Observing | Page 3 of 147 | Astronomy.com

Deep-Sky Objects

Winter observing targets for small telescopes

Telescopic simulation of Saturn and its moons, dated October 7, 2026, 11 P.M. EDT. Saturn is shown ringed at lower center with the moons Dione and Tethys labeled nearby, Rhea labeled further to the upper right, and Titan labeled at upper left. A 30 arcsecond scale bar sits at lower right.

The Sky Today on Wednesday, October 7: Titan passes north of Saturn

Simulated view of a dark predawn sky, dated October 6, 2026, 3:10 A.M. CDT, looking east. A thin crescent Moon is labeled at upper center with the bright point of Jupiter labeled just below and to the left, both set against a faint glow near the horizon with scattered faint stars elsewhere in the frame.

The Sky Today on Tuesday, October 6: The Moon occults Jupiter

Annotated astrophotograph of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), a face-on spiral with a pale blue-white core, dark dust lanes, and sweeping blue spiral arms dotted with red and pink star-forming regions, set against a dark star field. A bright blue star with diffraction spikes appears at left. Small white labels with leader lines point to star clusters labeled C20, C27, C38, C39, H10, H38, M9, R12, R14, U49, U62, U77, and U137.

Astrophotography, Deep-Sky Objects

Imaging star clusters in other galaxies

Simulated view of a dark predawn sky, dated October 5, 2026, 4 A.M., looking east. Mars and a thin crescent Moon are labeled close together near the center, with Jupiter labeled lower in the frame, Procyon to the right, and Castor and Pollux labeled above, while Regulus appears low near the horizon.

The Sky Today on Monday, October 5: The Moon, Mars, and M44

Photograph of Saturn against a black background, shown nearly face-on with pale cream and tan cloud bands crossing its globe and a faint orange tint near the equator. The wide ring system extends horizontally across the frame, and several small moons appear as faint points of light scattered around the planet.

The Sky Today on Sunday, October 4: Saturn reaches opposition

Telescopic simulation of Saturn and its moons, dated October 3, 2026, midnight EDT. Saturn is shown ringed at center with the moon Dione labeled faintly near the top of the planet, while the moon Tethys appears as a bright point to the right. A 15 arcsecond scale bar sits at lower right.

The Sky Today on Saturday, October 3: Dione transits Saturn

Satellite photograph of the contiguous United States at night, showing city lights as golden points and clusters against a dark navy landmass and black ocean. The eastern two-thirds of the country glow densely and almost continuously along the coasts and around the Great Lakes, while the western half shows sparser, more isolated clusters of light concentrated along the Pacific coast and scattered through the interior.

How can I reduce my personal contribution to light pollution?

Simulated view of a warm orange sunset sky over a dark horizon with distant buildings in silhouette, dated October 2, 2026, 20 minutes after sunset, looking west. Venus appears as a bright point low near the horizon, with the fainter point of Mercury labeled above and to the right.

The Sky Today on Friday, October 2: Venus stands still

Photograph of Saturn against a black background, tilted with its northern hemisphere tipped toward the viewer and pale cream and tan cloud bands crossing its globe. The wide ring system casts a dark shadow band across the planet's upper portion, with a faint bluish tint visible at the upper edge of the rings where they cross in front of the disk.

Sky This Week, The Sky This Week

The Sky This Week from October 2 to 9: Saturn at its best

A photoillustration of a thick crescent Moon against a black sky, filling the right side of the frame. The sunlit crescent curves along the left edge, showing gray maria and many craters, and the rest of the Moon's disk is in shadow. Just off the Moon's lower-left limb sits Jupiter, a small tan disk with visible cloud bands, lined up with its four Galilean moons as tiny points of light: from left to right, Ganymede, Jupiter, Io, Callisto, and Europa. The scene shows the jovian system a few minutes before the Moon occults it. Empty black space fills the left side of the image.

Observing, Planets, The Moon, Upcoming Events

See the Moon occult Jupiter October 6

Photograph of the Double Cluster, showing two dense groupings of blue-white and orange stars side by side against a black sky thickly populated with fainter background stars, with the brightest stars in each cluster showing prominent diffraction spikes.

The Sky Today on Thursday, October 1: Perseus’ Double Cluster