The New Moon for October occurs on Thursday, October 7th, which makes the weekend of October 9-10 as the best weekend for dark sky observing this month.
Since the Full Moon of November was the Harvest Moon, the Full Moon on October 22nd is the Hunter’s Moon.
At the end of October the Moon passes two prominent star clusters.
On October 25th the waning, gibbous moon passes about 2° from the asterism Pleiades (M45).
On October 30th, the Last Quarter Moon passes within 4°30′ of the Beehive Cluster (M44).
Mercury begins this month in the constellation Virgo (The Maiden) until October 25th then it crosses into the constellation Libra (The Balance).
| October 8th finds Mercury and Saturn in conjunction passing within 0°35′ from each other. |  |
Unfortunately Mercury returns into the glare of the morning sunrise early in the month, around Ocotober 3rd, and will be difficult to observe for almost the entire month.
Moving in retrograde, Venus is the Evening Star for October and begins this month in the constellation Libra (The Balance) a mere 6°30′ from the planet Mars. On October 19th, Venus moves into the constellation Virgo (The Maiden).
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On October 9th, Venus, Mars and the waxing, crescent moon are found together only about 7°45′ apart. |
| By October 21st, Venus sets at the same time as the Sunset, however it is far enough South that it might still be visible at sunset. |  |
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By October 30th, Venus rises with the sunrise again it is far enough south that it show be visible at this time. |
Mars is observable all month during the evening hours of October. Mars begins the month in the constellation Libra (The Balance) and on October 27th crosses into the constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion).
At the start of October Mars sets around 8:00 pm (PDT) and by the end of the month sets around 7:15 pm (PDT).
On October 4th, Venus and Mars pass within 6°35’ of each other
| On October 9th, Venus, Mars and the waxing, crescent moon are found together only about 7°45′ apart. | |
Jupiter is observable all month, all night. Jupiter can be found in the constellation Pisces (The Fish) at the start of October and on October 14th crosses into the constellation Aquarius (The Water Bearer).
Uranus is in close proximity to Jupiter all month and finding Jupiter is a good first step to finding Uranus. At the beginning of October Jupiter and Uranus are less than 1°30’ from each other, as Jupiter, in retrograde, moves away from and by the end of the month they are still only 3°15’ apart.
On October 19th, Jupiter, Uranus and the waxing, gibbous moon are all within 6° from each other.
Saturn, located in the constellation Virgo (The Maiden) until December 2012, emerges into the morning hours around October 18th. Saturn is observable the latter half of the month and by the end of October rises around 5:05 am (PDT).
Uranus is located in the constellation Pisces (The Fish) until May 2012. Uranus is visible all night, all month.
Uranus is in close proximity to Jupiter all month and finding Jupiter is a good first step to finding Uranus. At the beginning of October Jupiter and Uranus are less than 1°30’ from each other, as Jupiter, in retrograde, moves away from and by the end of the month they are still only 3°15’ apart.
On October 19th, Jupiter, Uranus and the waxing, gibbous moon are all within 6° from each other.
Neptune is located in the constellation Capricornus (The Sea Goat) until January 2011. Neptune is observable until the very early morning hours. At the start of October Neptune sets around 3:30 am (PDT) and by the end of the month Neptune sets around 1:30 am (PDT).
On October 17th, the waxing, gibbous Moon passes within 4°20’ of Neptune.
Pluto is located in the constellation Sagittarius (The Archer) until the year 2023. Pluto can be observed this month during the evening and late evening hours. Pluto sets around 11:30 pm (PDT) at the start of October and by the end of the month sets around 9:32 pm (PDT).
October 15th - Pluto’s relative position in the month of October.
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