&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "October stargazing: Andromeda Galaxy, mystical zodiacal light, two meteor showers and more")
October is a treat-filled month for stargazers, with two meteor showers, a full moon, occultations, a Mars-Moon combo, and more. Several planets will go out of sight, while the zodiacal light will shine. The nights will be darker and longer, giving a chance to see celestial bodies that otherwise won't be visible. Here is everything you can see in the October sky.
October 3-4: Saturn will be located opposite the Sun, and this opposition means it will be visible all night long quite clearly. If you wish to see the planet in its full glory, that is, with its rings, then whip out your telescope.
October 5: Mars will be visible in the eastern sky on this night and will have a clear reddish hue. The best part of this viewing would be the crescent Moon next to the Red Planet. It will pass within a degree of Mars before sunrise, near the Praesepe (Beehive) star cluster.
October 6: The very next day, the Moon will occult the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter. The planet will hide at 4:20 am ET and reappear at 5:24 am. However, since it will happen during daytime India time, it won't be visible here.
October 8: A pyramid-shaped glow will appear in the skies on this night, but will be visible only in the darkest regions. Known as the zodiacal light, in the Northern Hemisphere, it will be visible before dawn in the east, and in the Southern Hemisphere, in the west after sunset.
The Zodiacal light
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October 8: The same night the Draconid meteor shower will reach its peak. The skies will be dark because of the minimal moon, providing excellent viewing conditions to see the slow-moving meteors. You should be able to see 5 to 10 meteors per hour. The Draconid meteor shower originates from the constellation Draco and is the remnant of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner.
October 7 - 13: This will be the peak time to see the Andromeda Galaxy, the only galaxy we can see with the naked eye. The New Moon will create ideal conditions in the moonless sky for this and other deep-sky sightings. It will be visible directly overhead, along with the Triangulum Galaxy, the Double Cluster in Perseus, and the California Nebula.
October 21 - 22: The Orionid meteor shower peaks on the night of Oct 21. It originates from the remnants of Halley's Comet and peaks in the pre-dawn hours. It will be best viewed at around 3 am. It is starting on October 2 and will remain active until November 7. At its peak, 10 to 20 meteors should be visible every hour.
October 24: A full waxing moon will be visible alongside Saturn.
October 25: A full moon, also known as the Hunter's Moon, will rise in the east at sunset.
