a minor meteor shower producing only about 10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner, which was first discovered in 1900. The Draconids is an unusual shower in that the best viewing is in the early evening instead of early morning like most other showers. The shower runs annually from October 6-10 and peaks on the night of the 7th. If you are patient, you may still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be in the early evening from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Draco, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

The Orionids is an average shower producing up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Halley, which has been known and observed since ancient times. The shower runs annually from October 2 to November 7. It peaks on the night of October 21 and the morning of October 22. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Orion, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

On 5th October, The Moon and Venus will pass with a separation of around 3°. This will be too wide to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but will be visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars.

On 14th October, The Moon and Saturn will be in close proximity. The separation of 6'45" means that they will be both visible within the field of view of a telescope, as well as being visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars.

On the 21st it's Jupiter's turn, passing at 5°. Not visible in a telescope field of view but easy for binoculars and naked eye observations.

Finally on the 23rd Mars passes 3° from the Moon, separated by around 3°.

As the warm nights of summer give way to crisp autumnal evenings, there's plenty of autumn deep sky objects to see in the night skies. We take a look at some of the top sights to see during autumn.

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 half way 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 galaxies 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.

In this table, the observation month represents the month in which the object reaches its highest point in the sky. It can also be viewed a few months before and after depending on your location. Direction is the compass direction in which the object is located, with Z meaning Zenith or overhead.

#	Image	Common Name	Constellation	Coords	Direction	Mag	Size (arcmin)	Type	Star Chart
M2 NGC 7089			Aquarius	21h 33.5m RA -00° 49m Dec	S	6.30	16	Globular Cluster	🔍︎
M27 NGC 6853		The Dumbbell Nebula	Vulpecula	19h 59.6m RA 22° 43m Dec	SW	7.50	8x5.6	Planetary Nebula	🔍︎
M29 NGC 6913		Cooling Tower Cluster	Cygnus	20h 23.9m RA 38° 32m Dec	SE	7.10	7	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M30 NGC 7099		Jellyfish Cluster	Capricornus	21h 40.4m RA -23° 11m Dec	S	7.70	12	Globular Cluster	🔍︎
M31 NGC 224		The Andromeda Galaxy	Andromeda	00h 42.7m RA 41° 16m Dec	SW	3.34	190x60	Galaxy	🔍︎
M32 NGC 221		Le Gentil	Andromeda	00h 42.7m RA 40° 52m Dec	W	8.08	8x6	Galaxy	🔍︎
M33 NGC 598		Triangulum Galaxy	Triangulum	01h 33.9m RA 30° 39m Dec	SW	5.72	70x41	Galaxy	🔍︎
M34 NGC 1039		Spiral Cluster	Perseus	02h 42.0m RA 42° 47m Dec	S	5.50	35	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M39 NGC 7092			Cygnus	21h 32.2m RA 48° 26m Dec	SW	5.50	32	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M52 NGC 7654		Summer Salt and Pepper Cluster	Cassiopeia	23h 24.2m RA 61° 35m Dec	NE	6.90	13	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M74 NGC 628		Phantom Galaxy (Perfect Spiral Galaxy)	Pisces	01h 36.7m RA 15° 47m Dec	SE	10.00	10.5x9.5	Galaxy	🔍︎
M76 NGC 650		The Little Dumbbell	Perseus	01h 42.4m RA 51° 34m Dec	Z	10.10	2.7x1.8	Planetary Nebula	🔍︎
M77 NGC 1068		Cetus A	Cetus	02h 42.7m RA -00° 01m Dec	S	9.60	7.1x6	Galaxy	🔍︎
M103 NGC 581			Cassiopeia	01h 33.2m RA 60° 42m Dec	Z	7.40	6	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M110 NGC 205			Andromeda	00h 40.4m RA 41° 41m Dec	W	8.92	21.9*11.0	Galaxy	🔍︎