Highlights of the Night Sky in October

Here are some of the highlights of the night sky in October:

7:30 PM southwestern sky – Mars and Saturn low above the horizon
3:30 AM eastern sky – Jupiter dominates the sky in the morning hours
4 AM eastern sky – Jupiter and the crescent Moon in conjunction on October 17
6:45 AM eastern sky – Mercury just above the horizon at the end of the month
10 PM southern sky – Pegasus constellation with the Great Square asterism; 51 Pegasi, the first Sun-like star with a known extrasolar planet, and the bright star Alpheratz, one of the stars of the Great Square and the brightest star in the neighbouring constellation Andromeda
10 PM eastern sky – Andromeda constellation with the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31), the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way and the most distant deep sky object visible to the unaided eye, with Messier 110 and Messier 32 nearby
1 AM eastern sky – Orionid meteor shower in the direction of Orion constellation, peaking on the night of October 21 to 22
October 8 – a total lunar eclipse visible from most of North America, South America, Australia, and Asia