NASA is back again with its monthly update of celestial delights to enjoy over the coming weeks. The space agency shared its tips in a video (above), which we’ve summarized below.
Planets galore!
It turns out that October offers a great chance to spy many of the planets in our solar system. Here’s a quick look at what you can see and the best time to look:
Venus: The second planet from the sun is viewable this month low in the west just after sunset, and it’s setting by the time the sky is fully dark.
Saturn: The second largest planet in our solar system is visible toward the southeast as soon as it gets dark, and sets by dawn.
Mars: The red planet rises around midnight throughout this month. By dawn it will have climbed quite high into the south-southeastern sky, appearing together with Jupiter.
Jupiter: The largest planet in our solar system is rising in the first half of the night, and in early October it’ll be high in the south as dawn approaches. Later in October, it will have progressed farther over to the west before sunrise.
Europa Clipper mission
NASA is aiming to launch its latest solar system exploration mission to one of the giant planet’s moons — Europa — as early as October 10.
“It’s thought that Europa holds an enormous ocean of salty liquid water beneath its icy surface,” the space agency says of the highly anticipated mission. “That makes this the first mission dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth. Europa Clipper is designed to help us understand whether this icy moon could support some form of life, and along the way it’ll teach us more about the conditions that make a world habitable.”
On the mornings of the 11 and the 25 of October, clear skies permitting, you can use a telescope or even a pair of binoculars to observe Europa. “Be sure to have your own peek at Jupiter’s moon Europa this month, as a new NASA mission begins its journey to explore an ocean in the sky,” NASA says.
Moon-and-planet pair-ups
The agency also recommends looking out for moon-and-planet pair-ups this month, as our nearest neighbor appears close to Saturn after dark toward the southeast on the 13th and 14th of the month, and then with Jupiter in the east on the evening of October 20. And that’s not all. On the morning of October 23 and 24, early risers can view Mars with the moon, high overhead in the south.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
This month offers a great chance to observe what could turn out to be the brightest comet of the year. It’s the same one that astronauts aboard the ISS have already been capturing with their cameras. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is currently hurtling through the inner solar system and made its closest pass of the sun just last week. It’ll be its closest to Earth on October 13 and will offer the best viewing opportunities after that, for the rest of the month, low in the western sky, beginning during twilight.
“It will quickly rise higher each subsequent evening, making it easier to observe, but it’ll also be getting a little fainter each night,” NASA said. “As with all comets, predictions for how bright it could get are uncertain. If the comet’s tail is brilliantly illuminated by the sun, predictions show that it could become bright enough to see with the unaided eye. But comets have a way of surprising us, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”