October 2026

What to see this month: October 2026

Picked for mid-latitudes, about 35° south and 40° north. Times are rough guides for mid-month.

Checked: dates checked for Oct 2026 to Jan 2027. Planet rise and set times and altitudes are approximate.

October 2026 (rest of month)

Checked. Altitudes and rise and set times are approximate.

  • Orionids: peak the night of 21 to 22 Oct, ZHR about 20, both hemispheres. Moon about 80% lit and waxing, so look after moonset.
  • Saturn: just past opposition (4 Oct), up all night, highest around midnight.
  • Mars and Jupiter: morning sky in Leo, forming a rough line with Regulus before dawn about 16 Oct. Mars is 6 degrees from Jupiter by 31 Oct, heading for a 1.2 degree conjunction on 16 Nov.
  • Mercury: greatest eastern elongation was 12 Oct, now fading in the evening twilight, better from the Southern Hemisphere. Venus: inferior conjunction 24 Oct, not visible.
  • Moon (UTC): New 10 Oct, FQ 18 Oct, Full 26 Oct (04:11), LQ 1 Nov.
  • Dark skies: crescent sets early about 15 to 17 Oct, bright Moon about 20 to 29 Oct, dark early evenings about 29 to 31 Oct, next full dark run about 2 to 14 Nov.
  • South deep sky: Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253), 47 Tucanae and the SMC, Helix Nebula, NGC 300, NGC 55.
  • North deep sky: Andromeda Galaxy (M31), M33, Double Cluster, M15, North America Nebula (NGC 7000) low in the west.

November 2026 to January 2027

At a glance

  • Leonids: peak the night of 16 to 17 Nov.
  • Uranus opposition: 25 Nov 2026, binoculars show it as a faint blue-green star.
  • Geminids: night of 13 to 14 Dec, crescent Moon sets early.
  • Quadrantids: night of 3 to 4 Jan 2027, Northern Hemisphere only, Moon favourable.
  • Mars: brightening in the morning sky in Leo, 1.2 degree conjunction with Jupiter on 16 Nov, opposition 19 Feb 2027.
  • Jupiter: evening sky, opposition 11 Feb 2027. Saturn: evening Nov and Dec, lower in Jan.
  • Moon (UTC): Nov LQ 1, New 9, FQ 17, Full 24. Dec LQ 1, New 9, FQ 17, Full 24, LQ 30. Jan New 7, FQ 15, Full 22, LQ 29.
  • Best dark windows: about 2 to 16 Nov, 2 to 16 Dec and 1 to 14 Jan.

Planet rise and set times and altitudes are approximate.

Everyone

Both hemispheres

Photo of Geminids
Image: ESO/G. Lombardi. It´s Raining Stars, a video podcast celebrating the Geminid meteor shower, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Meteor shower

Geminids

Peak the night of 13 to 14 December under a waxing crescent that sets early, leaving dark skies after midnight (new Moon is 9 Dec). Best after midnight; rates are lower from the Southern Hemisphere but still worth it.

  • WhereLook NE after midnight (S) or high E (N)
Photo of Saturn
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Cornell. Top view of the rings of Saturn by Cassini - October 10, 2013, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Planet

Saturn

Rings visible in any small telescope. Opposition was 4 October 2026. Well placed in the evening in November and December, lower by January.

  • WhereW to NW, early evening
Photo of Jupiter
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstadt/Sean Doran. PIA21972 Jupiter Blues, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Planet

Jupiter

Four moons in binoculars, cloud bands in a small telescope. Climbing into the evening sky through November to January, ahead of opposition on 11 February 2027.

  • WhereE, evening

Pick your sky

October targets for your hemisphere

Photo of Mercury
Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Arizona State University/Carnegie Instituti. Mercury in true color, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Planet

Mercury

Past greatest elongation (12 Oct) and fading. A better showing from the south.

  • WhereLow W at dusk
Photo of Mars and Jupiter
Image: Omarius257. OSIRIS Mars in true color, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Planets

Mars and Jupiter

Both in Leo before dawn, Mars closing on Jupiter for a 1.2 degree pairing on 16 Nov.

  • WhereE to NE, pre-dawn
Photo of Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)
Image: ESO. NGC 253 Galaxy, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Binoculars

Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)

A bright edge-on spiral, big and easy in a small telescope.

  • WhereHigh overhead, evening
Photo of 47 Tucanae
Image: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA. 47 Tucanae, NGC 104 (noao-02212), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Naked eye

47 Tucanae and the SMC

A superb globular cluster beside the Small Magellanic Cloud.

  • WhereS, high in the evening
Photo of Helix Nebula
Image: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit. VISTA’s look at the Helix Nebula (eso1205a), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Small telescope

Helix Nebula

A large, faint planetary nebula in Aquarius. Needs a dark sky.

  • WhereHigh in the W, evening
Photo of NGC 300
Image: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. The surroundings of NGC 300 (ESO 1004d), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Small telescope

NGC 300

A face-on spiral in Sculptor, faint but rewarding from dark sites.

  • WhereHigh, evening
Photo of NGC 55
Image: ESO. Irregular Galaxy NGC 55 (ESO 0914a), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Small telescope

NGC 55

An edge-on galaxy near NGC 253, often called the Whale.

  • WhereHigh in the S, evening
Photo of Mars and Jupiter
Image: Omarius257. OSIRIS Mars in true color, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Planets

Mars and Jupiter

Both in Leo before dawn, Mars closing on Jupiter for a 1.2 degree pairing on 16 Nov.

  • WhereE, pre-dawn
Photo of Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
Image: Adam Evans. Andromeda Galaxy (with h-alpha), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Naked eye

Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

About 2.5 million light years away, visible without gear from a dark site.

  • WhereHigh in the E, evening
Photo of Triangulum Galaxy (M33)
Image: Lviatour. M33-Hamois-30-11-2024-Luc-Viatour, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Binoculars

Triangulum Galaxy (M33)

A large, faint face-on spiral. Best from dark skies with low power.

  • WhereE, evening
Photo of North America Nebula (NGC 7000)
Image: Lviatour. Nord america, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Binoculars

North America Nebula (NGC 7000)

A big glow near Deneb, best in photos or with a nebula filter.

  • WhereLow in the W, evening

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