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October will see two meteor showers, the Draconids and the Orionids. This image is from the Perseid meteor shower over Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado in the early morning hours of August 12, 2018. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)
- Both the Draconids and Orionids meteor showers are visible this month.
- Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are visible near the moon on different nights.
October is shaping up as a great month for gazing at the night sky. If the weather cooperates, we should be able to see two meteor showers and the Hunter’s moon.
Draconids Meteor Shower, Oct. 8: Grains of dust left behind by the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner produce this annual meteor shower from Oct. 6-10. The peak this year is on Oct. 8. The moon will be new, meaning the dark sky could help you spot meteors. Expect about 10 meteors an hour. Early evening is the best time to look. The meteors appear to come from the constellation Draco but they can appear anywhere in the sky.
The Moon and Jupiter, Oct. 11: The thin sliver of a crescent moon will be visible to the lower right of a very bright Jupiter. Look southwest just after sunset until about 8 p.m. local time.
The Moon and Saturn, Oct. 14: It’s another lunar-planetary pairing when the moon is very close to Saturn in the southwestern sky after dusk.
The Moon and Mars, Oct. 17: Mars gets on the moon’s dance card this night. Look to the southeast right after sunset. At 8:30 p.m. local time, the pair will be at their highest point in the south.
Orionids Meteor Shower, Oct. 21-22: Produced by dust from Halley’s comet, the Orionids meteor shower lasts from Sept. 23 to Nov. 27. It reaches its peak on Oct. 21-22 and can produce around 20 meteors an hour. The Orionids are so named because they appear to come from the constellation Orion. NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke told space.com the best viewing will be around 2 a.m. on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22.
A Glimpse of Uranus, Oct. 23: The planet Uranus will be on the opposite side of the earth from the sun. It will be at its biggest and brightest from our skies on Oct. 23 but will be competing with a nearly full moon. You might want to look for it before or after the 23rd. Still, the planet is 1.7 billion miles away and it’s not one of the biggest in the solar system. Finding a local astronomy club that is having a viewing may be your best bet.
Full Hunter’s Moon, Oct. 24: The full moon in October is called the Hunter’s Moon. The Farmers’ Almanac said Native Americans named it that because it signaled that it was time to store meat for the winter.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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