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Maps: NASA Blue Marble, Black Marble, LRO, MESSENGER, Cassini, New Horizons · Mars: NASA/JPL/USGS Viking mosaic, relief from MGS MOLA (NASA/GSFC, 6x vertical exaggeration) · Jupiter: Hubble OPAL 2019, NASA, ESA, A. Simon (GSFC), M.H. Wong (UC Berkeley) (CC BY 4.0), enhanced colour · Sun's limb: NASA/SDO AIA 304 Å · Sun, Saturn, Saturn's rings, Uranus, Neptune, clouds, relief: Solar System Scope (CC BY 4.0) · Moons and small worlds: NASA/JPL/USGS; Io, Ganymede, Titan, Triton via CelestiaContent (CC BY, Askaniy Anpilogov et al.); Mimas, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Ceres, Vesta via Stellarium (CC BY 4.0, Oleg Pluton, FarGetaNik) · Bennu, Ryugu, Itokawa, Eros, Arrokoth: shape models NASA PDS / OSIRIS-REx / NEAR / New Horizons (CC0), Ryugu ISAS/JAXA (CC BY 4.0); maps via CelestiaContent (Askaniy Anpilogov, Roman Tkachenko; Stooke, NASA PDS; CC BY) · Orbits: JPL, Minor Planet Center; asteroids and comets: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database (via KStars) · Spacecraft trajectories: NASA/JPL Horizons · Rotation: IAU WGCCRE · Data: NASA NSSDC
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The night sky in October 2026

What happens in the sky in October 2026, worked out from orbital data. Open the calendar to see each event in 3D. Times in UTC.

9 sky events this month
  • 4 Sun Saturn at opposition: brightest of the year, up all night
    Earth passes between the Sun and Saturn, so Saturn sits opposite the Sun in our sky: it rises at sunset, is up all night and is near its closest to us for the year.
  • 5 Mon The Moon passes Mars, about 1.1° apart · around 06:09 AM
    The Moon moves about its own width across the stars every hour, so it passes each planet about once a month. The gap is as seen from Earth's centre; from where you stand it can differ by up to a degree. In the east before sunrise.
  • 6 Tue The Moon passes Jupiter, about 0.1° apart · around 10:23 AM
    The Moon moves about its own width across the stars every hour, so it passes each planet about once a month. The gap is as seen from Earth's centre; from where you stand it can differ by up to a degree. In the east before sunrise.
  • 10 Sat New Moon · around 03:59 PM
    The Moon is on the Sun's side of the sky and can't be seen. The nights around it are the darkest of the month, the best for the Milky Way and faint meteors.
  • 12 Mon The Moon passes Venus, about 2.8° apart · around 04:42 AM
    The Moon moves about its own width across the stars every hour, so it passes each planet about once a month. The gap is as seen from Earth's centre; from where you stand it can differ by up to a degree. In the west after sunset.
  • 12 Mon Mercury at greatest eastern elongation: best after sunset
    Mercury is as far from the Sun in our sky as it gets this time, 25°. Look low in the west soon after sunset.
  • 12 Mon The Moon passes Mercury, about 2° apart · around 06:44 PM
    The Moon moves about its own width across the stars every hour, so it passes each planet about once a month. The gap is as seen from Earth's centre; from where you stand it can differ by up to a degree. In the west after sunset.
  • 21 Wed Orionid meteor shower peaks (about 20 an hour in ideal skies)
    Dust shed by Halley's Comet burns up high in our air. The meteors seem to fly out of one point, the radiant. Best after midnight, far from city lights; the Moon is 78% lit that night.
  • 26 Mon Full Moon · around 04:28 AM
    The Moon is opposite the Sun, so its whole face is lit. It rises around sunset and is up all night.